Cotter Wihlborg made a promise that he intended to keep. He kept his word to Caleb Morrow to take the sealed box home to the dying man's wife and kid, arriving to find both in dire straits. The house was in shambles, the cupboards were bare and the widow was on death's door.

Nursing her back to health, Cotter found himself falling in love with the land, the kid and also the woman. Both he and the widow had a secret, leaving them clinging to a blind hope, that each would find forgiveness for sins unspoken.