Young widow Elise Morgan and her beloved mother-in-law, Frieda, have built a life for themselves together in Denver. But when Frieda decides to go live with her other son, Derrick, in Farmington, New Mexico Territory, Elise is torn. She can't let her mother-in-law travel by herself so she offers to accompany her. And then, because the woman who is a mother to her is frail after the trip, she stays on—just until she's better.
But as harvest is nearly upon Derrick, she stays to help feed the workers who come to help him. And then she stays for Thanksgiving. But as Christmas nears, Elise realizes her feelings for Derrick are growing each day and feels it's time to go home before she loses her heart to him completely. But what will life hold for her, alone in Denver? Still, how can she stay on when there is no indication of how he feels about her?
Derrick has loved Elise forever it seems. When she married his brother, he left Denver and moved to New Mexico Territory to avoid the pain of seeing them together. Now his brother is gone, but can Derrick rightfully dream of a future with Elise? Through fall harvest to Thanksgiving, he knows he's falling in love with her all over again and now his mother tells him that Elise plans to leave after Christmas. Derrick knows his home will never be the same without her, but will he risk having his heart broken again to try to keep her there?