Sam Calvert is the only veterinarian within a hundred miles of Rocky Butte, Colorado. He doesn't have time to get involved with anyone, but when a stranger appears at the local restaurant, he can't let her walk out into the night alone. She isn't dressed for the cold, and the look of desperation in her eyes has him worried.

Allie Tate has hit rock bottom. The only thing she really wants is a home, but life won't cooperate. When she discovered her husband cheating, she ran. Her car, however, died in the mountains, so she's on foot without money or a friend. Sam and Allie initially butt heads over her ability to take care of herself and earn her keep. To avoid detection by her possessive, dishonest husband, Allie hides her past. Sam, meanwhile, is wrestling with the fact that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Tracy, is on the threshold of adulthood. When Tracy arrives for the summer, their emotional struggles kick off a series of disasters. Allie tries to help Sam and Tracy work out their relationship and falls for Sam in the process. But when Sam finds out Allie's still married, his world crumbles. Can this couple find a way to work out their differences, or will the differences between them be too much for their fragile relationship to bear?