Enrique Garcia, district attorney in the small New Mexico county of Chupadera, is a man of principle, unusual in his rough-and-tumble state. When he is tapped to run for governor, he'll learn just how rocky the road to Santa Fe really is. All through his campaign Garcia has been guided and encouraged by Ashley McCarver, an attorney and state Democratic Party operative. Ashley's relationship to her candidate evolves from campaign manager for a man she admires into an abiding love for him. Garcia, still haunted by the suicide of his wife, at first sees in Ashley only her professionalism and encyclopaedic knowledge of state politics, but the election draws the pair inexorably together. Stanford Brown, a wealthy rancher Garcia convicted of manslaughter, promises revenge on his former college football teammate from his prison cell. Once freed from prison, Brown begins to unfold an elaborate and cunning plot to have his rival impeached. Will this attempt to jeopardize Garcia's political life become a serious threat? And will this shadow from the past cement or destroy his burgeoning relationship with Ashley?