Widowed at nineteen, Leah Worth is challenged with being 'boss lady' on the Diamond C, a large cattle ranch in the Nebraska Sandhills. Faced with motherhood without the husband she so deeply loved, while contending with the dangers and entanglements of the widespread ranch community, she is forced to go through the motions of living despite her broken heart.

When tall, broad-shouldered Louis Drake comes into her life, sharing a similar view on romance and remarriage, they become close friends. They face the dangerous challenges that confront first one and then the other. During the process, Leah discovers while going through the 'motions', she has been living all along, and a rich past can lead to a new love and an amazing future.