When widower Truett Mahan finds a trespasser hiding in one of his building renovation projects, he thinks he has a runaway teen on his hands. He's right about the runaway, but Hope Larson is all woman, and in desperate need of help. True never turns away a person in trouble, but helping Hope wakes up feelings and dreams he thought buried with his wife years ago.

Hope was forced to run to protect the people she loves, paring her life down to what fits in her backpack. True tempts her to stop running and set down some roots in Whiskey River, a town she's come to love.

Can this strong, honorable man help her retake her life, or will the danger she'd left behind strike out at them both?