Rose Henderson ran away from her wicked betrothed only to find herself rejected by the man she was set to marry in Harrisville Kentucky in 1871. While waiting for the man she is to marry, she meets Harl Adams. He takes pity on her after her intended rejects her. Harl puts her up in a hotel for the night with the understanding that she will take the train and return home in the morning. An ice storm and sprained ankle later, Harl whisks Rose off to his and his mother’s homestead where they nurse her back to health. Rose is against Christianity. Harl has given up on love. Can the two find solace in each other? Will Rose give her life the Christ? Will Harl ever find love again?

Harl Adams loaded the last of the feed for the livestock from Grant’s Mercantile into the back of his wagon. Turning, he bumped into Cletus Tooth, who was mumbling something to himself. Tooth didn’t slow his pace or apologize. Instead, he threw a small photograph case at Harl’s feet and kept walking.
“Hold up there, Cletus,” Harl said. “You dropped something.”
“I didn’t drop nothin’,” Cletus spat over his shoulder.
“What’s got you in such a state?”
Cletus spun around and marched back to Harl. “Her—that’s what,” he said, jabbing his finger at the case Harl held.
Unlatching the tiny clasp, Harl looked at the delicate black and white image of a young woman. Shaking his head, he looked at Cletus.
“That don’t match that,” Cletus said, emphasizing the statement by jabbing his index finger first at the picture and then in the air toward the train depot.
“Were you meeting someone?”
“Was I! Been talking to her through letters.”
“I didn’t know you could read and write.”