The War Between the States ended five years ago, but Selah Daughtry can barely manage to keep herself, her two younger sisters, and their spinster cousin fed and clothed. Their Mississippi plantation is swamped by debt and the only option seems to be giving up their ancestral land. Pinkerton agent and former Union cavalryman Levi Riggins is investigating a series of robberies and sabotage linked to the impoverished Daughtry plantation. Posing as a hotel management agent for the railroad, he tells Selah he'll help her save her home, but only if it is converted into a hotel, and he moves onto the property to "supervise." Selah will do almost anything to save her home. What she never expected to encounter was his assault on her heart.