Cole Whitehall had asked Lacy Jarrett to wait for him. But after the war, he returned to the rambling Whitehall cattle ranch a changed man, the promise of lasting love replaced by a cold, hard distance. Lacy yearned to reignite the once inseparable couple's unquenched passion. Unwittingly compromised into marriage, the handsome Texan refused to come under Lacy's thumb. But the hard press of aching desire had her longing to learn the secrets Cole harbored in his heart.