A sister determined to provide. A man consumed by his work. A daughter longing for a mother.

Susie Baker is proud of working hard her whole life. But when her father dies, the bank takes the family farm from her and her younger sister Jo. Forced to accept charity, Susie knows they can't stay with the pastor’s family for long. Unable to find a job and determined to provide for her teen-aged sister, Susie answers an advertisement from a man out west searching for a mail-order bride. Perhaps the love she's dreamed of will be found in Rocky River, Colorado.

Tom Easton works himself to the bone, ensuring all guests at the Palace Hotel in Rocky River are always taken care of and always satisfied when they leave. Since his wife died, he's taken care of his two children, Eliza and Billy, alone. Little does he know, his children want a mother again and Eliza schemes to find the perfect woman. When the beautiful Susanna Baker shows up in town, younger sister in tow, expecting to find the loving beau from her letters, Tom knows he must do the honorable thing and help get them home.

But Susie gambled everything coming west, and is too stubborn by half to accept turning tail and running back east. She sees Tom’s efforts to help the Baker sisters as unwanted charity, even as she falls in love with the real man, not her imagined fiancé from Eliza’s letters. Tom is captivated by the proud woman lured west by his young daughter. He struggles to live up to his principles even as he selfishly wants to her to stay in Rocky River, and his life, forever.

Will Susie and Tom live happily ever after? Or will pride keep them apart forever?