Book excerpt: To escape the unthinkable, twenty-year-old Rae Rodgers does the impossible. She disappears into the night with only a few meager belongings, even fewer dollars, and her three-year-old sister, Hope. Leaving the only home shed ever known is the hardest thing she had ever done in her twenty years on this earth, but she had no choice. She has to get her sister and herself out of the home of her stepfather before it is too late. With only her strong will and determination, she and Hope travel on a stagecoach as far as her last dollar will take herLimason, Texas. With the last of her coins depleted and without means to purchase food, she faints at the feet of another passenger, the striking cattle rancher Jesse Maxwell. Jesse takes an immediate liking to the young woman and offers her a job at his ranch. Rae, instantly attracted to Jesse, leads him to believe she is a young widow traveling with her child. Although she is vulnerable, she will do whatever it takes to make a new home at the ranch. She pulls out all the stops to win their hearts, and despite the mischief and trouble young Hope brings, she begins to feel as if the worst is behind her. But her new life is threatened when she sees posters in town that offer a reward for Hopes return. Grimly determined, she devises a plan to keep Hope safely concealed even at the risk of losing her own life.