A captivating story of Amanda Conroy Malone - a naive, inexperienced, young woman - whose husband of seven years disappears on Christmas Day, leaving her penniless in the Nevada desert near Las Vegas in a house trailer without a car and no means to support herself. Amanda's married sister comes to the rescue, whisking her away to California to live in their sprawling riverside home in the San Joaquin Valley - a far cry from the poor existence both girls experienced in the Arkansas hill country as they were growing up in their grandmother's care. With a lot of hard work and overtime hours, Amanda's dream is about to become a reality. Now she must decide what is most important to her: an independent life in Belgium or a life in California with a wealthy rancher who says he loves her. She goes to Brussels where she befriends Rachel O'Neill who is there doing research for a novel. Both their lives change ...