Orphaned in a massacre, abused as a "half-breed" child, trained as a ruthless Texas Ranger, Tucker McCade's learned the hard way that you have to fight to survive. So he is shocked when he falls for Sally Mae, a Quaker nurse. Unable to resist Tucker, Sally Mae throws herself into their torrid affair. Tucker's occupation, however, is the one thing she can't embrace. A staunch pacifist, she can't understand how his gentle hand can clench in fury or pull a trigger to take a life. But when Sally Mae becomes pregnant, Tucker is willing to do whatever it takes to have his family, including hanging up his guns. Every night they spend together binds them ever closer, until the day his past comes calling.