Determined to keep her Pony Express station after her father's murder, Helena Gray soon learns that a lot of people want her to fail. Cut off by her suppliers, she brazenly goes after what she needs: a husband. She chooses a loner from the mountains who is known simply as Carrigan -- a man whose eyes are flat and unemotional, and whom the folks of Genoa fear. It would be a business proposition, that's all. Now all she has to do is convince him of that.

Living in the Sierras with his dog and Colt revolver for company, Carrigan is certain he doesn't need a woman. Then Helena Gray ventures up his way and asks to become his wife. The arrangement sounds beneficial, but a simple partnership gets complicated when Carrigan unexpectedly finds himself wanting Helena on new terms that come unbidden from his heart.