Ten years ago, young Tess Montgomery saved southerner Zach McClain from the cruel Yankees - and now she is happy to meet him again on a small Arizona ranch, which she unexpectedly inherited. But... why does Zach, who once won the girl’s heart, now avoid her ? Why is even the intoxicating, frantic passion that flares up in him from just one glance at the lovely northern woman colored by the bitterness and pain of a broken heart? Only the secret of the distant past will help Tess understand this - and find happiness again...