Picking up where the fourth book in the Fort Bridger series leaves off, Jack Bower and Julianna LeCroix are making their way back to Fort Bridger to announce their engagement when they run across Matt and Emily McDermott and their daughter, Holly, stranded along the road. Jack and Julianna help the family travel safely to Fort Bridger, only for tragedy to strike when Holly dies of pneumonia.

Emilly refuses to believe that Holly is dead. She heads out one day to find Holly and mistakes Patty Ruth, another child in the town, for her dead daughter. Matt's heart is torn between his wife and the guilt of keeping Patty Ruth, but through God's love, the broken Fort Bridger families will slowly start to heal.