With her ma dead and her pa disappeared Mandy Hamilton does what she has to do to care for her two sisters. Now that she's found the perfect place to build a home for the three of them outside of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, nothing can stop her-especially the stubborn young man who has already started to build a cabin on her land.

Trace Owens just wants to be left alone. After losing his home and his parents to the betrayal of friends, he has nothing left to protect except a wounded young sister. And that's exactly what he'll do, starting with a new life for them both. No one will bother them in the woods outside a gold-rich outpost-no one except a nosy, trouser-wearing, beguiling gal with a gun.

As Trace and Mandy race to build their houses and claim the land, their attraction grows deeper. Can two stubborn people learn to forgive and, together, build something that lasts?