His life is forfeit. Until she gives him something to live for. In a time when the railroad is expanding westward, there are certain expectations of young upper-class, unattached women. However, Annie Patterson rebuffs love and longs for independence. When her actions cause her to leave the safety and comfort of her brother's protection, she sets out to find a life farther West. Micah Millington is the son of a powerful railroad tycoon. He now holds damaging information on his father that at one time saved his sister. But it places him in danger. He only has as long as it takes for his father to find him. So he lives in anonymity. Then a woman from his past who once stirred his heart comes back into his life...and challenges everything. Will societal rules placed on Annie and Micah keep them apart? Can they evade Micah's father long enough for their attraction to blossom into romance? Or will they find their very lives in peril?