Coerced by a domineering father into marrying a man she does not love prompts Long Island, New York heiress Sara Carleton to run away and board a train heading to the West Coast. On an unscheduled stop in Red Rock, Colorado, fate intervenes when she is mugged in a dark alley. Rancher Jackson Phillips doesn't mind helping the attractive mugging victim he and his sister rescued at the train station, but having her come to his ranch to recuperate turns out to be much more than he bargained for.