The interwoven lives of a community in Colorado. The characters include two cattle farmers who take in a girl, thrown out of her house for becoming pregnant. The novel describes the girl's impact on their lives, both men being bachelors.

When Dad Lewis is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he and his wife work together to make his final days comfortable. Their daughter, Lorraine, comes home from Denver to help look after Dad, which helps to soften the bitter absence of the Lewis's estranged son, Frank. Next door, young Alice lives with her grandmother, and Dad's condition stirs painful memories of her own mother's death. Meanwhile, the town's newly arrived preacher attempts to mend his...