1867 – Texas
For Benjamin Warley, the end of the Civil War meant very little. He had nothing left in South Carolina. The life he should have inherited had been stripped from him. Meeting Joseph McCoy sends Ben into Texas to organize cattle herds to drive north to the railroad in Abilene, Kansas. A far cry from managing his father’s plantation, at least nobody knows him in Texas. He can put down roots and start a family on the southern plains, perhaps with the fetching red-haired woman at the diner.
Kenna McCrea raised her brood of brothers and sisters since she was twelve years old after the death of their mother. But her brothers are grown men, and she can’t keep everyone under the roof of their diner once rumors of the massive cattle drives reach San Antonio. But at least her father refused the offer to join a cattle drive and run its chuckwagon.
Then McCoy demands Ben send one more herd north. Wranglers are scarce, many having stayed in Kansas. Ben needs to hire both of Miss McCrea’s brothers again, even knowing how much it will distress her. Then a trio rides in who served in the cavalry with Ben. Three men who know his secret.