In the late 1900s, in Colorado territory, a family hides a desperate secret. To keep their ranch safe from a land-hungry predator, a young woman conceals the death of the adults while running a business of capturing, taming, training, and selling quality horses. As the oldest daughter, Mae takes charge. She feels tied to her role as matriarch forever. The younger children bring home a severely injured cowboy. With a head wound and broken bones, he shines as the only beau she has ever had, but who would want a woman encumbered by a passel of kids and a ranch endangered by the greed of the region's most powerful man.