All ex-slave Violette McMillan ever wanted is to see her troubled daughter Emerald grow up to be a better person than she has been, so when Benjamin Catlett, an old acquaintance, asks her to become his bookkeeper in 1869, in a business that is sinking due to southern backlash during the Reconstruction era, she agrees. But when his arrogance surfaces, their goals collide, and Violette wonders if she might be forced to renege at the expense of her daughter's future education.

Benjamin Catlett is plagued by his past as a free man of color whose African American father was a slaveholder. Renouncing his father's way of life, he moves to Natchez hoping to quietly atone. But his new hire, Violette McMillan, and her flirtatious teenage daughter, Emerald, test the limits of his good intentions one time too many, offending his straight-laced upbringing and tempting him to fire her.

Will the Lord who tugs at the heart of both Benjamin and Violette prevail in their efforts to tolerate each other and finally affirm the love already blossoming in their hearts?