That's what Marla Gossett sought when she moved to Dry Creek, Montana. She wanted a safe haven to raise her kids, far from the troubles of the past. Then an unusual theft cast suspicion on her family...and brought Deputy Sheriff Les Wilkerson into the struggling widow's life.

In Marla's young son, Les saw a lonely child in need of a guiding hand. In the plucky single mother, he saw a woman he could love. But a crisis threatened to destroy Marla's fragile trust. Unless the deputy could convince her that her family had a special place in the community...and in this bachelor

's heart.