Laila Mitchell sets out for Oregon with little money, her medical knowledge, a medicine kit, and not much more than the clothes on her back in the hopes of finding her last living relatives and a new life. But her plans are waylaid when she rescues and ends up treating Kate Boston, an older woman on her way to serve as a housekeeper at Ruby Gold, a peach ranch, in the Snake River Canyon. Accompanying her new found friend down the Snake River, Laila settles into a neighboring mining town named Venture. There life is anything but boring. She is faced with the hardships of frontier life, guardianship of an abandoned child, and a reluctant attraction to Ash Corbett, the owner of Ruby Gold ,who is currently engaged to a beautiful socialite. Determined to ignore her heart, and make her own way, Laila ministers to a town grateful for her nursing skills. But, Ash finds himself drawn to Laila as well, and battles his conflicting emotions and questions his future.