Hen Randolph's reputation as a cold-hearted gunslinger
without a need for friends, family or women, was the
reason he was hired to be the sheriff of Sycamore Flats, a
small Arizona town. They needed someone ruthless enough to
protect them from the Blackthornes who have harassed the
town and run off the previous sheriffs.. When he saves a
young widow. Laural Blackthorne, from a beating, he finds
he's made a enemy of the entire clan. When he refuses to
let the Blackthornes take Laurel's son, they plan to kill
him and warn the townspeople to stay out of the way.
Laurel Blackthorne has no need for gunslingers or guns. As
far as she's concerned, Hen is no different from her late
husband or his family. She wants little more than to prove
she was legally married to Carlin Blackthorne and that her
son is legitimate. She doesn't want the new sheriff to
interfere. But when he does and carefully tends her
wounds, she sees the tender man this gunslinger could be.
But Hen is a loner who thinks he's empty inside unable to
love and certainly not worthy of anyone else's love. She
loves him but can't let herself hope for a future with
him. As a sheriff, he would always be in danger, and she
can't stand the idea of losing him.
When he says he intends to face the entire Blackthorne
clan alone if the town refuses to stand behind him, she
can't decide whether he's a saint or a fool and starts to
leave town. She doesn't get very far before she decides
having a man be a fool over her isn't half bad.