America's heartland at the end of World War I: The flags have stopped waving and the soldiers are home, but for Rachel Watkins, the armistice has brought anything but peace. Day by day, she struggles to run her family's Minnesota boardinghouse, raise her defiant young niece, and keep her family together in the face of shattering tragedy. She can't trust anyone, for the most powerful man in town is using unscrupulous means to take her property. But now a shell-shocked stranger takes refuge with the Watkins family as he tries to heal and salvage what he can from his once-privileged life. When her enemies seize a devastating chance, Rachel and this mysterious loner will risk everything to believe in each other . . . and claim the dreams they'll never surrender.