Past transgressions haunted Hope Barrister, whose beauty helped her rise from a tenant farm to a Texas fortune. But her quiet loveliness concealed dark secrets she'd long kept safe, to protect her young son .

Chase Barrister found Hope enigmatic and elegant–but she tasted of forbidden fruit. Years ago, Chase had fled his father's legacy, but he'd taken memories of his stepmother and his own bittersweet desire.

After his father's death, Chase returned to Texas and Hope. Would he be caught in the web of familial deceit or untangle an honest love and truly come home?