A mere child she'd fled the squalid New York docks and a brutal stepfather-aragged stowaway to be discovered and adopted by a wealthy Maine shipower. Aheadstrong beauty even as she stood on the threshold of womanhood, she washaunted by the bitter past. Did she dare love when it had been foretold thatall she loved would suffer? Did she dare trust the dashing Brad Nolan-goneto rebuild his war ravaged plantation-his passionated promise to return?