Trapped in a loveless marriage Lark longed to lead a normal life like the pretty women she saw in town, to wear new clothes and be courted by young suitors. But she had married Cletus a man twice her age so her elderly aunt and uncle could stay through the long Colorado winter in the mountain cabin he owned. Lark found one person who made the days bearable: Ace Brandon. But when her husband paid the rugged cowhand to father him an heir, at first Lark thought she had been wrong about Ace's kindness. It wasn't long before she was looking forward to the warmth of his tender kiss.