In the 1880s, Alta Belle, daughter of a New York merchant, is disappointed in love. Not yet twenty and against her parents' wishes, she accepts a job as a schoolmarm in Black Butte, a small coal mining town in the territory of New Mexico. Traveling there by train and stagecoach, she meets an exciting rancher that may just make her forget about her previous romantic woes, but they arrive in Black Butte late. School has started without her. Her job is gone, and soon her handsome new friend absconds with her reputation. Abandoned, Alta must make her way in a strange town where folks - especially the men - consider her a fallen woman. Born to the trade, Alta finds a job in the Mercantile and is pressed by her landlady to become a part of the community. Alta soon finds that she may just be able to build a new life after all, but can she ever forget about the rancher with the blue-green eyes and the true courtship she desires?