When school teacher Zoë Martin's husband dies after a long illness, she is left financially bankrupt and emotionally destitute. She applies for a summer job to avoid foreclosure on her home.
Holt Harrison Hamilton, aging playboy and unscrupulous oil tycoon, hires her to assist him in writing a biography of his late wife, flamboyant actress Sarah Clarke. It seems the perfect summer job, in a perfect setting, a luxurious ranch in far West Texas.
Too soon the mystery and intrigue that surround this isolated utopia begin to unravel. Zoë is caught in a web of deceit and lies, and falling in love with a man who is mysterious, domineering, and dangerous.