Against the wishes of his widowed mother, seventeen year-old Josh Timmons leaves her and his sisters behind to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a cowboy. A remarkable roping talent earns him a job on a cattle drive from New Mexico to the Texas Panhandle under the leadership of famous cattle baron Charles Goodnight. The dark side of Josh's ambition is a hidden desire to one day avenge his father's murder, but the realities of the trail make all his desires much more difficult than he had ever imagined. Josh battles the pressures of being a rookie cowboy, the discomforts of riding drag, and the hazzards of inexperience, but the spirit of Goodnight's amazing lead steer, Old Blue, helps Josh face the toughest of trials, and the richest of rewards.

On the day Trevor Hodge graduates from college his life is about to take a sudden turn, and it's not toward the big accounting job that he'd lined up. Surprised by a visitor at his college commencement, Trevor learns that his father, who he never knew, has died in an accident. Trevor is drawn by a subconscious and relentless yearning to go to Oklahoma to the funeral. He ultimately decides to stay the summer with his father's family and travel the rodeo circuit, where his father was a local hero. He falls in love with his lost family, with the rural atmosphere of Oklahoma, as well as a pretty half Choctaw barrel racer. But most of all, Trevor faces an awakening he never expected, and one that leaves his family, and the town of Spiro, on the edge of their seats.