Jilted by love in 1834, Cara Lindsay sails from Boston to Mexico�s rugged California to begin a new life with a favorite aunt. Heartbroken to learn her aunt has died, she takes a companionship position to the wife of Don Miguel Navarro, the tough and irresistible owner of a major inland rancho. Prior to her arrival, Miguel�s wife had suffered a permanent brain injury in a suspicious fall, and the lonely ranchero�s heart opens to Cara�s kindness and beauty like parched earth to rain. Yet love may break Cara�s heart again, for she would never be any man�s mistress. Until ships sail for Boston months away, she�s trapped in the midst of danger and an impossible love. When the bells ring and the eagle cries, will she be the next to die?