A young cowhand sticks up for a sheepherder and falls in love with a Mexican girl.

Clay Westbrook is a young cowpoke with an itch to settle down in Greenfield, Wyoming. He's already staked his claim and intends to work it on the side while he draws regular wages from the Cross Pole Ranch. Then he runs afoul of local land baron Theodore Sutton and is fired after interceding on behalf of Mexican resident Tony Campos. But his act also earns Clay an invitation to Campos' home for dinner, where he meets Tony's niece, Lupita. The relationship develops slowly and decorously until Sutton burns down Clay's cabin and challenges his legal right to the claim. Clay must decide whether to respond violently and risk losing Lupita. This works on three levels: as a tension-filled western, as a very sweet love story, and as a microcosm of the West in transition from big spreads to small ranches.

“Another excellent work from the author of the acclaimed One-Eyed Cowboy Wild.” —Booklist

“Increasingly sensitive and human, Clay Westbrook is very much a hero for our time.” —Western American Literature

“Nesbitt demonstrates himself a skilled wrangler of detail and character.” —Publishers Weekly

“. . . certainly the genre can’t ask for a better portent than a western written by John Nesbitt.” —Roundup Magazine

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