As Jack Samson rides into the small Wyoming town of Grigsby one wintery morning, he does not know what lies in store for him. All he does know is that announcing his arrival with gunfire, and soon after, beating the local drunk--even if it is to protect a child--makes for a bad first impression. But then the town's suspicions of him are not completely unfounded; after all, he is running from the law.

Still, a few locals give their visitor the shadow of a doubt: Pastor James Worthingson, for one, and the beautiful widowed innkeeper, Virginia White, along with her mother and daughter....