When Siena Madison announces that she will spend an entire week of her highly rated daytime television show revealing the history of her family-and all its secrets-she begins to doubt the wisdom of having allowed her beloved grandmother, Savanna, to convince her to do it. Savanna had grown up in the shadow of the Connor mansion where her mother had served as the housekeeper and cook and her father had been the overseer of the large poultry ranch in East Texas. The summer Loran Connor came home from his freshman year away at college, he saw a different girl than the little black companion he had grown up with. By summer's end, the young people were in love; and the night before Loran's return to college, they gave each other that physical gift that can only be given once. When circumstances make it impossible for Savanna to remain in the only home she has ever known, she is forced to make a life for herself that produces great success and wealth. In a chance encounter, Savanna and Loran are brought together, and she is free at last to reveal her long-kept secret. A love that endured through years of absence is rekindled, and lives are changed as they learn to look at the hearts of people rather than the color of skin.