1880s, the American West. Randall Bragg is a rich landowner who is wanted for murdering the town marshal. Lawman Virgil Cole and his deputy Everett Hitch are two friends who are hired to defend a lawless town from the murderous rancher. Their efforts become complicated and their friendship is tested when a young widow arrives in town.

Lawrence Wetherhold is a recently widowed literature professor who is a numb and chilly intellectual. He rebuffs his students, ignores his own teenage children, James and Vanessa, and spurns cries for financial assistance from his ne'er-do-well but rather soulful adopted brother, Chuck. After an accident and Lawrence goes to the hospital, he is deprived of the right to drive. Janet is a physician and former student of Lawrence who remembers her disappointment...