There's nothing left for Adelia Cunnane in Ireland. The aunt she cared for has passed, and the family farm has been sold in order to pay taxes. But her uncle Paddy has written her: "Come to America...." The Maryland horse farm where Paddy lives and works is more than Dee dared to dream about. She has always had a magical touch with animals, and here she finds employment in the stables and a chance to fly on the muscular back of Travis Grant's chestnut thoroughbred. It's easy to put aside a passing pang of homesickness when she can spend her first paycheck - which feels like a veritable fortune - on the feminine frivolities that were never a part of her life in the old country. But the most unfamiliar territory of all is her relationship with her boss, the man who has made all this possible. Spirited but innocent, Dee is disconcerted by the way he treats her - and the way she responds. America may be the land of opportunity, a place where even those from the humblest background can pursue what they want - and, perhaps, even one day find themselves attending the Kentucky Derby - but some divides may be too wide to cross, and Dee fears that demanding more could cost her all that she's already gained.