Mary Kathrine O’Quinn wants to open a free medical clinic in her hometown of Okeechobee, Florida. Her lifetime love, Buck Evans, supports her in this goal, although he will not attend the University of Florida with her. He is absorbed in running his dying father’s citrus grove, and helping Maddie’s father run his huge cattle ranch. Buck and Katie dad become involved in transporting Cuban refugees illegally into Florida. Katie becomes involved in transporting medical supplies illegally into Cuba. Do their clandestine endeavors clash?

On one of the rescue missions into the murky Gulf of Mexico, Buck hauls a delicate Cuban girl, Ana, from her death. Although Buck and Katie have pledged their fidelity to each other until they can marry, Ana would like to change all that. Ana has an additional agenda. She is an undercover agent for Castro smuggled into the Evans/O’Quinn effort to destroy it. Can she accomplish this? Can she snag Buck as her husband while she’s at it?