Twenty-eight-year-old Emma Browning has experienced a good deal of life in her young age. Proprietor of Emma's Boardinghouse, she is mother to an array of beefy, unkempt, often rowdy characters. Though many men would like to get to know the steely, hard-edged, yet surprisingly lovely proprietor, none has truly succeeded. That is, not until the town's new pastor, Jonathan Atkins, takes up residence in the boardinghouse, affecting not only her with his devout faith and strong convictions, but her clientele as well. Emma clings desperately to her stubborn ways, refusing to acknowledge God's love until all of Little Hickman witnesses a miracle the conversion of her abusive and alcoholic father, Ezra Only then will Emma begin to experience God's transforming power at work.