After losing an arm, Colby Lane can no longer work as a mercenary. His second wife, Maureen, repulsed by his loss of limb, has left, but at least he has quit drinking and is ready to become assistant chief of security in a Houston oil firm. At 17 Sarina Carrington was married to Colby for less than 24 hours: he disappeared after a disastrous wedding night. Unbeknownst to Colby, Sarina was pregnant. Since Colby is Apache and their child has mixed blood, Sarina was kicked out of her rich father's house and ended up living in poverty with her asthmatic daughter, Bernadette. Colby doesn't know that he has a child and is unnerved by Bernadette's finely honed psychic powers, powers not unlike his own.