After the divorce from Michael, Tessa raises her daughters Kate and Laura alone. None of them can stand her ex-husband's new young wife Carolyn, a model. But then Tessa learns that she's suffering from cancer and soon will die. Now she tries to get her kids to accept Carolyn as new mother. She takes her with her on a trip across America to her father Jacob's ranch in Wyoming. She tries to teach Carolyn about the responsibilities involved in raising kids.

In the Wild West a rescue party sets out to find a family of settlers that has vanished from their home under mysterious circumstances.