Sophie Ware (Wendy Crewson) is a lounge singer who's been away from home since she was a teenager. When she returns for her father's funeral, she's at a cross-roads in her life, having just turned 30. Instead of packing up and selling, as her mother advises, she decides to stay on and turn the farm into a working concern again. Helping her is Alex Bresnyachuk (Paul Gross), the hired hand, who has also recently returned to Buffalo Jump after many years.

Alex and Sophie are clearly attracted to each other but, when Alex proposes, his mind is primarily on business. He reasons that he wants to be a rancher and she needs a man around the property. But plenty stands in their way: the objections of Sophie's Scottish mother and Alex's Ukranian family; the issue of a dowry is raised (not from who you might expect); Alex already has a son, the result of a teenage fling; and Sophie herself is not sure that she shouldn't marry for cattle rather than love.