Kelly is tired of working for her family near Pennsylvania's Lehigh Canal and hopes to one day become an artist and avoid marriage, but she finds herself falling for a general store owner who wishes to cultivate her talents.

Widowed Sarah Turner has her hands full, raising three young children, tending the lock on the canal, baking bread, and washing clothes for boatmen. Although she's not looking for love, she's vowed not to lose her heart to a boatman. Yet she didn't count on meeting Captain Elias Brooks. Will she follow her heart where it leads or accept the proposal of a handsome land-loving blacksmith?