The Baker family is growing up along with their town. Linda is old enough to start a fire, Dianna gives birth to her first child, Alice's belief in angels saves her life, and then there's Richard. Richard Baker has finished his college course and is now an ordained minister of the Gospel and the possessor of lessons that one can't learn in books. His lesson about falling for the wrong girl leaves him more heart-whole than he thinks but as he heads home alone he is glad she isn't going along with him or coming later. He has spent the necessary years in class rooms and his boots and soft feet aren't meant for walking. But he discovers life is full of all sorts of surprises - not the least of which is an attractive brown- haired girl with a big heart - just what he needs.