Templeton, Missouri, is in desperate need of a doctor to treat the scarlet fever epidemic that has infected their town and claimed the life of their local doctor. Boston native Dr. John Carson is their only hope. Molded by a lifetime of pain and loss, John is impersonal and withdrawn, and treats symptoms instead of people. When he arrives in Templeton, he finds he must work with Sarah Bethel, the late doctor's daughter who has been treating the ill,...