Chase Benteen Calder II, son of Webb Calder and Lilly, is a very good cowboy, but he is restless and somewhat of a disappointment to his father in his lack of shouldering responsibility. He spies Maggie O'Rourke while swimming when she was 15 years old and begins an affair. In the meantime, her father and brother, Culley, are rustling the Calder cattle to make some significant money and Chase's best friend Buck Haskel is robbing other cowboys of their gambling winnings. Culley becomes more hostile toward the Calders and Maggie goes to live with her aunt in San Francisco, California, where she finishes high school and college and becomes the lady she wants to be. ( )

The great Calder empire stretched across the Montana plains as far as the eye could see. Everyone knew a Calder's word was law and that one day Chase Calder would carry the family name to new glories. But for handsome, arrogant Chase Calder there was also beautiful Maggie O'Rourke, who came to him in innocence and stirred in him a deep, insistent longing. But Maggie was determined to be free from the harsh codes of hard men. And even Chase Calder's strong arms couldn't keep her. Still, in them both burned the raw passion of the land...where even the greatest love must fight to live beneath This Calder Sky. ( )