"In this first novel by the winner of the 1992 Texas Review Press Southern and Southwestern Writers Breakthrough Award for Fiction, Robert Winship once again sets his story largely on a West Texas ranch, where college athletic director Mase Mason learns a great deal more about himself and human nature than he even suspected." "When Mason throws a football game for one hundred thousand dollars, little does he know the chain of events that he has set in motion. He goes to West Texas to the ranch of Raleigh Jones to meet the man who will bring his money, taking with him a female colleague to ensure his own safety. Here Mason and companion Frieda are swept up in the deep passions of the heart as they wait for the stranger from Illinois."--Jacket.