Phoebe's Valentine

Jack Valentine and Phoebe Honeycutt hate each other on sight when they run into one another by accident on the vast Texas plain. To Jack, who fought for four years in the Union Army against the secessionist South, Phoebe is just another worthless, simpering southern belle. Phoebe, whose life in Atlanta was ravaged by the Union Army Jack so admires, considers Jack a particularly despicable member of a species she detests: Yankees.

When they have to join forces in order to survive, Phoebe is certain God hates her. Jack isn't sure about God, but he figures he's being punished for some black sin in his past.

It astonishes both of them when they discover they're wrong, about themselves, about life, and about each other.