In the middle of a howling snowstorm, a bus out of Kansas City pulls up at a small roadside diner. All roads are blocked, and the weary travelers on board have to take refuge in the diner until morning. Cherie, a nightclub singer, has the most to worry about. She’s being pursued by “a young cowboy with all the romantic finesse of a rodeo bull.” The belligerent cowhand is right behind her, ready to sling her over his shoulder and carry her, alive and kicking, all the way to Montana. As a counterpoint to the main romance, the proprietor of the cafe and the bus driver who have previously only spent time in passing, find time to develop a friendship of their own; a middle-age scholar comes to terms with himself; and a young girl who works in the cafe also gets her first taste of romance.