Angela hadn’t wanted to come home like this, with her belly the size of two watermelons, and not one single proud accomplishment she could claim. She’d always meant her return to be triumphant, proof that she could succeed on her own without relying on the Adams name that meant so much in one little corner of West Texas. She’d envisioned a banner across the porch and a barbecue in her honor in the backyard and her name in lights, if Grandpa Harlan had his way.

Instead, it was the dead of night and no one even knew she was coming. Until she’d driven down the last stretch of deserted highway, anticipation mounting with every mile, she hadn’t known for sure herself if she would have the courage to face her family. The car had settled that for her. It had conked out less than a mile from home. She sat in the rapidly chilling air and shivered, wondering if fate was on her side this time or just out to humiliate her further.

Home. The word had always conjured up a barrage of images for her, some good, some bad. Over the last six years the bad ones had faded until only the special memories remained. With her birthday tomorrow and Christmas just a few days away, it was no surprise that it was the holiday memories that came back to her now in a flood.

The celebrations always began early and lasted through New Year’s, with everyone—aunts, uncles, cousins—traipsing from home to home for one party or another, but always, always ending up at White Pines. Grandpa Harlan insisted on it. He claimed he could spoil his grandkids rotten in his own home on Christmas Day if he chose to, while anywhere else he might have to show some restraint.

Rather than feeling deprived that her birthday was so close to Christmas, Angela had always felt as if all of the holiday trimmings made the day more special than it would have been at any other time of the year. Other kids got cakes and a single party. Angela’s celebration included a huge tree, blinking colored lights, endless music and nonstop parties that went on for days.

She’d missed that while she was away, missed it when she’d noted the occasion all alone in a college rooming house already deserted by students who’d headed home for the holidays. Last year she’d almost forgotten it herself. She was too caught up in love, too excited about sharing her first Christmas with a man who really mattered to her.