No one really understood how difficult it was to wake up from a bad dream, determined to change your life. She'd had partial memory loss for a few weeks after the accident, though she knew what she'd been doing, who her friends were, what her plans had been. This whole idea of being a doctor-she knew she could do it and do it well. She'd been groomed for this since her intellectual parents discovered her interest in science. But it was more like getting a plaque or trophy than about what it would bring to her life. After striving toward this goal for years, what was she to do with that feeling that it just wasn't enough? Perhaps after she watched falling snow, the orange sunsets, the explosion of autumn color and possibly a world-cla.s.s geyser or waterfall she'd feel that enthusiasm return.

She still had the same friends, even if she hadn't seen much of them. They were busy in med school and she had a rigorous rehab schedule, plus the relocation from L.A. to her parents' Sacramento home. One friend was still missing, though-her boyfriend. Alex. They'd been together for several months before the accident-he was a med student, as well. It happened all the time. Students tended to date one another more out of convenience than anything else, because it seemed to fit well with the intensity of med school. Alex left her at some point during her rehab-after the coma, before she remembered everything and could walk again. Strangely, his actions had remarkably little effect on her except to make her think, Wow! Who does that? Leaves a girlfriend while she's recovering from catastrophic injuries? That thought occurred every now and then.

The phone in the cabin rang, jarring her thoughts, bringing her back to the present. She tried to ignore it. It was still quite early, but she hadn't brewed coffee and didn't feel like cooking breakfast, so she pulled her scuffed-up cowboy boots over her torn jeans and grabbed her jacket. The phone was relentless, so with a heavy sigh she picked it up. "h.e.l.lo."

"You're not staying with Jack," her mother said.

"Hi, Mom. No, I'm staying in his cabin."

"But I thought we understood each other-you would stay with Jack or Brie."

"Nope. That was your expectation. I'm very interested in seeing them but not living with them. I was hoping for the cabin or, at the least, Jack's guesthouse. I want a little time and s.p.a.ce to myself."

"This is exactly what I've been talking about. You're not yourself at all. I've made an appointment with a neuropsychiatrist," she said. "We should get to the bottom of this."

Angie laughed. "Listen, Mom, do yourself a favor. Cancel it. You don't need much more than an everyday counselor to figure out that my brain is fine. The problem isn't me. I'm not doing things your way and it's making you crazy. I have to go. I don't want to be late for the raising of the tree."

"Angie...!"

"Bye," she said, disconnecting.

Neuropsychiatrist? Never gonna happen. Besides, she'd already seen at least one of those and no one, no matter how many degrees they had, could convince her that rejecting her mother's plan for her life automatically signaled a personality disorder.

The phone rang again, but Angie zipped her jacket and headed out the door. She stopped on the porch to indulge in a moment of remorse. Sadness. There was bound to be friction between a firstborn daughter and her strong-willed mother. Angie had always known how to please her parents and, in fact, usually had. Her mother proclaimed her a handful to raise, and yet, she'd managed to be Donna's pride and joy. Angie had never rebelled so thoroughly before.

Donna didn't seem to push back on Angie's younger sisters with the same kind of determination. When Jenna or Beth resisted their mother's plans, Donna seemed to let go faster. Easier.

"Dr. Temple, do you think my personality has changed?"

"It's possible. And there's always PTSD. Catastrophic accidents and long recoveries can have that effect."

"Do I have a disorder?"

"Disorder? I'm no expert, but I don't get the sense of a disorder. Do you think you have a disorder?"

"You know, I just feel like I finally woke up. I feel as if I should change things. It's filling me with a sense of relief, of second chances, but it's upsetting my family. They're worried and angry, especially my mother. I'm battling with her over things like school. Battling like never before."

"Hmm. Well, have you asked yourself-do you like the new you?"

"I do. I want to be more independent. But I hate disappointing my mother. She's had it in her head I should be a doctor for a long time."

"I think, Angie, that you have to act on what's in your head, not your mother's. You're an adult, not her little girl anymore. Maybe you two need a little s.p.a.ce to figure things out."

Not long after Angie had that conversation with Dr. Temple, Uncle Jack and Brie had stepped in. Jack called Donna and said, "The two of you are fighting like a couple of cats in a sack. You're not going to get better this way. Send Angie up here for a while. A few weeks. Let her get some perspective and take a breather. This is ridiculous."

It took a follow-up phone call from Brie, but Donna finally came around. She was persuaded to put off the head b.u.t.ting at least until after the first of the year.

Angie could almost hear her father breathe a sigh of relief.

When Angie arrived in town, she saw that even though the hour was early, the place was already a circus. The big flatbed with an enormous tree strapped to it blocked the street and mounted on another truck was a giant winch. The ground had been plowed free of snow right between the bar and the church, back off the road a bit in the area where, in milder weather, there were picnic tables. That's where the tree would stand. The sound of a hydraulic post digger a.s.saulted the morning air as meanly as a jackhammer, and a lot of people stood around watching while the tree was being attached to the lift. Cables trailed off the tree-likely to be anch.o.r.ed to stakes in the ground to steady it.

It was so big.

Someone pressed a cup of coffee into her hands and she turned to see Mike V, Brie's husband, her uncle Mike. She had forgotten her desire for caffeine. "Thank you," she said, kissing his cheek.

"How's that little cabin working out?" he asked.

"It's perfect. I'm going to get some candles from the bar-I sat on the porch last night and just watched the snow. If I'd had some candles..."

"I'm sure that can be arranged, chica," he said, draping an arm around her shoulders.

As they stood together in the street, watching, chains were tightened, the motor on the lift was pumping away and more and more people who had been forced to park down the street were walking toward the tree-raising. Jack and General Booth stood near Paul Haggerty, talking and pointing and gesturing, but Paul seemed to completely ignore them as he directed his team.

It took long enough that Angie's coffee was gone by the time the tree was finally lifted off the bed of the truck. Four men holding four cables maneuvered the airborne tree so that the trunk slipped into the hole that had been dug right in the ground. Then the cables were pulled tight, straightening the tree. There was a loud, collective "Ahh" in the crowd of people gathered around to watch. There was a bit of m.u.f.fled applause thanks to the gloves and mittens worn by most of the spectators.

Finally Jack and the general had major roles-they were standing across the street from the tree to judge the straightness of it before the cables were secured to the ground. They were gesturing right, then left, then right....

And Angie saw him. He was standing on the porch of the bar, leaning a shoulder against a post. He was most definitely watching her. When their eyes met he did that smile thing again-half his mouth lifted. His eyes got just a little bit sleepy, but the glittering green was still overwhelming. She wanted a close-up of those eyes.

Real close.

Patrick lifted a coffee cup to his lips, but he never took his eyes off her, peering at her over the rim of the cup.

"You okay, chica?" Mike asked.

"That guy," she said, just taking him in. "Do you know him?"

Mike followed her eyes. "Patrick? I know his brothers. I've only met him once or twice."

"How long has he lived around here?"

"Just visiting, I hear. You okay?"

"He's staring at me," she said in a low voice, trying not to move her lips.

Mike cleared his throat. "Um, listen, if he's making you uncomfortable, I could have a word with him."

She grinned at Mike. "He's making me uncomfortable all right, but not exactly in a bad way. Don't say anything, all right? Don't make him stop. I don't think anyone has ever looked at me that way before."

Mike turned Angie toward him. His black eyes bore into her with intensity. "Ange, don't play with fire. I don't know much about Patrick except that he has some difficult situation going with the military. The Navy just gave him more leave to sit in Virgin River than they typically grant, which usually indicates a problem of some kind. You should at least talk to Jack before you do anything young and foolish."

She laughed at him, amused. "Wow, doesn't that sound fun, a chat with Uncle Jack about an interesting guy. Now I was kind of young at the time, but if I remember correctly Uncle Jack thought you were a bad idea for Aunt Brie. Do I have that right?"

Mike pursed his lips as he pondered this. "We were both older than you, for one thing. We had been through some real major crises, for another, which left Jack feeling a little on the protective side. And we were careful to take it slow-know what I'm saying? I don't know any details but I hear Patrick has had some issues-real problems. Hear me?"

"Absolutely," she said. "Fortunately, I haven't been through any crises or had any problems...."