Nora Peterson wants to create the perfect Christmas for what may be the last year her twins are home before leaving for college. Her husband's long business trip threatens her plans, but her world is about to turn upside down from far worse. As she faces tragedy, emergency room nurse Jenna Montgomery faces a miracle: her dying daughter, Heather, is getting a new heart.

A blissful retirement for a university dean and his wife is upended by school politics, a new business venture and an urgent need to provide guardianship for their young grandchildren, whose father is being deployed to Pakistan.