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kitchen of all the smoke and mess, she had helped the girls make a second batch of cookies, the slice-and-bake kind, but they’d had fun in spite of the smoky start.
    She’d had a great visit with Max and Grace. Baby Ella was just starting to walk, and seeing the little girl convinced her even more that she was making the right decision. They’d spent the remainder of the afternoon laughing, talking, and sharing their plans for the upcoming holiday. When Melanie was reminded that Bryce was going to be hanging around until after the first of the year, she couldn’t help but feel a little bit excited. After she’d gotten over her initial bout of mortification, courtesy of Bryce’s easygoing manner, she’d relaxed. They’d talked about everything from the ski conditions to their preference for dark or light turkey meat.
    Melanie couldn’t believe she’d never taken the time to learn much more than superficial things about Grace’s younger brother. They’d been around one another long enough to get to know each other, but Melanie had made the assumption that he was not interested in her or anything she had to say, so she’d kept her distance.
    Now, here she was about to make a drastic change to her life, and all she could think about was their upcoming date, midmorning tomorrow. They’d planned a day of skiing, and both decided if they weren’t too tired, they’d try out that new Italian restaurant everyone was raving about.
    Melanie grinned. Life was good, and if she had anything to say about it—and she did—it was about to get even better.
    The plane landed as scheduled, and her rental car was parked where it should be. She’d asked that the car be equipped with a GPS. She recalled the woman from the adoption agency’s words: Nine o’clock sharp. So far, everything was going according to plan.
    She programmed the GPS with the adoption agency’s address. While she waited for the information to reach some satellite in space, she checked her hastily applied makeup in the rearview mirror, tucked a few loose strands of hair back into her topknot. She’d changed into her red sweater before getting inside her rental car. Yes, things were going just the way she wanted them to. Smooth as silk.
    It was already 7:30 A.M. , and the traffic was bumper to bumper on Denver’s I-70. Miles of red taillights stretched out on the road before her. At this rate, she’d be lucky to make her nine o’clock appointment. Slowly, she crept down the heavily trafficked highway. Twenty minutes later, she looked again at the bright green digital clock on the dashboard, then back at the GPS stuck to the windshield. According to the directions, she would arrive at World Adoption Agency in fifty-seven minutes. Somehow this didn’t seem possible with all the traffic, but she knew the GPS also tracked your speed, so she would trust the gizmo to do what it was supposed to do.
    In her peripheral vision, Melanie saw where several of Denver’s large businesses had decorated their office buildings with elaborate displays of colored lights, giant blow-up Santa Clauses, snowmen, and the usual array of decorations. If she’d had more time, she would have taken the exit to get a closer look at some of the outrageous decorations, but she would do that another time. At the moment, she had more important things to do. If she were lucky, this time next year she would have a child of her own to take to view the elaborate Christmas decorations.
    Briefly, she wondered what Bryce would say about her plans. She shook her head; it didn’t matter what he or anyone else thought. She’d made a decision, and she would do her part to see that her plans came to fruition.
    The traffic started moving faster, and thirty minutes later, the electronic female voice told her that her exit was one mile on the right.
    Butterflies danced in her stomach as she weaved her way through the back streets that led to the adoption agency. The female voice told her she had