On an unexpected Christmas leave from the jungles of Vietnam, Tom Stabler finds himself at home, but in a life he no longer fits. The farmhouse where he grew up seems too close, his parents and grandparents older and frail. Tom the man is uncomfortable in the skin of Tom the boy. So much so, he's beginning to think he should have stayed in Nam, where his memories were innocent. During a restless pre-dawn morning, the girl he's dreamed off for months arrives unexpectedly. Tom is afraid he'll feel disconnected to her, too. Then what dreams will he have to take back with him? Susan Swenson, the sweet, farm girl Tom loved in high school, has rushed home to be with him, not as a girl but as a woman. Touches lead to kisses; kisses lead to skin gliding against skin and a deep loving that produces a small miracle. As the sun crests the shore of a nearby lake, Tom fulfills Susan's dream of passion. With her own heat and desire, Susan helps to heal Tom's soul and shows him a way to come home.