Plot

A writer seeks the identity of the person who helps grant wishes that are placed upon an angel tree, and in the process, reconnects with her childhood friend.

Rebecca McBride is a Los Angeles-based writer for Aspire, an on-line magazine. As a result of her article on her hometown's wish-granting Angel Tree, her editor promises her own byline if she identifies the mysterious wish-granting Angel for Christmas. To research the article, she needs to go home for the first time in 20 years. She reluctantly agrees, having lost faith in Christmas magic years before, when her tree wish to stay in Pine Riiver forever was not granted. She finds her childhood friend Matthew still behind the counter at his family diner. While she tries her best to track down the Angel, Matthew is right there protecting the identity. Her daughter Cassie accompanies her and bonds with Matthew's sister Zoe's son, Owen. She joins up with the town to grant the plethora of wishes including this one -- granting Zoe's son Owen his wish for his mom home for Christmas, even though deployed in South Korea as an Army Sergeant. Her ultimate article is a compromise that makes everyone happy -- both her editor and Matthew.

It's the Christmas season. Working for Aspire Magazine, long widowed Rebecca McBride has written an article about a Christmas memory from her childhood in the town of Pine River. In the center of town, what was called the Angel Tree would mysteriously be set-up and decorated. People would write down their Christmas wishes and hang those notes on the tree, with many of the even most unlikely of wishes being granted by that unknown town benefactor who has become known as "The Angel". When she lived in Pine River, Rebecca believed in the tree as witnessed by the wish of her childhood best friend, Matthew Anderson, being granted, that his family's struggling diner be saved against the odds. Rebecca does confide to her editor Nina that her own belief in the tree faded that year despite Matthew's wish being granted, as her own, to live in Pine River forever, was not, with her family moving shortly thereafter because of her father's job. Regardless, Nina wants Rebecca to write a follow-up article for the Christmas edition, namely to discover the identity of the Angel, with a regular column which would allow Rebecca to choose her own stories on the line. This story requires Rebecca to return to Pine River for the first time in twenty years, she with her adolescent daughter Cassie in tow. Rebecca does return to find the tradition of the tree has continued, now for forty years. She also finds that Matthew is still at the family diner, he who took over the business when his father passed. What she also finds is that Matthew seems to know more about the identity of the Angel than he lets on, he thwarting her investigative attempts at every turn despite, as her friend, knowing what is on the line for her. In the process, Rebecca may come to an understanding about why she is so determined to discover the identity of the Angel beyond the professional benefit to her, and holistically what the mystery of the Angel Tree means to her and to the town.—Huggo

Rebecca McBride is a widowed Los Angeles-based writer for Aspire, an on-line magazine. As a result of her article on her hometown's wish-granting Angel Tree, her editor promises Rebecca her own byline if she identifies for the world the identity of the mysterious wish-granting Angel for publication at Christmas. To research the article, she needs to go home for the first time in 20 years. She reluctantly agrees, having lost faith in Christmas magic years before, when her tree wish to stay in Pine River forever was not granted. She has a teenaged daughter, Cassie, who has accompanied her mother to Pine River. Rebecca finds her childhood friend Matthew still behind the counter at his family diner, caring for his sister's teenaged son, his nephew Owen. Rebecca's daughter Cassie and Owen quickly bond. They learn Owen's dearest wish is to have his mom, Zoe, for Christmas. Because Zoe is an Army sergeant deployed overseas in South Korea, this seems impossible. Nevertheless, his wish is hung on the official town Angel Tree. While Rebecca tries her very best to track down the Angel, Matthew is oddly mysterious and evasive, making her suspicious. Every time Rebecca snoops about the town, Matthew seems to be right there protecting the Angel's identity. In the meantime, she joins up with the town residents to grant the plethora of Tree wishes, including this one -- granting Zoe's son Owen his wish for his mom home for Christmas. Her ultimate on-line article is a compromise that makes everyone happy -- both her editor and her friend Matthew.