Buffalo Valley (©2001)

This is the fourth book in the Dakota Series.
by Debbie Macomber

It's a season of change for a small prairie town Buffalo Valley, North Dakota, has discovered a will to survive, to prosper. And the outside world has discovered Buffalo Valley. A large retail conglomerate plans to move in, which would surely destroy the small independent businesses that have begun to succeed. Which might even destroy the town.
      It's a season of change for a man named Vaughn Kyle. He discovers that he's at an impasse. Just out of the army, he's looking for a place to live, a life to live. As Christmas draws near, he decides to visit his family in Grand Forks, North Dakota - while he waits for his reluctant fiancée to make up her mind.
      Vaughn decides to visit Buffalo Valley and Hassie Knight, the old woman who owns the pharmacy there. His parents named him after Hassie's son, who died in Vietnam. Although

he and Hassie have never met, she thinks of him almost as family, as a surrogate son. He arrives at her pharmacy one snowy day and finds not Hassie but a young woman named Carrie Hendrickson . . .
      Will the season bring peace and joy - to Vaughn and to the town?
      As he begins to love Carrie, as he grows close to Hassie, Vaughn has to question his feelings for the woman he thought he loved. He knows now that he wants to stay in Buffalo Valley and fight for its way of life. A life that's all about friends and family - not just at Christmas, but every day of the year.