A billowing snowstorm just before Christmas break takes a single astronomy professor on an unexpected journey to love.

SYNOPSIS:

Astronomy professor Rian Foster finishes her last celestial lesson before heading home for Christmas. With students gone and school on hiatus, it’s her chance to get away.

Finishing last second preparations, she receives a call from her mother Terry. Distracted, Rian throws a couple things in her bag while her mother lovingly cajoles her to mind the family tree. Anxious not to retrace old steps, Rian begs off as her roommate, Shayne Tillman, enters for moral support.

Shayne is sympathetic, but she has her own issues. Her boyfriend, Leslie, is out of town and won’t be back for the holidays leaving Shayne alone with “240 channels and a box of chocolates.” Still, it’s better than joining Rian for the inevitable interrogation at the Fosters.

Christmas lights and tinsel wrap the stanchions and counter tops inside the airport lobby as familiar songs tumble overhead. Excited kids run back and forth, distracted parents find their gates, travelers of all shapes and sizes rush to and fro. Isn’t this what holiday travel is all about?

Rian, caught in the middle, grabs the last open seat at her gate. Next to her is a mother with two kids whose nervous energy is all over the place. When one of the kids takes off running, the mother chases leaving her seat an open invitation.

Sean Preston sees the semi-empty chair as an excuse to introduce himself. When the wayward child returns, spilling coffee into Rian’s lap, Sean comes to the rescue with heavy-duty paper napkins. Enamored, but frustrated, Rian leaves for quieter climes, miraculously finding the observation deck empty. Ah, blizzards.

Sean surprises her with a perfect refill, covertly gleaned from the counter girl at “The Maple Cove” coffee shop. They sit and talk, then share dinner in the little “Griddle Cakery” before a grease fire interrupts their evening. Sean springs into action, putting out the fire and saving a “critical” situation. After all, what’s a fire fighter to do? Well, E.M.T.

During the storm delay Rian and Sean spend unexpected hours together. It’s a magical moment out of time inevitably interrupted by original itineraries. Separate flights to separate plans leave only the memory of one great day.

Finally back in her childhood home, Rian suffers through her mother’s match making and hovering to blurt out that she met someone. Thrilled, her mother is excited to meet her son-in-law the fireman.

Christmas is saved, but only temporarily. Rian returns to her life, but can’t get Sean out of her mind. She calls fire stations all over the area searching for him, but it’s no use. When Terry unexpectedly drops in it’s exactly what she doesn’t need.

The gig is up and Terry’s crestfallen. Until, Sean surprises Rian at her office! He’s been searching for her the whole time too.

Foregoing his first choice medical school to take a chance on love, Sean settles in Rian’s town to pursue his dream, and her.

Despite an overbearing mother, a fake boyfriend and a fortuitous snowstorm it all works out for two star-crossed lovers at Christmas.