It had been an amazing year. Carl Kincaid's entire life had changed. It was a far cry from that lonely Louisiana hospital room. Little did he know then, that some strangers would change his life! He was happier now than he had ever been, even though it required getting used to. Now he had a family and a pile of friends. He was stepfather to eight grown kids and all their families. Helping them face the changes in their lives while building a new life for his new wife and himself, required a lot of energy. There was always a challenge somewhere or something that made him proud, joyful or stark raving mad. He was aware he had become a petunia. It was the very thing that he had spent his life ridiculing. Now it meant a lot to Carl Kincaid, the loner who needed no one, to be the best petunia he could. Carl had never been one to settle for second place, and if he was going to have a life in a petunia patch, it would be the best Petunia Patch.