Texas

Young Billie Ames naively fell for the exciting pilot Moss Coleman at the Philadelphia Navy Yard during World War II. Within a few months, she was pregnant, married, and traveling across the country to Austin...to the 250,000-acre spread known as Sunbridge and into the tantalizing world of the Texas rich. In a vast land dominated by the industrious Colemans, Billie fights to maintain control of her life and her marriage.

Maggie, the daughter of Moss and Bill Coleman, has invited all the passionate family, plus several hundred guests, to a July 4 barbecue to celebrate the new sense of family pride she's determined to forge. But whether it's ambition, jealousy, rivalry, or passion, each Coleman has a drama of his or her own to face, and each will feed the flames of Texas heat.

The Coleman family's kingdom faces new challenges on the horizon as lone survivor Amelia starts a fateful journey recalling a troubled past controlled by her father's iron will. After years alone, Cary Assante sweeps into her life, wiping away the shadows of tragedy with a young man's fierce passion. Together they build a billion-dollar dream. But now her husband's success may be the beginning of the end of their fragile marriage.

Billie Coleman Kingsley, beloved matriarch of the clan and founder of a fabulously successful fashion empire, is dying. As her family gathers together in this time of heartbreak, the indomitable Billie offers new hope to heal the rifts that separate them. Even as her own strength fails, Billie instills courage, fortitude, and her conviction that life goes on after tragedy.