Christmas in Evergreen. Nancy Naigle

      She’d miss this place. It had taken three rounds of painting the exterior of the Cape Cod to finally get the right shade of blue last year, and now she was leaving it behind. She’d kept the holiday decorating to a minimum since she’d be gone for the week of Christmas, but she was glad she’d taken the time to swag the pine around the porch and railings. The decorations were cheerful. She wouldn’t even have a porch to decorate in her new apartment.

      Oh well, less stuff to put away in January. With all Spencer seems to be planning, I’ll need the extra time.

      She walked carefully up the snowy sidewalk, then took the steps to the porch and unlocked the front door. Inside, stacks of labeled boxes filled part of the dining room. She’d finish packing when she got back from DC.

      She set her phone and purse down, then got her suitcase and tote bag from her bedroom and wheeled them into the dining room. She did a quick dash through the house, unplugging things and checking for forgotten items.

      Her cell phone rang. She ran to grab it from where she’d set it down on the old sideboard she’d refinished. The Christmas cards she’d received reflected back from the beveled 1900’s mirror. She recognized the number on the caller ID immediately.

      “Spencer,” she said. “Hey, I was just heading out the door.”

      “Happy ‘moving to DC day’!”

      “Hey, it’s not ‘moving to DC day’,” Allie reminded him. “It’s ‘coming to DC to sign the lease on my apartment day’.”

      “I’m sorry, do they make a card for that?” Spencer teased.

      “They make a card for everything.” She grabbed her new rolling suitcase, slid her carryon bag over the handle, and headed for the door as they talked.

      “I can’t believe we’re going to be living in the same city together. Five blocks apart.”

      “Well, the commute will definitely be a lot easier.” Allie lifted her suitcase and went down the front steps, then rolled it to the truck.

      “So, I’ve got some incredible stuff lined up for us. Dinners, parties, oh, and on Christmas Day, you and I will be going to my boss’s swanky estate in the Hamptons,” Spencer said. “One of the partners even said that we can use his helicopter to get there!”

      “A helicopter?” She swung her carry-on into the back of the truck. Who flies around in a helicopter? And was she seriously traveling all the way from Vermont to DC only to end up halfway back home in The Hamptons? “Really…” She pushed the handle down on the suitcase, then heaved it over the wooden rails into the truck bed, too.

      “Better get used to it, okay? This is going to be a brand-new start for us, Allie.”

      And a huge change for me. I don’t mind a little slow, quiet time for reflection now and then. “Right. And I’m excited about that.” Her mom’s concerns echoed in her mind. “I just want to make sure that we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.”

      “Allie. I get it. I totally get it, okay? I just want to put the last couple of months behind us. I mean, this is Christmas. The time for new beginnings.”

      “Absolutely. And you know, also… I love swanky parties.” She hoped he bought that. She’d never even been to one. She climbed into the driver’s seat of her significantly less-than-swanky ’56 Ford pickup truck and slammed the door. She’d been to Spencer’s office before. Now that was swanky. She pictured him sitting at his desk the day she’d met him there for lunch. The lunch he’d ended up not being able to go to. Instead, he’d ordered fancy French food for them to enjoy while he’d talked on a conference call. She’d have rather gotten a hot dog from the cart downstairs, but he’d been pretty pleased with himself for coming up with that contingency plan when the unscheduled meeting had popped up on his calendar.

      He worked out of a corner office with heavy, dark wooden furniture and plush leather couches, nicer than a lot of people would have in their house. The view was amazing: the whole skyline of D.C., with the Washington Monument towering right in the center of it all. Spencer’s crocodile leather chair was probably what she remembered most. She’d never seen anything like it, and who knew crocodile leather could be so soft? He’d let her sit in it, and it had been so cushy she hadn’t wanted to get back up. She’d wished for crocodile boots ever since.

      That visit should have given her a hint at the highfalutin future they’d have together, but now, with her moving there, things were beginning to get real.

      “Beautiful,” Spencer said. “I should get back to work, though. I can’t wait to see you tonight.”

      “All right. I’ll talk to you soon. Bye.” She disconnected the call. Her truck was decorated in garland with wreaths on the grill and tailgate. It had been the first truck Grandpa had ever bought for himself. He’d had many others over the years but had never let this one go. It had been so special to him, and because of that, it was extra special to her. Special. Not swanky. It would be out of place on the busy streets of Washington, D.C. But that could be a good thing. Not too many people had a truck like this. It would be a conversation starter.

      Allie sat taller in the seat. “I can do swanky.” She put her phone down and imagined her new life in DC. She had shopping to do. Swanky was hardly how’d she describe even the dressiest outfit she’d packed.

      Ready to get this adventure started, she cranked her truck. It whirred and groaned, but didn’t fire up. She dropped her head to the steering wheel. Not again.

Chapter Four

      Ryan Bellamy was thankful his in-laws were still so involved in his daughter’s life. He was lucky they only lived a couple of hours away. Telling them about the change in plans for Christmas this year had made him nervous, but he couldn’t bear another Christmas like last year.

      He was determined to make this one as opposite as possible from that.

      His in-laws had been understanding about him wanting to take Zoe away, rearranging their schedule to spend time with her at the beginning of her school break instead of on Christmas Day, as had been tradition since Zoe was just a baby.

      It was hard for them all, going through Christmas without Sarah.

      The two-hour drive to pick up Zoe had made him melancholy. The house had seemed so quiet without Zoe around the last few days.

      The thirty-minute ferry ride flew by. He’d daydreamed it away in what seemed like only a moment. He jogged to his car and waited to disembark.

      Once he got back on the road, he returned calls, using the Bluetooth so he could keep both hands on the wheel. It had too noisy with the wind to do that on the ferry. He glanced at the speedometer on the rental car. He’d set the cruise control, but these small towns’ speed limits going up and down always kept him on his toes.

      Finally, he made it to his in-laws’ house. Panic swept through him as memories from past Christmases ascended on him.

      He hadn’t even taken his key from the ignition when Zoe bounded out of the house, running toward him. She’d missed him, too. He jumped out of the car, picked her up, and swung her around. Zoe made his heart complete. He shared quick thank-yous and goodbyes with his in-laws, then got right back on the road.

      He skipped the ferry and went the long way around. This Christmas would be like no other, starting right now. No ferry ride.

      That was the plan, and he’d make one hundred percent certain he succeeded. Zoe deserved a happy holiday, and he was going to be sure she got it.

      The roads were clear as they drove through the Vermont woods. Snow covered everything else around them. The trees bowed from the weight on their branches, and every once in a while, a pile of snow fell like a mini-avalanche.

      Zoe sat quietly in the backseat. He was happy to have