“Aren’t you scared?” I ask, because I can’t be the only one between us trying to sort out how this would even work and how it would feel if it didn’t. If we tried and we failed.
Boone sighs. “When I came to this cabin, I was hurt…suffering. I was scared then. I hid from feeling anything else because I thought I had felt too much. Hiding kept me safe, but I also began to realize that it kept me from living, that I needed to feel again. And then I found you. What were the chances I’d find a woman in a blizzard at Christmas on the same road as I’d found Becca, but that this time I was able to save her? I think I was meant to find you, Kate.”
“But what if we just don’t work, Boone?” I ask.
“But what if we do, Kate?” he questions back.
I open my mouth to say something, but there’s a sound I haven’t heard for days—a car door closing. My eyes quickly flicker to the window by the door before the door swings wide open.
“Merry Christmas!” a woman exclaims loudly, her handsoverflowing with food. Her hair is dark and cascading in large curls around her face, and if she were about a foot taller, she might look like Boone.
Then a tall man with graying facial hair follows her in with my luggage. “We bring food and something that I’m guessing a woman named Kate is very much missing.”
I hop up from the couch, hurrying to my long-lost bag full of clothes that fit. “You are a Christmas angel!”
“Pretty sure that’s you, dear,” the woman laughs. “I’m Boone’s mom, Elizabeth, but you can call me Liz. This is Kurt, Boone’s dad and the love of my life.”
I smile at the introduction. “You’re the banana-bread queen.”
Her entire face lights up. “That’s me. I’m sorry we couldn’t get up here sooner to bring food. When Boone called and told me what happened, I immediately began trying to remember what was up here, and I was afraid you’d both starve.”
Boone stands up from the couch, striding toward his mom with open arms, wrapping them around her when he reaches her. “We didn’t starve. Kate is a great chef and teacher. She even taught me how to make an omelet.”
Liz’s eyes widen as she looks at me. “And it was edible?”
I nod my head, laughing. “Yes, very edible. Amazing, actually.”
“Let me help you with all of this,” Boone says to his mom as he grabs bags and dishes that she’s holding onto.
Then Liz’s mouth hangs wide open, and I follow the direction in which she is staring—the Christmas tree. “What’s this?”
“A Christmas tree,” Boone replies plainly.
“What is a Christmas tree doing in your cabin?” Liz questions, a thread of hope looped through her words.
“I didn’t want Kate to miss out on Christmas just because she was stuck with me,” Boone answers.
“He used the chicken coop lights,” I add, grinning.
Liz looks over at me. “Well, Kate, I wish he would have found you sooner. It’s about time there was good cooking and Christmas in this place.”
And I know she doesn’t mean anything permanent with her comment, but there’s something about it that causes my pulse to quicken. The Christmas snow globe Boone and I had been stuck in is no longer. Life outside the glass has entered, and Boone’s real life has resumed.
It is only hours until mine does, too.
I pick up my luggage and then turn to Kurt. “How did you find this?”
“Small-town perks,” Kurt replies. “Your rental is at our house, too. Somehow, mostly unscathed, all things considered.”
“Wow, thank you. I was really worried about Miranda, but I told myself she was made of steel or aluminum or whatever Mitsubishi Mirages are made of, and that she’d be fine. She really didn’t want to make the trek, you know. I wasn’t quite sure how I’d be able to get her back.” I ramble until I realize everyone is staring at me—Boone with amusement, his parents with curiosity.
“You named the car Miranda?” Liz finally asks.
I bite my lower lip. “Well, I figured naming the car I decided needed to be my trusty steed throughthe snow was not just a necessity, but an admirable thing to do. Turns out, she wasn’t so trusty, or maybe it was the driver, but either way, thank goodness Boone found us.”
Boone’s grin has doubled in size as my words have grown.
Finally, Liz laughs and replies, “Oh, I like you. You’re fun. I can see why Boone cut you down a tree.”
