“You can tell me anything,” I promised her. No matter how much it hurt or how deep it cut, I’d hear anything she had to say.
“We don't want to go home. We want to stay with you, Chris. We miss you,” Noelle announced.
I expected Holly to apologize and try to take back her daughter's words, but she didn’t flinch. Noelle had said what Holly was struggling to.
“You want to stay?” I clarified, my gaze bouncing between the two people I never wanted to let go.
Holly didn’t use words. Instead, she nodded gently.
I couldn’t help myself. I leaned forward, captured her face in my hands, and kissed her like my life depended on it.
When I pulled back, Holly was smiling. “I want you to stay, too. I love you, Holly Star.” I declared, never meaning the words more than I did in that moment.
“I love you, too, Chris. I’m so sorry I screwed it up.”
“Sweetheart, you didn’t screw it up. This is us and it’s perfect,” I promised her, pulling her out of the car and spinning her around in a circle.
“What about me?” Noelle called out.
Before we could answer, she scrambled out of the car and ran over to where we were, wrapping herself around our legs. Standing there, with the snow falling, I felt complete. Holly and Noelle were my family, and I was never letting them go.
epilogue
HOLLY
It had beentwo years since I’d broken down in Evergreen Lake and I’d never looked back. Noelle and I had packed up our lives and made the move permanently. Chris had moved out of his apartment above the garage, and we lived in a small home on the outskirts of town with views overlooking the lake.
“Hurry up, Mom, we'll be late,” Noelle complained.
She was standing by the front door all dressed and ready to go. My eight-year-old daughter who was going on eighteen. She was as feisty as they came, but she was also smart and kind so I was okay with that.
She’d taken the move so well. Her grades had never been better, and she made a good group of friends.
I made it to the mud room and finished getting ready.
“Where’s Dad?” Noelle asked.
“He’s meeting us there,” I assured her.
A few months ago, Noelle asked Chris if she could call him dad. The man cried, and hugged her, and promised he’d be the best dad a girl could ever ask for. I knew it was one promise he’d never break.
“Let’s go then. We don’t want to miss it!”
“I’m coming. I’m coming,” I repeated, patting my pocket to make sure I had my keys and phone.
Tonight was the Christmas tree lighting in the square. It had become a tradition that each year, we went and watched the tree being lit up for the first time before wandering down to the festival. Tonight, though, I had something special planned, a little surprise for my husband.
Last Christmas, Chris and I got married. It was a small ceremony by the lake with just our friends. My father and wife number four, Alicia, were too busy in France or maybe it was Switzerland to make it back, so Noelle and I walked down the aisle together. It was just us, and it was perfect.
I drove into town with Noelle ignoring me every mile. She was definitely up to something, but she wouldn’t spill the beans. But I’d get it out of her. I always did.
I pulled up outside the garage and Noelle jumped out and darted inside. By the time I made it in, she was already tugging Chris’s hand trying to drag him out the door.
“Hold on a second. I need to lock up,” he told her, trying to calm her down. Yeah, good luck with that. All week, we’d promised her if she was good and cleaned her room, she could have hot chocolate and a candy at the tree lighting. What she didn’t know was that after the tree was all lit up, she was heading to her friend Dana’s house for a sleepover, giving Chris and me the house to ourselves.
Chris went and washed up, then pulled on his coat before coming over to greet me.
“Hey, beautiful.” He smiled, dropping a quick kiss on my cheek.
