“Are you guys sad neither of your trees ended up being chosen?” Lance asked. He lifted his cup of hot chocolate to his mouth for a drink.
“I’m not,” Holden admitted. “As my mom says, things just have a way of working out.”
He squeezed his hand around Rachel’s and she gripped back. Her eyes lifted, something he couldn’t quite pinpoint in her forget-me-not blues.
“As many of you know,” the Mayor started in again. “Every year, we select a tree from the yard of one of our community members to serve as our official town square Christmas tree. It takes years—decades, even—for these trees to reach their full height. And each holiday, it’s a competition to see whose will be chosen. But every year, we have had fewer and fewer trees entered. This year in particular, unfortunate circumstances led to a last-minute scramble to secure a tree for the lighting. For a moment, we feared there would be no tree at all.”
Holden felt Rachel’s fingers tighten around his. Her body leaned into his side and he swore she bounced a little, like a child with a secret they couldn’t keep contained.
“But in the eleventh hour, Rachel Joy came through with this glorious, thirty foot, artificial noble fir, and we could not be more thankful for her generous donation,” Mayor Thornton bellowed over the cheers his announcement elicited. “This tree will allow us to continue our holiday tradition without altering the very landscape that makes our beautiful town what it is. So, without further ado, let the countdown to the lighting begin.” The Mayor led the crowd. “Ten…nine…eight…”
Holden’s gaze dropped to Rachel. “You arranged this?”
“I asked if I could adjust my holiday bonus a little,” she said with a humble shrug. “Apparently, I’m the first to request a Christmas tree instead of a check. Go figure.”
“You are amazing.”
The chanting around them rose in volume until everyone shouted excitedly as one. “Three…two…one!”
Flashing on in brilliant unison, the strands on the tree and a kilowatt of power lit up the entire square. Possibly even the mountainside. Holden had never seen a lovelier sight, but some of that had to do with the person by his side who lit up his spirit, his life, his whole world. His heart felt like it could burst. And when the ladder on the fire truck parked off to the side began to lift, followed by his father cautiously climbing the rungs with a glittering star in his grip, Holden knew that everything—each moment leading up to this very one and all the ones to come—worked together for good.
And in the end, that made them all winners.
EPILOGUE
One Year Later
Rachel clasped her hands around Holden’s waist and held on for dear life. She couldn’t believe Scout could keep their pace as the snowmobile zoomed down the hill. The dog loped happily along, snow spraying from her paws meeting the powder.
She was such a great pup. In the year since her validation as an Avalanche Rescue Dog, she’d already put her skills to use in two lifesaving efforts. And all she’d asked for in return was a game of tug-of-war.
Rachel couldn’t possibly be more proud. That pride transferred to Scout’s handler too. Holden often shied away from being called a hero, but that wasn’t a label he could dodge anymore. She always knew he was one, but those rescues just made it official.
But today, they were out on the slopes purely for play, not work. Rachel had taken the day off from the floral shop. In recent months, she’d picked up a few shifts here and there until Trinity eventually extended the invitation to partner with her in the flower shop endeavor. The metal sign above the door with their new name, Joyful Blooms, still made her heart skip each time she walked beneath it.
It was close to the same exhilarating rush she felt as they careened down the mountain.
“You want to take a break for a bit?” Holden angled his head back and shouted over the hum of the snowmobile.
Rachel nodded her reply.
He slowed near one of her favorite lookouts and clicked off the engine. She loved this view. From here, they could see all of Snowdrift, their sweet mountain town with its snow-tipped trees and cozy cabins, along with a quaint downtown at the heart of it all.
Scout plopped onto the snow, then rolled on her back, swishing side to side. She looked like the golden retriever version of a snow angel.
“You hungry?” Holden asked. He removed the backpack from Rachel’s shoulders. With Rachel at his back for the ride, it only made sense that she wore it instead. She hadn’t asked what was inside, and her growling stomach was relieved at the thought that it might be food.
“I am,” she said. “Always prepared, huh?”
He smiled. “Most of the time.”
They found a seat on a fallen log, and Holden unzipped the pack. He pulled out a plastic bag of cookies, all frosted with holiday reds and greens. Scout perked up and trotted over, and Holden ruffled up her ears and said something Rachel couldn’t quite decipher.
The dog scampered away.
“When did you have time to bake?” Rachel took a bite out of the sugar cookie on top of the stack.
“You know me. I’m a baking machine.” There was an odd quality to his tone that Rachel didn’t recognize.
