Page 37 of Postmarked December

“Sounds good.” He took a step into her personal space. “Thank you,” he said. “It was fun.”

“Yes, it was.” She smiled up at him.

“I’ll see you soon, yes?”

Her heart pattered. “Definitely.”

He flashed that million-dollar smile and then turned around and headed for the exit.

And with that, her whirlwind weekend was over. With a sigh, she took her bags and made her way to the shuttle that would take her to her car. As soon as she got her bags into the trunk and started her engine, she sent a text to Nick, telling him it was her and that she hoped he got home okay. She told him to text her whenever he wanted to meet up. Then she bit her lip and hit send, already missing him.

A relatively uneventful drive later, she stopped to unlock her mailbox on her way upstairs. Another red-and-white envelope was nestled among her mail. Toby’s last message floated into her mind: Something will be waiting for you…

When she got upstairs, she set the mail on the counter and purposely waited to open the envelope until she got settled. Using the residual calm she’d built up that weekend, she took her time unpacking, making a laundry pile next to the washer and dryer, and stowing her bags in the closet. She showered and slipped on the comfy tracksuit and fuzzy socks she liked to wear around the house. Then she clicked on the lights of her Christmas tree and gazed at it, finally taking it in. Until now, she hadn’t paid a lot of attention to it. But after this weekend, she began to see that, broken or not, this was her life, and she needed to make it into something. She ran a finger over the little guitar ornament—one of Toby’s choices.

Her phone rang. Marion.

“How was the flight?”

“Amazing.”

“Spill! Anthony's working on his legal presentation for tomorrow, and I'm dying to hear all about your trip.”

“Have you had dinner?” Heather asked. “I’m starving.”

“I have lasagna leftovers. Want me to bring some over?” Marion asked.

“That actually sounds amazing. I have nothing in my fridge.”

“I’m already on my way.”

She was falling back into real life easily. But now, a tiny seed of hope had begun to sprout. “Too late to ask you to bring wine?”

“It’s already in the bag.”

She grinned. “See you in a few.”

She got off the phone and lit a candle on the coffee table. When she did, the last note from Toby, mentioning candles, came to mind. She went to the counter, fished the envelope out of the pile, and opened it. Inside was a note and a bookmark with the logo of an old secondhand bookshop called Between the Stacks that she and Toby had visited.

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend. The fun isn’t over. I’ve got something waiting for you at the bookshop.

They’d been to Between the Stacks more times than she could recount. There wasn’t one particular event from the bookshop that stood out, but she had fond memories of all the times they’d visited together. What was most noticeable about this location was the absolute happiness she had felt doing the mundane with Toby. Nothing spectacular had occurred in the shop, but the way he’d put his hand on her back when they were looking through the books, or the quiet whispers in her ear while she was reading, was enough to sustain her for a lifetime. And she longed to have a real exchange of affection like that again.

She set the note on the counter and placed the bookmark on top. “Toby, can you hear me at all?”

As always, silence followed her question.

Not too long after, the door buzzed, and she let Marion in.

“It’s only been a weekend, but it feels like ages since we had our snowy girls’ night.” Marion gave her a hug and then put the leftovers in the kitchen. “I can’t wait to hear all about your trip.”

Heather preheated the oven. “The weekend was so surprising.” As she emptied the carrier bag of lasagna and French bread, she handed Marion a corkscrew for the wine and filled her in on everything she hadn’t been able to tell her on the phone.

Marion opened the bottle. “You positively glow when you talk about him.”

Heather bit back a grin and set two wine glasses on the counter. “It’s crazy, right? Last time you and I were together, I was wallowing in grief, watching my wedding video and wondering how my life would ever progress beyond that. Nick moved the needle in a matter of days. How did he do it?”

Marion filled their glasses. “Because you two were meant to be, obviously. You have an absolutely dreamy look on your face.”