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Her best friend, Becca, had gotten married last year. And while Becca had spent the last several years celebrating the holidays with her now-husband in some form, it felt so final now that they were married. Their marriage had made it official somehow: There would be no more tagging along to Becca’s family’s Christmas dinner, no more bingeing holiday movies and decorating cookies together. Because now Becca had a new family unit with her husband. And Arden was still just Arden.

It used to be just Arden and her mom. But her mom had moved to Costa Rica two years ago to be near her boyfriend’s family. Arden had visited them last Christmas, and it had been lovely. But she had decided not to this year. She hadn’t wanted it to turn into an every-year tradition, because Arden actually loved spending the holidays in her own home. She loved her home—her beloved Flamingo Cottage—even if she didn’t have much family to speak of. Her dad had a new, younger family up in Jacksonville. She rarely saw him.

With a sniff, she wiped her nose on her sleeve and opened her mom’s Instagram profile. She’d recently posted a new photo with her boyfriend on the beach. After scrolling through her pictures, Arden started to type in Peter’s name but stopped herself. She didn’t have to torture herself like this. She closed Instagram and scrolled through her other notifications.

There was an email from last night that she had missed.

Subject: Live Bravely request: Flamingo Cottage

Hi! Is your house available for the holidays?

Arden sat up straighter. She’d forgotten about this app. She’d used the home-swap service the last time she’d visited her mom in Costa Rica, when her mom’s guest room had been taken by her aunt and uncle.

She looked down at herself, practically glued to the couch, then looked around her tiny living room and laughed. She could either languish in misery here for the next two weeks, or she could go… somewhere else. Anywhere else. Where was this person from, anyway?

She opened Live Bravely and began a reply.

Chapter 3

Phoebe

Arden Torres: It could be! Where are you? I might be open to a swap.

Phoebe clasped her hands and squealed when the message popped up on her phone. She was sitting at her kitchen island in front of her laptop, editing a video about search engine optimization. She quickly abandoned it in favor of talking to the owner of that adorable pink house in Florida.

Phoebe Keller: I’m in Seattle! I know it’s a bit far… but I could really use a getaway.

“What are you squealing about over there?” Phoebe’s brother Sam asked from the couch, where he was munching on Doritos. He was there for no particular reason but to hang out. They had always been best friends, often getting together just to complain about the rest of their family.

“I might be doing a house swap,” Phoebe said as Arden’s response appeared.

Arden: Far is great, actually. And that’s almost as far as possible without leaving the country, haha. I’ve never been to Seattle. What’s it like? Ooh, is it snowy?

“A what?” Sam asked.

“A home exchange. Me to Florida. Flamingo Girl to Seattle.”

“Setting aside the fact that she’s called Flamingo Girl, when is this happening?”

“I’m not sure. She seems excited about the idea of snow. If I tell her it’s just rain, rain, and more rain, she might not want to come.”

Sam sat up, his wavy brown hair rumpled, and peered at her from over the back of the couch. “You can tell her that there’s snow in the forecast for Christmas. There is; it’s just, like, a five percent chance.”

“Perfect.” Phoebe typed back, Snow is in the forecast, so maybe we’ll have a White Christmas/Hanukkah! You’ll love it here! I went to Miami once. Some sunshine would heal me.

Impulsively, Phoebe did a search for the weather in High Springs, Florida. Today they had a high of seventy. In December! Phoebe crossed her fingers and literally prayed for Arden to agree to the swap.

Arden: High Springs is nothing like Miami. It’s a really small town. And there’s no beach. If you don’t want to come after all, I understand. I probably shouldn’t splurge on a plane ticket, anyway.

Phoebe: No! I do want to come. I want to see your small town. I want to get away from the city. I want to be somewhere where nobody knows my name.

Arden: Ha, I know that feeling. What happened?

Phoebe chuckled as she typed. She might as well be honest, right? Arden was a total stranger, but they might be staying in each other’s houses soon, which felt oddly personal.

Phoebe: I got fired from my job. I’m dreading telling my parents.

Arden: Ouch. I’m sorry.