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“Are you sure everything is okay?”

“Yes,” Brooke answered automatically and then hesitated and shook her head. “No, not really. I have to call my parents, and that won’t be an easy conversation. I was a little relieved we didn’t have a signal, but there’s no avoiding it now.”

Izzy wasn’t sure what to say. She wouldn’t have wanted to call her family, either, but Brooke had been on the way to stay with hers, so presumably they had a close relationship.

“Families can be complicated,” she said vaguely, and Brooke straightened.

“You’re right about that. There’s a lot of pressure.” She smiled. “Ignore me. You have your own problems, I’m sure. I shouldn’t be bothering you with mine.”

“When the problems involve family, it’s easier to talk to a stranger,” Izzy said. “Someone on the outside. And it looks as if we’re going to be spending Christmas together, so we’re not going to be strangers for long.”

It actually helped to talk to someone whose family life wasn’t shiny and perfect, either. It made her feel less alone to remember that plenty of people were dealing with problems of their own that became more challenging at this time of year.

Brooke gave her a curious look. “How about you? I’m sure you have a bunch of people worrying about you, too.”

She almost told the truth then, perhaps because Brooke had been so open with her, but the words couldn’t break through the wall she’d constructed to protect herself.

Also, Brooke was evidently stressed about the current situation so it didn’t seem tactful to confess that being trapped here with Jason and a bunch of friendly strangers was her idea of a happy reprieve and a thousand times better than the Christmas she’d planned for herself.

She compromised with a half-truth. “My family is away this year. I’ve been working flat out so I was looking forward to a quiet time at home in Boston.”

Brooke’s face brightened. “I love Boston. I wish we’d flown there instead of Manhattan but we couldn’t get the flights to work. Matt was working right up until the last minute.”

“You live in London?”

“Yes, but I was raised in a town not far from here.” She paused as if she was about to say something more but then stopped herself. “I need to make that call and you need to find out about chicken pot-pie.”

“I’ll do that.” Izzy sniffed the air. “Something smells amazing. Those cookies must be out of the oven.”

“You should go and sample them. Elsie is a good cook so it’s probably safe.”

Izzy remembered cooking with her mother and felt a sudden pang.

“The place smells like Christmas.”

“Yes. All we need to do now is make it look like Christmas, but that will be more of a challenge. I’m trying not to think about our beautiful tree back home and all the decorations.” Brooke turned and headed back to her bedroom.

Izzy stared after her.

All we need to do now is make it look like Christmas.

She could do that. Staging houses was her job. She could certainly stage one for Christmas. True, she didn’t have access to any of the resources she usually used, but she was creative. She’d find a way. And surely, the children would like to help? Children loved making things, didn’t they?

When Brooke had made her phone call, Izzy would grab her and together they’d come up with a plan.

But first, she needed to run the menu for the evening past Jason.

She headed back up the stairs and paused.

She could hear Jason’s voice through the door.

“I’m disappointed, too. I miss you.” There was a pause. “I know. I love you, too, but we’ll see each other soon. It’s just one Christmas. There will be plenty more in the future.” Another pause and then he sighed. “How did I know you were going to ask that? The answer is no. You’re my girl, you know that. My one and only.”

Izzy let go of the door handle and stood staring at the door. The answer to what? What was the question?

You’re my girl.

My one and only.