Holiday with You - Claudia Burgoa Page 0,24

finding a job in my field. I’ll eat through my savings in the first few months. I won’t be able to afford my apartment. Joining the circus seems harder than I thought it’d be back when I was eight and planned on leaving home because Mom made me eat Brussels sprouts.” She makes gagging noises. I laugh. “Honestly, I don’t know how long I’ll have to stay. If I don’t see any progress tomorrow, I’m going to call Mom and see if she wants to come for Christmas.”

Maybe I’ve jumped to the wrong conclusion about her priorities. She seems disappointed not to be spending the holidays with her mother.

“How about the rest of your family?”

She gives me a strange glance and continues looking at the ground as we walk along the freshly shoveled sidewalk.

“It’s been the two of us since my parents divorced,” she answers. “Dad remarried, moved to New York, and we never saw him again. She made every celebration special until I left for college. We never had a big family to celebrate with. Christmas was usually opening the presents, having pancakes for breakfast, and watching holiday movies.”

My first thought is how lonely that sounds and how, at times, I’ve wished for a quieter Christmas. But then I pause and consider all my siblings and my parents. Christmas is . . . well, it’s joyful. Loud. Fun. It’s one of my favorite times of the year, and Perry has just made it even more special. And given the crazy-silly side of Audrey I’ve now seen a few times, I think she’d love it. Just like we do.

“Spend the holidays with us,” I suggest. “We have everything in Winter Valley. The white Christmas, the caroling, and a noisy family.”

“That’s not my style.”

“You can’t say that until you try it,” I insist. “Actually, tomorrow, you’re coming with us to choose our Christmas tree.”

I don’t understand how this woman makes me spew nonsense all the time. Did I just invite her to spend the day with Perry and me?

Chapter Thirteen

Audrey

The winding mountain road has a steep drop off on my side.

Colin expertly maneuvers the truck on the slick surface as though he does this every day. He probably does.

It’s a long way down. And those boulders at the bottom are big.

I shiver, trying not to think about careening off the edge.

“Are you cold? Want me to put the window up?” He places a comforting hand on my thigh for a second before returning it to the wheel.

His eyes never appear to leave the road ahead.

“No. It’s refreshing.”

His cracked window and the crisp air floating inside the truck are keeping me grounded. I’ve been on treacherous roads before and haven’t been bothered, but this one is getting to me.

I was thrilled when he’d asked me to tag along to help them get a Christmas tree. We’d passed a thousand on our way here. For some strange reason, I thought we’d be able to get one in the valley. On relatively flat ground. Silly me.

A horn blares as a tow truck passes us. Colt and Morgan wave crazily as they zoom around.

My stomach does a dip, just witnessing their speed.

“Shouldn’t they slow down?” I ask, still wondering what was wrong with one of the trees we’d passed miles back.

“Probably,” Colin says. “They just want to be the first ones to our special spot.”

“Are we almost there, Daddy?” Perry cranes her neck from her car seat in the back seat of the truck.

“Not far now, Cupcake.” He glances back at his daughter with a fondness that melts the ice around my heart.

After my broken relationship with Stan, I never dared to dream about moments like this. In my wildest imagination, it had never been this good anyway. I didn’t have much reality to draw from.

This sense of community had been missing from my life. I’ve never had it, and now that I’ve had a taste, I realize just how much I’ve craved it even when I couldn’t exactly put it into words.

We crest the ridge that gives way to a mountain pass vast with evergreens and a carpet of snow. It’s beautiful.

Up ahead, the tow truck turns and disappears into the tree line. Colin slows and follows.

Colt unlocks a gate and swings it wide open. Once both trucks are through, he secures it again.

“What is this place?” I ask, a little in awe.

“Great-grandma and great-grandpa’s secret hideaway,” Perry answers proudly.

Colin looks amused. “On my dad’s side. And it was actually my great-great-grandparents who bought