Cadence of Cranberries - Valerie Comer Page 0,41

than her tiny dreams of loving Charlie with the blessing of their families.

Christmas Eve by himself had been bad enough for the past dozen years, but then he’d had no expectations. He’d envisioned spending this evening with Winnie. Sure, her children would be around them, but they’d done pretty well last week on their baking day, and he’d hoped for a few kisses at the end of the evening.

Silly him, forgetting the entire Santoro clan. Of course, Winnie would have plans with Al’s family. From everything Charlie had seen, that family was a driving force in Bridgeview. A couple of pleasant encounters with Ray, Franco, and Dino didn’t mean he’d be issued an invitation to the inner sanctum any time soon.

He got that. He did.

But he hated being at loose ends on Christmas Eve. There was no service at Bridgeview Bible Church, so he’d driven across the city to the church he’d attended up until a month ago. The program had been nice enough. A few people had smiled and nodded at him, but he’d made no real friends there. He hadn’t even noticed until tonight.

Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful. Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Joy to the World. The familiar carols filled the sanctuary with its perfect acoustics.

Charlie drove the long way home, trying to admire the gaily lit houses and yards, but his heart wasn’t in it. He managed to convince himself there was no point in winding through Bridgeview to catch a glimpse of Winnie. He knew she was at Al’s mother’s house. And he knew he hadn’t been invited.

Had he expected to be? They’d only been out on one real date, so it was likely an unrealistic hope, but he’d thought the cookie baking day counted. It had seemed to until Dominic phoned and ruined the mood he’d been building.

He pulled into the roastery yard and glanced over at the newly renovated house. It was finished, had been for a few days now, but he hadn’t moved over yet. He’d been busy with Winnie... until he hadn’t been. Now, the pristinely renovated house seemed as empty as his life, all dressed up with nowhere to go. No one to care.

Charlie unlocked the door to his apartment above the roastery and trudged up the steps. He hadn’t even bothered to decorate. Katri had done it the past couple of years in Seattle, and he hadn’t really thought about it much in the past month. He’d gotten his bits of holiday flavor with Winnie.

But Winnie wasn’t Christmas. Jesus was.

He dug around on Spotify until he found a selection of Christmas carols then he settled into his comfy chair with a decaf and some of Winnie’s biscotti and opened his Bible app to reread the Christmas story.

Emmanuel.

God with us.

Yes, he needed to reprioritize. Find his grounding again in the birth of Jesus.

And then his phone rang.

Chapter Sixteen

It was past midnight on Christmas Eve. The kids were in bed — even Gabriella had returned from an after-party at Brittany and Ava’s apartment.

Winnie had changed into her flannel pajamas and fuzzy robe before tucking a few items into the kids’ stockings. Now she sat curled up in her comfy chair with a mug of hot chocolate, mounded with frothy whipped cream, but to say she was enjoying the quiet ambience would have been a lie.

Her gaze drifted to the mantel where the five stockings hung. Empty hooks sat on either end. She and Al had used to exchange stocking gifts, too, but it was so much easier to leave those mementoes tucked away. This was their third Christmas without those stockings. The third without Al.

She let her mind drift over highlights of Christmases past. The year Brittany had been a newborn. The year they’d taken a family trip to Florida over the holidays with her parents. The year Landon had broken his leg in a skiing accident a few days before.

So many memories. Al figured in them, larger than life. Always strong. Always laughing. Always bold.

Blinking away the melancholy thoughts, Winnie took an absentminded sip of her hot chocolate and tipped the cup a little too far, dousing her upper lip in whipped cream. She dabbed it with a tissue, her mind sliding from Al to Charlie with that one gesture.

Oh, Charlie.

Why did everything have to be so complicated? How could she soothe Michael’s misgivings and bring back the sunny boy he used to be before his father died? How could she set Dominic’s mind at rest over the strangeness of