Chapter Thirty-Six

Holly

Holly sat before a roaring fire, watching the flames jump and dance around a yule log. She wondered if it would be appropriate to put another shot of rum in her hot cocoa or if three was already too many.

She wanted to feel happy. It was Christmas Eve. She was warm and full of good food. Her father had made his famous pot roast and she’d eaten enough mashed potatoes that she was probably at least fifty percent potato herself. There would soon be presents and cookies.

There was every reason to be happy and content. But, all she could think about was Nathan.

So, she sat on the floor in front of the fire and drank rum.

It was her annual place to sit on Christmas Eve. Holly and Mark had already watched the old Claymation version of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Now they would exchange books as was their tradition.

When Holly was a little girl, they used to do this every year. Her mother would pick out an educational book with beautiful pictures for her. One year, she got an encyclo