Delaney drove a Dodge Charger, and since she wasn’t sure she could attach the Christmas tree to the top of her car, she’d borrowed her dad’s old work truck. Even though it was almost twice as old as they were, it was in good running condition, thanks to her dad’s constant repair. Still, as they chugged along down the highway, every bump sent Melody clutching the dashboard to steady herself, and before they were even a mile out of town, she’d given up on trying to drink the hot cocoa Delaney had brought her. The chocolate chip muffin, however, she had managed to devour. There were some perks to being best friends with the most talented baker in town.They were a few miles from Shepherdstown, the dusting of snow they’d gotten in Charles Town looking more like an inch or two here, though the main roads were clear, and the sky was dropping large, fluffy flakes on them. The GPS reminded Delaney to turn left in one mile, and

Michael was eagerly offering a particularly unimpressed reindeer a handful of hay he’d somehow managed to free from the bale in the corner of the enclosure, and Melody couldn’t help but admire his tenacity. “Thank you for helping Delaney out,” Melody said, walking alongside Reid at a leisurely pace. As long as they could see Michael, there was really no need to rush.“I’m kind of surprised she didn’t have that worked out already,” he replied, his hands deep in his coat pockets. “She really didn’t know what she was going to say if she couldn’t find him?”“Well, in her defense,” Melody offered, “sometimes it’s a lot harder to actually carry out those types of plans once you’re in the situation. I mean… sometimes even the best planning doesn’t quite go as as expected.”“Yeah?” he asked. &ldq

The phone rang twice before her mother answered with a cheery but distracted, “Hello?”“Hey, Mom. How are you?”“Hi, Melody. I’m good. Just getting some baking done. Are you at the tree farm?”“Yes,” Melody replied. “I just had a quick question.”“Is it snowing there?” her mother continued, as if she hadn’t heard Melody’s last remark.“Flurries, nothing too heavy.”“Oh, it must be so pretty. And did Delaney find her farmer?”Images of Delaney standing next to an older gentleman with a pitchfork next to a pigsty filled her mind, and Melody stifled a giggle. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Delaney still talking to the man who must be Josh. “She did. She’s talking to him now.”“Wonderful. And

Reid borrowed one of the many saws the Taylors had on hand for their customers to use to cut down their trees and was given two tree tags, one for Melody and one for himself. Then, he set out to find his son and their new friend. It didn’t take him long to spy them only a few rows away from where he and Melody had been sitting watching Michael play. He knew his son well enough to anticipate a lengthy selection process.He made his way through the snow, which was now deep enough to cover his boots, thinking about his conversation with Melody. She had been more forthcoming with information than he had expected, though he still wasn’t exactly sure what it was about Christmas music that made her so upset. It sounded like her father really loved this time of year, and being a musician, he must have had a great fondness for the holiday classics. Maybe that was one of the reasons why Melody was struggling today. The holiday season must hold a lot of

Once he was out of earshot, Reid turned to Melody and said, “I’m sorry about that. He asks so many questions. We are working on appropriate questions versus inappropriate questions, but he doesn’t really get that yet.”“It’s fine,” she replied, and her smile looked more genuine this time. “I just wasn’t sure what to say. I’m guessing his reason for asking doesn’t have as much to do with what I want for Christmas as it does with what he wants.”Reid’s forehead crinkled. “What do you mean?” he asked, not sure what she was getting at.Melody cleared her throat. “Nothing. I mean, I might be way off base….”“Melody, what are you trying to say?” he asked, though he was beginning to understand what she was getting at.“I just wonder if all of this—wanting to s