Sleeping in proved harder than Memory had expected. She was up before 8:00, showered, dressed, and puttering around the house, wondering what to do with herself. Going to the shop early wasn’t really an option. Ellie had already sent a text that morning that said she’d better not dare show up before 10:00. After texting her sister and requesting five plush dogs for the snowman project, Memory settled down to watch a Christmas movie she hadn’t seen for a few years before she headed to the shop.Ellie had everything under control, despite the fact that there were plenty of customers inside when Memory came in. All of the shelves were stocked, the store was clean, and somehow, everyone she asked had already been helped with finding what they were looking for, even though Ellie was behind the cash register. Not only was the large table gone, so was another piece of furniture—a bookcase that had been in the corner for as long as Memory

The mayor didn’t have a microphone out in the field, so he had to use a megaphone to get everyone’s attention. The loud blare he used to do so had Memory wishing she’d worn earmuffs. A few kids screamed, so the first thing Mayor Charles said was, “Pardon—pardon me. Didn’t mean to startle everyone. Good afternoon, and welcome to the Christmas Falls twenty-first annual Snowman Build Off!” He paused while everyone cheered, grinning from ear to ear as if he had invented the competition to begin with. Once the crowd died down a bit, he continued. “Teams will have thirty minutes to complete the build of an original, unique snowman—or snowwoman—intended to wow our judges. The only rules are that only two people can compete on each team, you must follow the time guidelines, and the entire snow person must be made of snow, with the exception of the nose, eyes, mouth, arms and/or legs, and any clothing required. Accessorie

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” She shook her head, pulling her thoughts away from where they’d drifted to, the fact that her grandma wasn’t there with the rest of the family, and then turned to consider where she should start rolling the bottom so that it would end up where she wanted it to. With a decent plan, she dug in, gathering as much snow as she could into her arms and then working it into a ball, though it was wider than it was tall. She worked it around the ground in their area, noticing Dak had moved away a bit to start on the middle so they wouldn’t be needing the same snow. In the back of her mind, she noted he’d called her Mem, something no one had ever done before. It was odd—but she sort of liked it, kind of like when her dad called her Ree.Memory rolled up what she thought was enough snow for the bottom and then backed up a minute to look at it. She glanced at Dak and saw he had the middle and was working on t

Dak reached over and put his hand on her arm, squeezing it slightly. She looked up at him, sinking into his chocolate brown eyes. He didn’t say anything, only held her glance for a second, and then let go, getting up to go start hooking the dogs to the snowman. He didn’t have to say anything, though. The brief contact, even through her coat, had been enough to let her know how he felt, and a rush of warmth rippled to her core, understanding and support renewing her strength in a way she hadn’t experienced since Grandma had left her.Memory couldn’t dwell on it. She had to finish the snowman. Leaving the dogs to Dak, she cleared the bags and other items out of the way, taking all of the trash from the collars and leashes and as many empty bags as she could and shoving them inside of one another until she was left with one small brown paper bag with handles. She moved that aside and started working on the snow.It

Cornerstone Baptist Church was nicely decorated for Christmas, with three large trees on the stage behind the pastor, twinkling with white lights, red and gold trimmings reflecting the Christmas spirit. That wasn’t what was keeping Dak’s mind from focusing on the sermon though—it was the woman sitting in the pew in front of him, all the way at the other end. He knew he needed to listen to what the pastor was saying, but Memory looked so beautiful in the bright blue sweater she was wearing. It made her eyes glitter like sapphires. Not that she’d even looked at him for more than a few seconds. But for Dak, it had been enough to keep his mind wandering.Ellie was sitting next to him, one of her new friends and the woman’s husband on the other side, and they were all captivated by the sermon. Who wouldn’t be this time of year? The story of how God sent his son to Earth as a tiny baby who would save the world was one of the