Page 1 of Mistletoe and Holly

CHAPTER1

HOLLY

“What doyou want for Christmas this year, pumpkin?” I asked my eight-year-old daughter as I slowly navigated the icy roads to the only elementary school in Lake Serenity, Vermont.

Harper was uncharacteristically quiet, and I glanced over at her as we stopped at a red light. Her eyes were downcast, and her face was scrunched, like she was deep in thought. I could tell she was trying to figure out if she wanted to tell me what she actually wanted or just tell me she didn’t know what she wanted, like she’d done for the past couple of birthdays and Christmases.

Ever since her father had died in a car accident two and a half years ago, it was like the magic of the holiday was gone. My dad and I – with the help of the rest of our chosen family – still tried to do everything we could to make sure Christmas was memorable for Harper, but it just wasn’t the same anymore. For any of us. I desperately wanted to do something to make it fun and happy again, the way Christmas was supposed to be, but I just didn’t know how.

Maybe it was because, even after all this time, I still didn’t know how to do this without Owen. How to be the sole breadwinner and keep a roof over my daughter’s head while still making sure I spent time with her and nurtured her emotional wellbeing too. How to be a loving, caring mother, but also be firm and discipline her when I needed to.

How to be a single parent.

“What is it, sweet pea?” I prodded. “Whatever it is, if it’s something I can give you, you know I will.”

“You’ll think it’s stupid,” Harper mumbled.

My lips turned up a little. “No, I won’t. I promise.”

“I want to get my ears pierced. Bella and Avery both got theirs pierced this year.”

The small smile that was playing on my lips turned into a full-blown grin. That was easy, and it gave me something to work with for some inexpensive gifts for her to open on the actual holiday, too.

“That’s not stupid at all,” I told her. “You know it’s going to hurt, though, right? And that it’s a wound you’ll have to take care of for a little while afterward so it can heal properly?”

“Duh,” she scoffed with a giggle.

I chuckled as I pulled into the circular driveway in front of the school to let her out. “Okay. I’ll make some calls to find somewhere that can do it, and we’ll go out soon to get it done so your ears will be all healed up for Christmas. How’s that sound?”

“Yay!” she squealed as she took off her seatbelt and hopped down from the truck.

“Have a good day at school,” I told her, reaching into the back of the cab and handing her lunchbox and backpack to her.

“I will. Bye, Mom,” she chirped before shutting the door and skipping toward the entrance.

Another chuckle escaped me as I pulled away from the school and started the drive back toward the nail salon I worked at. Right as I was turning onto the main road, my cellphone rang. I hit the button on the steering wheel to answer it with the Bluetooth in the vehicle.

“Hello?”

“Holly, hi. It’s Amy,” came a soft voice on the other line, followed by a sniffle.

My heart sank. There was only one reason I could think of why my babysitter’s mom would be calling me. And if I was right, it meant I’d have to find someone else to watch Harper tonight. I couldn’t afford to lose out on the income from the horse-drawn carriage rides I did in the next town over during the holidays.

“Hi, Amy,” I sighed. “What’s wrong? Is Mandy okay?”

“That depends on your definition of okay,” she mumbled, sniffling again. “She was in a car accident on her way to school this morning.”

My heart started pounding in my ears and all the oxygen felt like it had vacated my lungs as I flashed back to the call I’d gotten two and a half years ago. The one that had made me rush out the door of the salon and break every traffic law in the book to get to the hospital in Burlington that my husband had been airlifted to…only to arrive minutes too late.

“Holly?” Amy asked quietly. “Are you there?”

Right. I was on the phone with my babysitter’s mother. She’d called me to tell me about her daughter’s accident.

“Y-yeah,” I choked out. “I-I’m here. What happened?”

“Another driver hit a patch of black ice and T-boned her car at an intersection. She was hit on the passenger side, thankfully, but her car was pushed into a traffic light, and they had to rip the door off to get her out. The car’s totaled.”

“Shit,” I gasped. “How is she?”

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