Page 18 of Yuletide Acres

“Merry,” I whisper as I finger the stitches.

“It belonged to my Mom,” Marissa explains.

I manage a nod, my heart racing as the puzzle pieces start to fit together, forming a picture. Is the woman who visited my dreams the same woman who married Dylan? Who bore Marissa?

Is that possible?

And if so, why in the world would she want me to come to Yuletide Acres? A bit of torture from the other side of the grave?

“Don’t you let him chase you out. I’ll have a word with him.” Estelle reaches into her bag, pulling out a chocolate bar and handing it to me with a smile.

“Please don’t. It will only make it worse. Besides, Dylan isn’t the only one. Some woman, the head of the church, found some old photos of me.”

“Oh, God, that would be Mrs. Withers. She’s a daft example of a human being. Detestable. My son can’t stand being in the same room with her.”

“Well, he had no issue with her today. Or her accusations.”

Estelle stands, reaching her hand down to help me up. “We’re headed to the animal shelter. Marissa loves walking the dogs. Would you like to join us?”

“Your son will disown you for spending time with me.”

“Let me handle my son. You could use a smile, and nothing brings a smile faster than a little girl and some puppies. They also have some new kittens that just arrived. Come on, I see it in the set of your jaw. You’re made of tougher stuff than this, Poppy Mills.”

She’s correct. I’ve survived all levels of hell in my thirty-six years on this planet. Pain so acute that it threatened to rip my soul from my body. Pain that brought me to my knees, again and again.

But every time, I rose, unwilling to be defeated. I’ll be damned if Dylan West is going to take me down without a fight.

* * *

Estelle is right. Puppies, an adorable six-year-old and friendship do chase away the doldrums. After spending a couple of hours at the shelter, and petting every dog and cat in the place, we finally coaxed Marissa from the building with the promise of ice cream.

She desperately wanted a bonded pair of animals that made the Odd Couple look like twins—an older golden retriever and an orange marmalade tabby cat. The funny part? Per the shelter manager, the animals weren’t brought in together. One day the cat escaped from his cage and after searching high and low for him, they discovered him curled up by the dog.

I can’t blame Marissa for wanting to take them home. Those two tugged at my heartstrings as well.

She sniffled until we reached the parking lot of the sweet shop, when her mood changed, and she began planning her sundae. The kid is seriously the cutest thing I’ve ever seen—curly brown hair, big brown eyes and a smile that outshines that of her father—who, until recent events, had the nicest smile of anyone I know.

“Tell me about you, Poppy. How did you wind up in Yuletide Acres? Dylan told me that you two were very close during your festival days.”

I nod, pouring sugar into my coffee. “We dated for about a year.”

“You dated my Dad?” Marissa inquires, looking up from her coloring book, but her words are more curious than accusatory.

“I did. A long time ago. Long before he and your Mom got together.”

“Do you know my Mom?”

I shake my head, although my answer isn’t entirely true. I believe I have met her mother, just not on this plane. “No. I wish I did.”

“Me too.”

I exchange a glance with Estelle, and it’s clear her blatant honesty is breaking both our hearts. “Anyway, it’s a crazy story of how I wound up in Yuletide. You’ll have me committed if I tell you.”

“Try me,” Estelle grins.

“I kept having dreams, and this woman visited me almost every night. I didn’t know her, but she insisted I needed to move to Yuletide Acres. I’d never heard of the place, so you can imagine my surprise when I looked it up and saw that it existed. Even stranger was how identical the town appeared to my dream.”

“Does the woman have a name? In your dream, I mean.”

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