Page 2 of Christmas Wishes

“As many times as it takes to make sure you don’t book us in a place with mattresses directly on the stained carpet. It was like a serial killer’s grab-and-go for victims.” His bearded face scrunched.

It was hard, but I managed to bite back a laugh at his scowl. “I promise I’ll book you somewhere with a bed frame.”

“Andno bed bugs.Deal?” Arlo held out his hand, and I didn’t comment on the slight tremors.

He’d stepped right into my trap. A loving trap, if such a thing existed. “Deal.”

Hopefully, he’d send me somewhere with a pool. I could use part of my severance to get new tiny swim shorts.

Arlo might get mad at my plan initially, but I would never force him to do anything he didn’t want to do. All I wanted was to remove the geographic barrier—and excuse—to avoid contacting them. If he were in the same town, he could make a more informed decision about what was best for him without immediately writing it off due to distance.

I needed to make it the best trip possible, so I stayed awake until three a.m., hunched over my laptop and researching. The buzz from the booze had worn off long ago, which was good because I couldn’t afford to fuck this up. If everything went as I hoped, this trip would change Arlo’s life.

My eyes were blurry by the time I found and reserved the bed and breakfast.Time to call it a night.

As I drifted off to sleep, I wondered where Arlo would send me. Spending December with the sun out and my toes in the sand? Heaven.

Chapter1

Keaton

The hours passed quicklyon my Monday morning flight to Flagstaff as I read the latest release from my favorite queer romance author that I’d been saving for the flight. I’d had to be at the Minneapolis airport way too early in the morning, and the book was the only thing getting me through. Especially after an intense two weeks of closing out our jobs at Winchester Publishing before our layoff went into effect yesterday.

I figured they would’ve terminated our employment immediately, but they’d offered everyone the option to work up to two more weeks for pay on top of the severance. They’d promoted it as trying to smooth the transition for us, but I figured it was a PR move given the scuttle the layoffs were causing in the industry. Lucky for them, no one who chose to stay was vindictive.

Arlo had done well picking Arizona for my trip. He said he’d tried for Southern California, but it was too spendy around the holidays, especially on short notice. I was happy to swap my dreams of tanning on the beach for dipping my toes in a desert pool.

I let out a swoony sigh after reading the last page of my book. The perfect happily ever after. I shifted my attention to the landscape below the airplane. Based on the time, we had to be getting close to Flagstaff. I knew nothing about the area but was ready to experience a mild winter for the first time in my life. Needing a light jacket at most and no snow? I couldn’t even imagine it. And getting to wear heelsoutsidein December? Bliss. I’d packed three pairs to celebrate the occasion.

The captain came on and informed us that we were flying over the Grand Canyon. I expected to see a sizable crater in the earth, but I didn’t anticipate it being dusted white like the heavens had dumped a giant bag of powdered sugar over it.

Snow. Why was there snowin Arizona?I shook off the worry. I didn’t understand flight distances and physics and all that science shit, but surely by the time we landed, we’d be out of threat of snow. Arlo was a planner, so I needed to trust the process. I was about to spend the next week in comfortable clothes that weren’t fourteen layers thick. That was all that mattered. Short sleeves in December were scandalous.

I’d packed suitcases full of clothes I wouldn’t be caught dead in during a Minnesota winter and cosmetics I’d need because of Arlo’s dare. I’d underestimated him. I’d expected him to dare me to relax or to go a week without using social media. I sure as hell hadn’t expected him to challenge me to use social mediamoreby creating accounts for my beauty content that I’d been threatening to make more consistently and formally for years.

Arlo had dared the one thing that rivaled my dare to him.

At least he’d given me notice on the challenge so I could pack makeup colors appropriate for a Southwest-desert-cactus vibe. Ugh. He’d pulled the ultimate ace from his sleeve.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to make beauty content—hopefully full-time one day. I did, I really did. But something kept stopping me, and I didn’t know what it was.

I leaned toward the airplane window to take in the foreign landscape and frowned. The snow was…getting thicker.What the hell?It didn’t snow in Arizona. It was Arizona. Desert. Hot days, cool nights. Cacti and scorpions.

Not. Snow.

I pulled my light jacket closed over my T-shirt as dread settled on my shoulders. I’d insisted on leaving my winter coat behind in my car so I didn’t have to haul it in Arizona. The jacket I’d packed was barely warmer than a long-sleeved shirt. It was fashionable and supposed to protect me from the desert’s evening chill but wouldn’t do a damn thing against freezing temperatures.

I was still in shock as we landed and disembarked. When I reached the gate—with a headache thanks to the altitude—I took in the others around me, and everyone—every single person—wore winter gear. Like what we wore back home. Not anoh, it’s chilly, so I’m going to wear a light jacketbut fuckingwinter coats.

I shuffled like a zombie toward baggage claim but stopped at an empty gate and dropped onto a seat. I pulled my phone from my pocket and googled Flagstaff, Arizona. The first photos showed snow and skiing. All the shit I wanted to escape.

Was this Arlo’s idea of a joke? No way. He wasn’t a prankster. It had to be a mistake. One hell of a big mistake.

I couldn’t imagine him sending me anywhere without thoroughly researching it, so how had this happened?

Right. The tequila.

I squeezed my eyes closed and let out a rough breath.