Page 78 of Once Upon a Christmas Beauty

“Sounds like I need to find a way to make things right, huh?” Mia said.

“You’d better,” Brooklyn said. “Christmas is nearly here. It would suck for you both to be sad on Christmas.”

That it would.

But what could she do to make things right? A simple call or text just didn’t seem to be enough. Anyone could do that.

No, she needed something that would mean more to him. Something to prove that she was putting her selfish fears aside and fighting for him. Fighting forthem.

Another day passed with zero solid ideas coming to mind.

“What about showing up on his doorstep in nothing but a trench coat?” Del asked Thursday night.

Mia was volunteering at the Christmas tree lot, letting bygones be bygones. Their tree and wreath inventory was dwindling, adding a sense of urgency to Mia’s quest. Alex shouldn’t have to be alone on Christmas; Mia didn’t want to be, either.

“Tempting, but what if he’s not there? It could get chilly standing on his porch waiting. Or, my luck, I’d go to the wrong door.”

“Then your peep show would make someone else happy.”

Del laughed. Mia cringed.

“How about we keep coming up with ideas, okay?”

“Spoilsport,” Del grumbled.

“What about sending an anonymous invite to one of those horse-drawn carriage rides through Indy?” Isaac asked, who was filling in for Chase tonight. “That could be romantic.”

“It could, but I have no idea what his schedule looks like.”

“Trust me—no one can work twenty-four seven. I’ve tried.”

Mia laughed. “True. If only there was a way for me to know what he had planned.”

She pulled out her phone and cued up Facebook, something she’d done her best to avoid all week. Alex’s account wasn’t blocked, so it was easy to see he hadn’t posted any angry memes decrying modern love. That was a good sign. In fact, he’d only posted one thing all week, it’s timestamp an hour earlier.

Tom Garrison’s obituary.

Mia said a small prayer for his family, then looked to her own.

“I know what I have to do.”

*

Alex sat inhis Rover outside the Peaceful Haven funeral home in Evansville Sunday afternoon, trying to psyche himself up into going inside. With Tom’s prognosis as it was, he and his wife had the services planned months ago. Thankfully, it hadn’t arrived as early as expected. Now that Alex was here, though, reality was threatening to crash down all around him.

Tom was gone.

His mother was losing her mind.

He’d lost Mia.

Alex’s gaze shifted to the twinkling lights of holiday decorations on a large evergreen standing in the building’s lobby, offering a cheery greeting to the mourners.

Yeah, merry freaking Christmas to us.

He waited in his vehicle, watching the minutes tick by. The service started at one, with a viewing one hour prior. And as much as he would have liked to skip the viewing, he knew deep down that he needed this, needed closure. On a heavy sigh, he stepped out into the drizzly December day and headed inside to pay his respects to his friend and mentor.

His father had offered to accompany him. Alex had thanked him for the offer but suggested he stay in Indy with Mom, make sure she didn’t overdo it with her arm still in that sling. Most days, she did well with it, but sometimes her memory would slip and they’d find her trying to remove the sling so she could reach for something she shouldn’t. Now, he was wishing he had brought them both with him.

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