Page 101 of All I Want For Christmas Is You

She was sincerely fine without a birthday celebration, but she did wish her kids could be here to see what she’d accomplished. Emerson was pregnant and still working full time, and her son’s unit had moved to Okinawa. Both were busy, and neither could take the time off to fly out to this remote spot on the map. She totally understood that. At least she’d gotten to talk to them on the phone.

One day, they’d come and see her new life.

She reached the door to find it locked. That was odd. Maybe they didn’t want people wandering in before the food stations were set up and the artists were ready to go. She texted the group chat.

Margot: Door’s locked! Let me in!

A few moments later, she heard the click. She stepped back, assuming someone would open it, but no one did. Okay, now, it’s getting weirder. She pulled it open herself and heard, “Surprise!”

Navy, silver, and gold balloons floated to the ground, and she walked through a celebration of twisting crepe paper.

People rushed to her, surrounding and hugging her: Callie and Fin Bowie, Phinny and her hockey coach husband Declan, Jessa, Walker, and Colt, all the artists, crew, catering staff, and townspeople who’d supported her over the past year.

Finally, she saw the beloved faces of her two children, and tears sprang to her eyes.

“Emerson! Oh, my God, you’re here.” She wrapped her daughter up in her arms and felt her pregnant belly between them. She held out her arm for her son. “Owen. I can’t believe it. You said you couldn’t get leave.” She brought her son in for a bear hug.

“I couldn’t.” He gave her a cocky smirk. “But Beau’s friends with the senator, so he made it happen.” And then, he gripped her tightly. He’d always been a mama’s boy.

“Beau did this?” She pulled away to ask. “He brought you both out here?”

In unison, they nodded, both with big grins.

“Dad sends his apologies,” Owen teased. “But one of the twins has a cold, and the other’s still not sleeping through the night.”

She didn’t want to laugh at her ex’s misfortune—the birth of two healthy babies would be a bounty of joy to anyone other than him—but she couldn’t help it. She’d seen pictures of his “happy” family, and he looked resentful and tense. But really, forget him. She had her children right here.

“I can’t believe it. This is the best birthday ever.” It had been years since she’d had both of them together at the same time, and it filled the parts of her that still mourned the family she’d lost.

Beau joined them, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

“I can’t believe you did this for me. Thank you.” She included him in the group hug. “I have everything I could ever want right here in my arms.”

“Do you mind if I steal your mom for a moment?” he asked her kids.

Clearly, they knew what he was up to because they didn’t even conceal their delight and released her right away.

He took her hand and led her through the clusters of people grabbing drinks, sampling the food the caterers were setting out, and chatting. It was a small town, so everyone pretty much knew each other.

As they headed down the long corridor, the afternoon light filtered through the hanging orbs and landed in bright blue splotches, making the floor glow like an aquarium. All along the center of the mall, they’d arranged various styles of landscaping from English garden to Mojave Desert and everything in between. The sculptures within each setting had no relationship to the design, which made them stand out.

“I can’t believe how great this place looks,” she said.

“You did it. It’s all your vision.”

“Hardly. It was a collaboration. I had the best team in the world.” And she could now call them her friends. It had been a very long time since she’d had people she genuinely liked to hang out with. “Where are we going?” It looked like he was taking her to her office.

At first, she’d loved the idea of having her own studio, but the work involved in creating the mall took most of her time. She’d even had to narrow her personal business down to just ornaments. She’d never give up making those.

“There’s something I wanted to discuss with you privately.”

“Okay.” She’d go anywhere this man wanted, but she suspected he had a gift for her. “You realize bringing my kids to Calamity is the best birthday present I could ever want, right?”

“I do. Yes.”

“Okay, Mr. Man of Few Words.” Wait a minute. Was he nervous? She’d been so carried away by seeing her kids and the excitement of the opening that she hadn’t noticed the bead of sweat over his lip. “What’s going on?”

But he didn’t need words to explain anything. He’d stopped in front of her office.

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