“How are you doing?” she asked.

“Excellent, and you?”

“Very well. Getting ready for Christmas and all the hoopla. There’s a Christmas pageant that all the kids are involved in, a couple of parties, and Mike tells me it’s going to snow for real tonight, no more of that little dusting. I hope you have your snow tires ready. What’s going on with you for the holidays?”

“It’ll be quiet. I’m going to offer to cook for Kaylee.”

Colin excused himself and walked away a bit to talk to one of the guys on the tree crew.

“I couldn’t have planned that better,” Brie said. “I have some news. Would you like to meet in my office or do you want it now?”

“Now is good, if it’s not real complicated,” he said, bracing himself.

“Your offer of a hundred thousand with no support payments has been accepted. If nothing more comes up to complicate the situation, I can write this up and get it before a judge before Christmas. It’ll take a few weeks to finalize things. And we should be prepared for your wife to change her mind or ask for more or...” She shrugged. “It doesn’t usually go so smoothly, but then yours is the first divorce I’ve handled where there’s been a ten-year separation.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if it just sailed through,” he said. “I talked to Laura on Thanksgiving. She was very emotional but she didn’t offer any arguments. And she didn’t mention she’d received my offer.”

“So, you’re sure, then?”

“Absolutely. I talked to the bank about a mortgage on some of the land.”

“I’ll keep you posted,” she said.

* * *

The tree lighting was nothing short of amazing. The bar was overflowing with townsfolk, gathering to see the tree. It was so bright, Kaylee wondered if it could be seen in the next county. There was some carol singing, children running around wildly, lots of laughter, and then it began to snow. That thrilled the kids much more than the adults, since they wouldn’t have to drive in it.

Kaylee saw Jack’s family all together around the tree and noticed that David and Emma had a little friend with them. It was Mallory. She was a beautiful little girl with almost blond pigtails trailing out from under her knit hat. Kaylee was relieved to see her laughing. But Kaylee knew how hard it was going to be for her when her mother died. The loneliness could be terrible.

* * *

As the days passed, of course little Mallory’s situation weighed on Kaylee’s mind, though she tried to shake it off. She turned her attention to her book and exercised all her willpower to focus. And at night when she was in Landry’s arms, she found at least temporary peace of mind. A few days later she called her editor.

“I have some news, at last,” she said. “I’m sending you the completed manuscript.”

“That’s wonderful news,” Simone said. “I’ll give it a read as soon as possible. I think I can get to it right away. Congratulations.”

“I’m sure it needs some revision,” Kaylee said. “There were moments when I was so distracted, but that’s getting better inch by inch as time passes.”

“It’s probably better than you think,” the editor said. “You just need some distance from it.”

“Definitely. And I’m going to send you that other manuscript we talked about. I think it’s a romance or maybe women’s fiction.”

“Just where did that idea come from?” Simone asked.

“It started out as a kind of therapy for me. I was writing about making a fresh start in a small town. Hardly a new concept. I think every third book on the shelf starts with that trope. But then instead of writing about what’s been happening in my own life, I started writing about how I wished it would be, and that ended up with a love story. I like to read romance but I’m not confident I know how to write one. All I can say is it’s been a long time since I’ve had so much fun writing.”

“I can’t wait,” Simone said. “Are they both coming today?”

“Yes, I’ll email them to you when we finish our call.”

Her editor laughed and said, “My favorite overachiever. After I’ve read and we’ve both had time to relax, we should talk about a new contract.”

“I’m not in any great hurry,” Kaylee said. “I want to get through the holiday and see if my life takes on anything that resembles normalcy.”

“Me, too,” Simone said. “I’ve come to the conclusion one should never make a major business decision while trying to survive Christmas. In your case, the challenge is even greater. How are you feeling these days? About coping with the loss of your mother?”

“Sometimes I feel like I’ve come light-years and sometimes I feel like it’s fresh and raw. The latter comes slightly less often now. Let me tell you about my Thanksgiving, which was a dream.”

Kaylee told her the whole story, starting with last year when her mother was experiencing some of her final positive days, to this year when the same group of women shared the holiday together. She could detect a little bit of emotion in her editor’s voice, noting she was touched by the event. “Oh, my heart,” Simone said. “What a beautiful story.”

“It’s easier when I don’t have to miss my mother alone,” Kaylee said.

After hitting the Send key, Kaylee did what she often did when a book was finally finished. She gave the little house a sound cleaning, answered the emails she’d been putting off for God knew how long, called Korby and Janette so they could celebrate with her for a little while, and drove to Clear River to hit the store. There hadn’t been any locally grown fruits and vegetables in a couple of months, but there was plenty of organic produce in the grocery, probably shipped in. She wanted to have a celebratory dinner. Knowing that Landry was a red meat kind of guy, she grabbed a couple of steaks and big potatoes along with some broccoli, mushrooms, onions and peppers.

Then she showered, primped and walked next door. She went to his shop.

“Well, look at you. Do you have a date tonight, miss?” Landry said with a sly grin.

“I hope so. If you’ll do the steaks on the grill, I’ll make the rest of our dinner. And I have a bottle of champagne.”

He made a face. “I’ll definitely toast the finished book with you, then you can have the rest of the bottle.”

She laughed. “That’s exactly why I bought a small bottle. I’m going to go see the puppies while you finish up.”

“Those puppies are big enough to go outside for a little while with Lady as long as you can keep an eye on them.”

“Otis, want to help me babysit?” Kaylee said and Otis joined her immediately.

The puppies were probably about six weeks old and had gotten to that chubby, adorable stage where they would knock themselves over just trying to bark. She watched them wrestle and nip and roll around while Lady just wandered the yard in bliss, free at last, ignoring them completely. The germ of an idea was trying to break out, but Kaylee was a little too busy chasing puppies to let it come through.

When Landry joined her in the yard, he began to pick up the puppies, one at a time, blowing in their faces, snuggling them and laughing at their cuteness.

“Will they be ready to leave Lady by Christmas?” she asked.

“I think so, but the shelter and I have decided, no Christmas puppies. They’ll post pictures and take applications for the new year. Too many people get puppies for their kids for Christmas and then when it doesn’t work out, they’re neglected. They can go to their new homes after Christmas, if the offers hold. And speaking of going home...” He looked at her over the head of the puppy he held. “We’ve avoided that subject...”

“Not intentionally,” she said. “Let’s talk about it over dinner.”

They settled the puppies in the pen with Lady and chose to have dinner at Landry’s house since he had the barbecue. She finished cooking in his kitchen while he grilled the steaks.

When they sat down to dinner, he raised a glass to her and said, “Here’s to your finished book.”

“At last,” she said.

“And, here’s to a divorce,” he said.

In shock, she didn’t lift her glass. “What? It can’t be all done!”

“No, not for weeks yet. But Laura and I have settled on the terms, she signed and notarized the settlement agreement and it’s sitting in a big stack of cases waiting for a judge. It might take as long as three months, but probably not even three weeks, if there’s no counteroffer or contesting. The important thing is, it’s been negotiated and it’s ready to be approved.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“I feel surprisingly good with it. I gave up hoping she’d miss me years ago. I don’t have any regrets. It was time.”

“She’ll blame me, of course,” Kaylee said.

“She can’t really blame anyone but herself,” he said. “But I take equal responsibility. I didn’t try that hard. Not only did I let her run away, I realize that I ran away, too.”

“Even though you don’t seem to be upset, I’m sorry this happened to you. I remember being very angry and torn up by my divorce. Slightly different circumstances, maybe, but it was no day at the beach.”

“The big question is, what about us?” he asked. “What do you want to happen with us?”

“I want us to stay in love forever,” she said. “It’s just that I don’t know what to do with our reality. My home is in Newport and I love it there. Plus, it’s my mother’s house and I wouldn’t even consider giving it up. And while my work is pretty transportable, yours is not.”

“So, the question is, can two people who love each other maintain a close relationship when they have separate lives? Separate homes?”

“You already tried that once, Landry.”