Chapter 29

29

Davey

It's Christmas Eve, and Mack is in and out all day. Sometimes he takes the kids, sometimes he leaves them, but there's a general feeling of energy in the air, a happiness radiating from him that I haven't seen in a really, really long time.

He's excited.

And true to my word, I'm not asking questions.

Kiera, Van, and I make a gingerbread house, destroying the kitchen in the process. Then we try to wrap presents for Grandma and Pa, but Van is determined to help, and Kiera is getting frustrated that he keeps doing it wrong.

Mack arrives home in time to save me, swooping in to drop off lunch from Killer Brew, then scooping the kids up and leaving again.

The quiet of the house gets to me.

Reminds me of too many empty hotel rooms .

I fix myself a coffee, then fill the stillness by whipping up some eggnog. I'm not the biggest fan of the drink, but Mack loves it, and when I was younger, Gran would make sure she saved some virgin eggnog for the kids before plowing the rest with rum.

I love the throwbacks this holiday has. Love the traditions and all my memories with family. I wonder if, when, Kiera and Van are older, they'll remember the lights and the snow and the smell of cinnamon and gingerbread and think of me.

You know, if this fucking place ever decides to snow on Christmas again.

Once that's ready, I finish wrapping the few presents I haven't done yet. Mack's are peeking out from the back of the tree, and while it was tempting to buy him a Kindle, he has access to just about any book he likes at work.

Instead, I asked Beau to sign a copy of his series since Mack flew through the first one and is halfway through the second, and then I bought him a bookshelf and a reading light that clips onto the pages. Other than a few old books, Mack doesn't have many, and if he gets back into reading like he used to, I might be able to buy him special ones for his collection every year.

It's nothing extravagant, but Mack's never been a guy to want fancy things. I wish I was presenting him with my resignation letter for Christmas, but hell, maybe that could be a birthday gift instead.

I turn on the little train under the tree and let the robotic choo choos fill the room.

Getting to sit with my feelings isn't a fun idea because the stiller I become, the more I miss Gran. Miss being swamped in her hugs. Miss her Christmas Eve pudding. Miss the way she always smelled like lemon .

I didn't see her as much as I'd have liked before she died. I was always away. Or busy. Or too emotionally drained by how bad things were at home.

If I wasn't already certain about my decision, the reminder that things can change so suddenly would have gotten me there.

The door unlocks, and I glance up, expecting Kiera and Van to come tearing into the room, but their usual chaos is missing.

Mack appears in the doorway instead, happy expression faltering as he finds me sitting on the floor. "Hey … you okay?"

"Very."

He takes a step forward. "So why are you …" He waves a hand over where I was watching the train.

"Just thinking."

"Great, now stop that."

"What?"

Mack tugs me to my feet and pulls me into a hug. I'm not ready for the fast kiss he leaves on my lips, but before I can react, he's backing me toward the door.

"Well, hello …"

He laughs. "Hello and goodbye."

"Excuse me?"

"I love you, but you need to get out."

"Ah …" Part of me wonders if he's had enough and wants me out of the house for good, but as we reach the front door and he lets go of me to shove my coat in my arms, there's a spark in his eyes that I've missed. "What's going o?—"

He lets out a warning sound and mimes zipping his lips. "No questions, remember? "

Okay, so definitely not kicking me out, then. "Can I ask where I'm going?"

"Yup. Your first clue is sitting in the car parked on the curb."

I open the door to find Orson and Ford. They give me creepily matching waves. "I don't get it."

"You need to find the kids. It should take you a good hour or so. Get to it."

"You've lost our kids?"

"Hidden. I've hidden our kids. Damn, what kind of dad do you think I am?"

"I'm not taking that bait." I glance at Ford and Orson again. "Am I going with them?"

"Nope. They're your clue."

"Clue? Right. Ah … Ford's Garage …?"

"Bingo!" Mack slaps my ass. "Now get moving before, umm, the person they're with hops them up on too much sugar."

"They're with Art, aren't they?"

"Goddamn it, just play the game."

I have no fucking clue what he's up to, but this is fun and different and exactly the Mack I fell in love with. Ford and Orson give me another matching wave as I climb into my car, their grins like something out of a horror show. If I hadn't known them for years, I'd be concerned they were about to murder my husband, but Ford loves a good plot, and I guess that's what they've rustled up here.

My first stop is at Ford's Garage, where Taylor has a clue waiting for me.

"You're in on it too?" I ask.

They shrug and pass over a magnolia. "It's kind of romantic, isn't it? "

"Searching for my kids on Christmas Eve? We have very different ideas of what that word means."

They roll their glossy lips in, holding back a smile and obviously in the know for whatever is going on.

"Maybe just a hint?"

Taylor shakes their head. "No chance. Get on with it."

"A magnolia? The florist, maybe?"

They point toward the front windows, and I turn to look in that direction. What the hell is …

"Magnolia Ridge?"

Taylor's smile breaks free. "Good luck!"

What the ever-loving hell is Mack up to?

Griff and Heath meet me in their front office, and the clue sends me to where Griff and I had our first date. Killer Brew, of course, and where I'm expecting to find Art and the kids, my mom and dad are waiting.

"There goes my hopes of Kiera and Van being with you two."

"They're well looked after," Mom says, wearing that same weird expression everyone else has been today. She pulls me in for a quick hug. "I love you very much."

I frown, because, duh. "Are you dying?"

"Of course not, you little shit. I just don't say it enough."

"Okay. Well, I love you both as well. Obviously."

"We know," Dad says, handing over their clue.

This one takes me to Barney and Leif's souvenir shop near Kil Pen, and then theirs takes me to Killer Adventures.

I thank Beau again, wishing this scavenger hunt was over already, and as I walk to my car, I swear I catch a glimpse of Art's. I try not to be too obvious about looking, but I'm pretty sure Van and Kiera are in the back, and now I think back to it, I'm sure Art's car had been in the parking lot at Killer Brew as well.

Are they … following me? While I look for them?

I hold my laugh in as I climb into my car, determined to play this game out to the end. I promised I wouldn't ask questions, but every location has me more and more curious. And as I drive all over town, encountering our friends and family at every stop, it makes me fall even more in love with Kilborough than ever.

Keller is waiting at the rotunda by the boardwalk, in the same place where I proposed to Mack all those years ago. His wavy, black hair is pulled back, stubble thicker than usual but trimmed neatly, and he's wearing a long black coat. The man always manages to look like some kind of Norse god without trying.

"I'm freezing my balls off" are the first words out of his mouth.

I pull him into a hug anyway. "Thank you though. I still don't know what's going on, but I'm curious as hell."

"What's going on is … well, Mack's putting things right again."

"I proposed to him here, you know."

"I know. He said."

"Kinda wish I could go back there, do things differently."

"Why?"

"Because maybe then we never would have ended up divorced."

Keller hands over a note. "Yeah, but … I think you needed it."

"Excuse me?"

"Maybe not the divorce, exactly, but the break. The time. I was talking to Mack, and it's been good for him. "

I huff. "Well, that's what I want to hear. That my husband is better off without me."

"Did I say that?" He claps my shoulder. "From where I'm standing, the divorce was less of an ending and more of a … reset."

"Really?"

"I think you'll both be a lot happier for it. Whatever comes."

"No."

Keller lifts his eyebrows and doesn't say anything.

"Not whatever comes. We're meant to be together."

"Okay."

"I don't care if you don't believe me."

Keller laughs. "You keep putting words into my mouth. I know you belong together. We all do. We were just waiting for you two to catch up." He jogs down the few stairs and heads toward his car. "Now, excuse me, I have a certain leggy blond waiting to warm my balls back up."

Well, that was more information than I needed, and I'm low-key worried that I'm not going to understand the clue, but I guess it's too late to call him back now.

Only when I open it, there's my handwriting staring back at me.

Bilbo didn't give up. And neither will I.

The words hold so much more meaning being reflected back at me. And this clue is simple.

The library.

It's not supposed to be open today, so I'm apprehensive as I approach, but there's Tonya waiting at the door.

"Tell me you know which book it is?" she says.

"I have a good idea."

She unlocks the front door, and I make my way to the aisle I've become overly familiar with. The Hobbit is right where it always is, and I pull out the book, flip open the cover, and there's my next clue.

Bilbo traveled far, but he always found his way back home again. And so do you.

Home.

I swallow, taking the note and setting the book back before I thank Tonya and return to the car.

I'm not in a rush this time, knowing that was the final clue.

I pass Art's car on the way down my street, and he throws me a peace sign that I don't know what to make of.

Once I'm in the driveway, with the car turned off, I sit for a moment wondering how, even though I've been alone for half the day, this might turn out to be my favorite Christmas Eve yet.

Mack needed me out of the house.

But he didn't want to leave me completely alone.

I guess in Kilborough, we never are.

The minute I push our front door open, a burst of scents hit my nose. The type of familiar smell that takes me back in a rush and makes it impossible to keep moving. I freeze in the hall, trying to place it, but not sure if I'm right.

Gran. Her cooking. Her smell. Her Christmas.

Am I hallucinating?

I inhale again, sure this must be some kind of nostalgic mind-fuck, but the scent is still there.

And before I can take another step, I'm rushed from three sides. Kiera launches into my arms, Van clings to my leg, and Mack grabs me from behind. I'm squeezed half to death as we stumble around the corner into the living room, where all the lights are on, the music is playing, and the little train is still choo chooing around the tree .

"Merry Christmas, Davey," Mack whispers.

The first thing I see is my Millennium Falcon, completely rebuilt and sitting pride of place on the coffee table.

The second is a pudding that looks suspiciously like Gran's right beside it.

The third is a speck of snow, drifting past the window.

Then it's Kiera's and Van's smiling faces as she innocently asks, "Did you have fun, Daddy? We were racing you."

I don't see anything after that because I burst into fucking tears.