When I go home for the holidays, Santa has a secret waiting for me

I wandered far and wide in search of happiness, never finding what I sought. When I return to Christmas Falls to lick my wounds, the last thing I expect is for Santa to send me a golden-haired, blue-eyed man I once called my best friend—the friend who was taken away from me when we were kids.

Milo Montgomery is back in town, and he doesn’t wait for miracles to come to him. There’s a special sort of magic in the way he spreads joy throughout our town.

His chocolate shop might be struggling, but that can’t break his festive spirit. His optimism is contagious, and his cheerful mood makes me feel like I’m thirteen again, catching snowflakes on my tongue. As we walk down memory lane, recreating every Christmas Eve we spent together, our friendship becomes everything Ive been missing.

Milo confesses I was his first and only love. But as a straight man, I can never love him the same way. Or can I? Im beginning to question everything I thought I knew about myself. About the world.

Maybe happiness has nothing to do with a place. Maybe all it takes is the right person.