1. Lydia

1

LYDIA

H appiness couldn't begin to describe the way I felt. It was December 1, the day I could officially take down our Thanksgiving and fall decorations and replace them with everything Christmas.

"If I had my way," Violet called out as she dragged the last of our Christmas decorations out of the storage room, "I would've had our Christmas stuff up a month ago."

Laughing, I tossed the last of our pumpkin decor into the Thanksgiving box and sealed it up. "No arguments there. Unfortunately, we need to keep our parents' tradition alive and stick to the seasons."

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched my sister unpack the Christmas decorations, wishing I'd see a smile on her face. It was obvious she was still heartbroken over the breakup with her boyfriend. That was why we spent Thanksgiving in Charleston with our parents at our aunt and uncle's house. We went out on the boat every day and I kept Violet busy by taking her shopping and walking around Waterfront Park. It seemed to keep her mind off things for a while, but the second we arrived back home, I could see the sadness creep back onto her face.

At least she had me. We could both be single this holiday season together.

I picked up the box of pumpkins and set it in the storage room, which was now mostly empty since Violet had taken out all the Christmas decorations. "Silent Night" started to play over the speakers, and it made me smile. I could listen to Christmas music every day and never get tired of it.

I walked over to Violet and stared down at the dozen boxes filled to the brim with ornaments, Santa Clauses, snowmen, and various Christmas figurines.

Laughing, I shook my head. "You know this is going to take us all day, right?"

Violet smiled and tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. She'd inherited her chocolate-colored locks from our mother, while I got my blonde curls from our father. But we both had greenish-golden eyes that were a combination of our parents.

"Yes, it is," she agreed and then shrugged. "But it's not like I don't have the time."

I draped an arm over her shoulder, and she leaned into me. "I promised myself I wouldn't say anything, but you deserve so much better than Steven. He's an idiot."

Violet chuckled and hugged me. "Yes, he is. I hate it took me two years to see it."

Me too. Steven had surprised us all when he told Violet he'd met someone else. However, there was also a part of me wasn't surprised at all; he was very flirtatious with other women. Violet took the news hard and I made sure to be there by her side, even though I really wanted to give Steven a piece of my mind. Having the person you love say they wanted to be with someone else couldn't be easy. I know Violet felt betrayed, but I never saw their relationship lasting. Of course, I never planned on telling her that.

I squeezed Violet once more before letting go. "Hey, it's Christmas. We can't be sad right now. We have the gallery to decorate, cookies to bake, and a million town events to attend."

Violet nodded and lifted her chin. "You're right. I'm not going to let anything else get me down." She pulled out a crystal snowman figurine from one of the decoration boxes, and set it on the table underneath a mountainy snowscape painting that was my favorite in the entire gallery. "All right, sis, let's get this place holidayed up. I'm tired of all the pumpkins."

I winked at her. "Yes boss."

When Violet and I took over the art gallery from our parents, our mother made us promise we'd give the fall season its time in the shop. She knew we'd rather have Christmas decorations up all year round. But fall was our mother's favorite time of the year, so we had no choice but to drown ourselves in pumpkins for a short while, even though our quaint little downtown always got decorated for Christmas right before Thanksgiving. It was a good thing my family and I were out of town during that time, or I might have given in and decorated early.

My mother's fall decorations had been up since September, which was an adequate amount of time, especially since they stayed up a lot longer than our Christmas decor would. We only had one month of Christmas, and that wasn't enough.

Violet and I went through all the boxes, and it took a few hours to get the gallery just the way we wanted. With twinkling lights all around the room, I was starting to believe we had more in our store than on Main Street. But the lights worked well with the paintings on the walls. My parents had opened the Blue Ridge Gallery during their first year of marriage. All that used to be in the store were paintings from local artists. Now, the gallery has grown exponentially. Not only do we have paintings from local artists, but we also have photographs from talented photographers, handmaid clothing that could put any famous designer to shame, and many other goodies from our townsfolk like homemade soaps, jellies, pickled veggies, and cakes.

When I graduated from college and took over my part of the gallery, the food products were the first things I wanted to add. It was hard not to buy it all for myself when new bakery items were being dropped off.

Violet finished up with our snow village by the front window while I piled all the empty boxes into the storage room.

"Hey, Lydia!" she shouted. I stuck my head out of the storage room. Violet had her lips pursed, staring at the village. She pointed to a small empty spot by the lit-up church. "I think we should add another building here."

I closed the storage room and joined her. "What are you thinking?"

She gave me a sly smile. "Well, I was walking by Betty's Christmas store last week and she was having a sale on different snowy village houses." Her eyes lit up and she bounced on her feet. "There was a Griswold Holiday House. Do you know how epic it would be to add to our collection?"

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation was the best holiday movie ever. I couldn't begin to count how many times we'd watched it over the years.

"If you want it, let's get it before it gets gone," I said, feeling the excitement well up in my chest. I couldn't wait to have it in our snow village. However, when I pulled out my phone to glance at the time, it was too late; Betty's shop had closed ten minutes ago. "Looks like you'll have to wait for tomorrow. Just get there right when Betty opens the door."

Violet blew out a huff of air. "Well, that sucks. Somebody will be having a bad day if they try to buy it before me."

That made me giggle. "Yeah, I've learned not to get in your way when you want something. My big toe is still not right after you stomped on it, trying to get the last of Grandma's chocolate chip cookies when you were eight years old."

I was thirteen when that happened. And I wasn't kidding about my toe being deformed. Violet was determined to get those cookies before me.

Violet slapped a hand over her face. "You are never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Nope," I laughed. "It makes me laugh thinking about it now. However, at the time, I wanted to kill you."

She waved a hand in the air. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, we both know I'm bigger than you. You wouldn't have stood a chance," she teased as she walked over to the large mahogany desk where we kept the store computer and the cash register. And it was true, Violet was taller than me by four inches; she got her height from our father.

Violet grabbed her purse and tucked it under her arm. "All right, sis, I'm going upstairs to cook dinner. You want to join me?"

There was a studio apartment above the gallery where our parents lived when they first married. I always thought I'd be the one to move in there, but when my grandmother moved out of her house into the retirement home, I decided to buy it and live there instead. It worked out perfectly for my sister to take the apartment.

"Thanks, Vi," I replied, shaking my head, "but I have leftover vegetable beef soup I need to eat. I don't want to waste it."

Violet pursed her lips and then smiled. "You suck. I was going to share the brownies I made last night with you, but never mind."

"Rain check?" I asked, hating that I was going to be able to taste the yummy goodness.

Her brownies were always delicious because she'd put in extra chocolate chips. I didn't want to miss out on them, but it had been a long day of decorating, and I knew I wouldn't get home until around midnight if I stayed. Violet and I had a way of losing track of time when we got to talking.

Violet winked. "A rain check is fine. I'll even save you a brownie."

My stomach rumbled with excitement at the thought.

"You're the best," I told her. She started up the stairs to her apartment while I made my way to the front door.

Before I could open the door, her voice and the sound of her rushing steps startled me. "Hey, wait!" she called out, grabbing my arm. She pointed out the window, where people were walking up and down the sidewalk. December was the busiest month for our town, and all the local business owners loved this time of year. If we had low sales in the summer, it wouldn't matter; we made up for it at Christmas time.

"And what am I supposed to be looking at?" I questioned. "All I see are people."

Violet kept her focus across the street and nodded, and I caught sight of someone I recognized. It was Ashley Akers, an old friend of mine from high school. We lost touch when we went to separate colleges, but I kept up with her on social media. She looked the same, with her golden blonde hair and fair skin, and now she was pregnant with her second child. Her husband looked over at her and smiled as they walked down the sidewalk with their three-year-old son, who had the same blonde hair as her.

"Isn't that Ashley Akers?" Violet asked.

My lips pulled back into a smile, and I nodded. "It is. She looks fantastic."

Violet sighed. "Yes, she does. I thought I'd be married right now with kids."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I stepped in front of her. " You thought you'd be married? I'm older than you, little sis. I would give anything just to be engaged."

I hadn't been on a date in over two years. And even then, my luck sucked before that. The last guy I went out to dinner with only talked about himself. He probably didn't even remember my name when the date was over. After that, I decided to concentrate on the gallery and put all my energy into it. But now, it made me wonder if that was a huge mistake. Most of the people I knew from high school had moved on to that next stage in life. And here I was . . . single and alone.

A pang of envy sparked in my gut, but I refused to let it grow. It was my choice to stop looking for love; the blame was on me.

Violet draped her arm over my shoulders and squeezed. "We have each other, Lydia," she said, her voice soft. "It's going to be the best Christmas ever."

She was right. It didn't matter if we were single or not. We had our family and the holidays; nothing was more perfect than Christmas in our quaint little town of Blowing Rock.

I looked at my sister and ruffled her dark hair. "You're absolutely right."

We said our goodbyes and Violet climbed the stairs and disappeared down the hallway at the top while I locked up the gallery's front door. The air was brisk and smelled like balsam fir trees. I have never been able to get enough of that scent. From the first day of December to the New Year, I'd burn pine-scented candles in my house. Sometimes, I'd throw in a warm apple pie candle, but I preferred the Christmas tree scent over anything else.

My blue Honda Pilot was parked on the street in front of the gallery building, but I didn't want to go home just yet. The lights were still on in the store next door - Trailblaze Adventures - which was owned by my best friend, Hailey, and her husband. They were hardcore nature explorers and wanted to make sure the community had everything they'd need if they decided to venture off into the unknown of the North Carolina mountains. Hailey and her husband also offered free food and advice to those starting on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which was 1,175 miles from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks. I loved to hike, but not enough to foot it across the whole state of North Carolina.

Hailey was with a customer and waved me inside, but I didn't want to bother her. I waved back and smiled, mouthing the words, I'll call you later, to her.

The wind whipped around me and I loved it. I pulled the scarf from my purse and wrapped it around my neck before sliding my hands into my warm wool coat. The sky had begun to turn dark, but you couldn't tell with all the twinkling lights on every tree in town. It was truly a magical sight.

I hurried across the street to the park which had benches all around it, and a huge white gazebo smack dab in the middle. The gazebo was decorated from top to bottom in green garlands, red ribbons, and warm white lights.

Mr. and Mrs. Mason sat inside it like they always did after their nightly walk. They were in their mideighties and still going strong. My grandparents on my mother's side used to join them on their walks; they had all grown up together and were great friends. But when my grandfather passed five years ago, my grandmother refused to walk without him.

"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Mason," I called, waving at them when they noticed me.

Mrs. Mason smiled wide and lifted a hand in the air. "Oh, hello, Lydia," she hollered back, her voice raspy from old age. "Where you off to?"

I nodded toward the water fountain where all the out-of-towners liked to throw coins and make wishes. "Just taking a walk to the fountain, and then I'm going home to heat me up some soup."

Still holding hands, Mr. and Mrs. Mason walked down the gazebo stairs, taking them slowly. They were both in matching red coats and red hats that hid their white hair. It was the first time I'd noticed Mr. Mason not walking as well as he used to.

They stopped in front of me, and a sad smile spread across Mrs. Mason's face. "I visited your grandmother this morning. She seems to be happy. I know the holidays have been rough on her."

Nodding, I gave her a reassuring smile. "They have been, but she's getting through. I try to see her as much as I can."

Mrs. Mason squeezed my arm lovingly. "When you see her next, give her our love again. I always say you can never have too much."

"I will," I promised.

They continued their way out of the park and onto the sidewalk. Their quaint little cottage was only a couple of blocks behind the gallery.

I turned back toward the fountain. There was a young lady who looked to be in her early twenties, wearing a navy-blue-and-orange University of Virginia sweatshirt, tossing a silver coin into the water. She closed her eyes, and I watched her lips move as she spoke silently. The wistful look on her face made me believe she was wishing for love or something along those lines.

When she opened her eyes, her attention jerked to me, and she laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, I know, I'm a hopeless romantic. I couldn't resist making a wish."

I held up my hands. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. I hope it comes true for you."

She nodded and looked down at the water where she'd tossed her coin. "Me too."

Her friends called out her name and she hurried off to join them. There were so many coins in the water, shimmering with the reflection of the fountain lights. They signified a ton of wishes, and it made me wonder if any of them had come true.

I sat on the fountain ledge just as a brisk wave of wind blew past me. Shivering, I pushed my hands into my pockets and held my breath until it passed. I loved the cold winter weather and wouldn't trade our crazy mountain winds for any amount of summer heat.

I started to stand but then felt something in my pocket. Of course, when I pulled the object out, it was a bright, shiny nickel. I had no clue how it had gotten into my pocket. I stared at the coin and then at all the others in their resting spots in the fountain.

Was I seriously going to toss the coin in and make a wish?

A laugh escaped my lips at the absurdity. I'd lived in Blowing Rock my entire life and never fallen prey to the superstition of wishes.

Holding up the nickel, I took one last look at it and tossed it into the air, hearing it clink when it hit the water.

"Now for the wish," I murmured as I closed my eyes.

In my mind, all I could see was myself alone at the fountain. I'd love to have someone by my side, someone I was in love with who'd walk hand in hand with me with through the park.

Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly and opened my eyes. "That's what I want," I confessed. "I want to find someone I can give my heart to and get theirs in return. I feel like I've been waiting a lifetime for that."

Another gust of wind whipped around me, but it wasn't cold; it felt warm, like a comforting embrace. It was the strangest thing, considering it was a chilly forty degrees outside.

After taking one last look at the fountain, I turned on my heel and headed back toward the gallery where my SUV was parked out front on the street. I walked past Hailey's store, and saw she was still with the same customer, so I waved again. Before hopping inside my car, I glanced at the fountain again. The lights in the park flickered as if they were winking at me, and another gust of warm air ruffled my hair.

I opened my car door and slid inside. "It's official. I'm losing my mind. It's a good thing Hailey didn't see me toss that coin. She'd never let me live it down."

I wanted to believe wishes could come true, but that wasn't how life worked. It was going to take a Christmas miracle to get what I wanted.