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His arm tightens around me, and he leans in and whispers. “Baby, you belong.”

He kisses me softly, tenderly, like he’s trying to remind me.

The words land harder than they should. Because I don’t know if they’re true. Or if I even deserve them.

For a long time, neither of us says anything.

The silence stretches until it finally breaks me.

I keep staring straight ahead.

My throat burns. “I look at Walker and Violet...Jack and Cami...Poppy and Ollie...They make it look so easy.”

Snow crunches beneath our boots as I continue. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to figure out where I fit.” I laugh, but it comes out broken. “I couldn’t even get my own dad to love me.”

The words hang in the cold air.

“I’ve always wondered what was so wrong with me.”

Finally, I look at Ty.

“If the man who was supposed to love me most couldn’t…” My voice cracks. “It made me think, why would anyone else?”

Ty doesn’t answer right away. His eyes shine in the glow of the Christmas lights as if hearing those words physically hurts him. He steps closer, cups my face between his gloved hands, and shakes his head.

“Jenna.” His voice is barely above a whisper. “So that’s the story you’ve been telling yourself all these years. There has never been one thing wrong with you.”

I close my eyes. Because part of me wants to believe him. And another part... Has spent far too many years believing the opposite.

I’m at an emotional low point. Watching everyone I know carry out memories and traditions. And believing that didn’t end with my mother.

I want to believe he’s right. I want him.

14

ty

She Walked into that Bar and Changed My Life

A while later, after our talk, I spot Jenna across the way, standing near the edge of the rink, talking to Poppy. She’s holding baby Ellie, bundled against her chest in a tiny snowsuit that makes the baby look more like a pink marshmallow than a tiny human. But she’s a cute tiny human. Poppy and Jenna laugh at something while they sip coffee and eat a corndog.

Jenna smiles down at the baby. Her smile is different. It’s not the guarded one she typically wears, but the vulnerable one she wore in Vegas. The one that lights up her whole face when she doesn’t hold anything back. The real Jenna. And that’s the one I want. That one.

Jenna laughs quietly at something Poppy says.

“Oh, is that right?” she coos down to the baby. “You’re just going to hold me hostage now with all of your cuteness?”

My feet stop moving, and my heart starts pumping. The rest of the Christmas festival fades into the background. Everything disappears except Jenna. Because right now I feel like I’m getting a glimpse at what my future could look like and what I never knew I could want. A future with Jenna. And watching her right now is mesmerizing.

She sways, rocking back and forth as if she’s done it a thousand times and it comes second nature to her. Because from here, it looks like it does. I wonder if Jenna wants what I want.

My heart pounds even faster, and I want to make sure Jenna never leaves me. Because this is all starting to make sense and no sense at all. The pieces are locking into place. Maybe I was meant to meet her. Maybe this was meant to be.

Ollie bumps my shoulder with his, interrupting my existential crisis. “You look like that scares the hell out of you, or it’s something you want, too.”

I don’t take my eyes off Jenna. “I think maybe both.”

He follows my gaze. “Oh, it’s okay to be scared. Every day, I’m convinced I’m somehow going to mess everything up. But when you’ve got a good woman by your side? That makes it all worth it. You can be scared together.”