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The sight makes me grin. “I like that match.”

“Me too.” Gabe wraps his arms around me from behind, so my back is to his chest as we stand together, watching the merriment.

Patrice and Marilyn are shimmying on one side of the dance floor with a few of my other caroling buddies.

I spot Xander talking with several of the other business leaders. I wait to feel the pang of missing out, to feel spurred into action, but it doesn’t come, and it’s a relief. I sigh happily and settle back into Gabe’s arms.

After a moment, I tip my head back and he leans down, sensing I have something to say. I smile to myself at how well he knows me and my cues.

“I don’t see Ivy or Jack, do you?” I ask him. “Or my grandma and grandpa.”

He shakes his head. “No, but I’ve only got eyes for you.”

I roll my eyes at this, which makes Gabe laugh.

Elena crutches in our direction, and Gabe and I untangle ourselves, rushing to help her drop into a chair. Gabe let her know of our plans when we were en route from Tennessee, so she was expecting us.

“You made it!” She beams between her son and me. “Together.”

Gabe reaches for my hand, wraps our fingers up, and kisses my knuckles.

Elena grabs me and pulls me into a hug.

“I could not be happier. For both of you. And for me. I’ve always thought of you as a daughter, Beth.” She whispers the last few words.

When I ease back, her eyes are glistening, and I’m so overwhelmed, all I can do is nod. For so long, Elena has been like the mother I needed but didn’t have. She’s been a mentor and a friend. Someone I looked up to and wanted to impress. That she loves me the same—that we might officially be family someday—makes me feel like I could burst.

Gabe pulls me to him and anchors me to his side. He drops a kiss on my temple, and I sigh happily. My grandparents approach from the far side of the room, looking like the cutest snowbirds I ever did see, and we all exchange hugs and hellos, falling into easy conversation until my gaze flits to the windows along the backside of the room.

I gasp and point. “Look!”

There, silhouetted under the overhead spotlight on the outdoor patio is my brother, down on one knee in front of Ivy, who looks like an Old Hollywood movie star in a black dress and plush fur wrap.

The entire ballroom seems to notice. The band quiets and everyone turns to watch. Jack is talking, and Ivy has her hands pressed over her mouth.

I keep my eyes riveted to the scene, and when Ivy finally nods and throws herself down at a still-kneeling Jack, a sob of joy bubbles out of me.

The whole crowd of Dashers erupts into cheers.

Jack and Ivy, who are embracing, turn and look through the windows. Jack hoists Ivy’s hand up, and we all cheer louder.

Gabe squeezes me, and I turn and wrap him in a proper hug, catching a flash of what I hope I’m correctly reading as a desire to propose to me in the not-so-distant future in his loaded gaze.

“Thank you for getting me here for this,” I whisper.

He smiles into my hair, inhaling deeply and holding me tighter. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart. Now let’s go hug your brother and future sister.”

Epilogue

Gabe

For so much of my life, December twenty-fifth was deeply disappointing. After my dad left, I always wanted Christmas morning to turn out differently than it inevitably did.

Now, though, I’ve aged out of asking Santa to make my dad come home. I will never understand why he left. But I do know I love the life I’m living. I love my mom. I love Nashburg, and I love Dasher Valley.

I love Beth.

When a knock sounds at ten thirty, my heart leaps—because I know who’s waiting for me on the other side of the door. And this Christmas, it all means a little more.