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Sometimes she made little quiches or put together a really great cheese plate. Her stuffed mushrooms were popular, as were the crab puffs. And the wine. All beautiful Washington wines from the great wineries: L’Ecole, Painted Moon, Northstar, Lake Chelan, Doubleback and Figgins.

“Ah, wine. How much I once loved you,” Dena murmured, then laughed. At least she could still eat the food—or most of it, when her stomach would cooperate. Soft cheeses were a no-no, and these days olives made her gag, but otherwise, she was all in.

A light clicked on, illuminating the back patio of the unit below. The ground floor of the carriage house had been split into a storage room for the B and B and a stand-alone suite for guests who preferred something more upscale and private. The space came at a premium, but they rarely had trouble filling it—especially during the holiday season.

The current resident, a ridiculously good-looking man who had arrived two days ago, was booked through the day after New Year’s. Dena was nearly as excited about the thought of all those weekly charges filling up her bank account as she was by the eye candy. Most of her guests were couples and families. Attractive single men didn’t often find their way to her B and B.

Not that his marital status mattered to her. She had accepted that love wasn’t in her destiny—and she was pregnant, so getting involved with a guy made no sense. Oh, and there was the added fact that based solely on looks, he was miles out of her league. Still, an expectant mother could gaze and admire, she thought with a smile.

So far he was a quiet neighbor who didn’t slam doors or turn up his TV too loud. Last night she’d heard guitar music coming from his place—a song played several times in a row. The soft rendition had lulled her to sleep, so she wasn’t about to complain.

The cold seeped through her bathrobe and made her shiver. Dena sucked in one more breath before heading inside to start her morning. She brushed her teeth, then dressed quickly. Once in the kitchen, she ate the only breakfast she was able to keep down these days. An avocado and egg salad sandwich on rye bread. Possibly gross in most circumstances, but her doctor had given it a thumbs-up.

She glanced longingly at her coffee maker, thinking how incredibly close the two of them had been, back before her life had been defined by something the size of a lima bean. Not that she had regrets—giving up coffee was so worth it for her baby’s sake, but at least she’d known that deprivation was coming. It was the morning-slash-afternoon-slash-early-evening sickness that was going to do her in.

But for now her tummy was quiet, so she filled her water bottle, retrieved her lunch from the refrigerator and headed downstairs to her car. If she could get a little cooperation from her body, she was going to have a good day—mostly because every day she was teaching was a good day. Plus there were so many things to look forward to. On Friday she would be announcing the charity project chosen for the third-grade class. Then, next Monday, they would have their monthly career day presentation. If she remembered correctly, they were hosting a plumber, a veterinarian and a Christmas tree farmer. So many possibilities, she thought as she walked to her car. She was, in every way possible, the luckiest person on the planet, and she had the life to prove it.

Chapter Two

Reggie bent at the knees and hoisted the fifty-pound bag of dog food over her shoulder. One of the reasons she’d decided to get a dog a couple of years ago had been to make herself get out of the house to go on walks. Working at home made it easy to get too sedentary. But she hadn’t counted on having to incorporate an upper body strengthening routine into her life, simply to handle the bags of dry food she bought for her roommate. On the bright side, now she could easily lift fifty pounds and toss it into the back of her SUV, next to the box of presents she’d packed.

Belle stood on the porch, watching anxiously. In addition to being, um, well, less than brave, Belle had a touch of separation anxiety. She forever seemed worried that Reggie would simply take off and leave the dog on her own.

“You know that’s never going to happen,” Reggie pointed out. “You’re coming with me. You saw I’d already started packing your suitcase.”

Belle whined low in her throat, apparently not reassured by the reminder.

Reggie stacked a second bag of dog food on top of the first, then added three cases of canned food. She returned to the house to double-check everything was locked up and the furnace turned down to sixty.

One suitcase was already by the door. She went through the second one on the sofa, double-checking that there were plenty of sweaters, coats and flannel onesies for Belle. She added a few of her dog’s favorite toys and several bags of Greenies treats. Belle licked her lips when she saw the familiar bags.

“Yeah, not until we get to Wishing Tree,” Reggie said. “Okay, I think that’s everything.”

She closed the suitcase before pulling Belle’s pink collar out of her jeans back pocket. “All right, pretty girl. Let’s get this on you.”

Belle sat patiently while Reggie fastened it into place. Once that was done, Reggie carried out the suitcases before returning for her coat, her handbag and her dog. She got Belle settled in the back, confirmed the car reindeer antlers were secured, then got in behind the wheel and started the engine.

“We’ll stop for burgers on the way,” she told Belle. “At that place you like.”

Belle wagged her tail as she looked out the window. Belle was very much a girl who enjoyed a burger.

Reggie drove north out of Seattle. She would take Highway 2 most of the way, before turning off for the smaller highway to Wishing Tree. The town was about twenty miles south of the Canadian border, and about a hundred fifty miles east of Seattle. She’d already checked the state’s department of transportation website and knew she would have a relatively easy drive with bare and dry roads the whole way.

Thinking about the lack of snow was a nice distraction, but eventually she found herself admitting that she was both happy to be going home and a little apprehensive.

Maybe a year was enough time for everyone to forget what had happened to her, she thought. At least Jake wasn’t living in Wishing Tree anymore. Paisley, her best friend and source for all the local news, had let her know that Jake had been promoted to manager of one of his family’s properties in Colorado after his stint as assistant manager of the resort just outside of Wishing Tree. The promotion had happened right after the first of the year. Although Paisley was often the go-to person for any interesting gossip, in this case, she had insider knowledge. Not only was she firmly on Team Reggie when it came to the breakup, she was also the events manager at the resort.

“I’ll be fine,” Reggie told herself out loud, before turning on the radio. She knew she was over Jake, but she had to admit she was glad she wouldn’t be running into him. The conversation would be awkward, and she also didn’t want anyone thinking she was still missing him.

An hour later, she was willing to admit that anticipation at the thought of going home was outweighing trepidation. She’d been silly to stay gone for so long, she thought. She was too strong to let a man come between her and returning to Wishing Tree.

Her cell phone rang. Reggie pushed a button on her steering wheel to activate the hands-free function.

“Hello?”

“Hey, you. How’s the drive?”

Reggie smiled as she recognized her sister’s voice. “It’s easy. Belle saw a deer and tried to jump out the window, but I convinced her to stay inside.”