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December 22nd
10:23 A.M.
Arianna Hood pulled to a stop at a red light, another half an hour or so and she’d be home.
As much as she loved being at college, living in a house with three of her best friends, studying, hanging out, laughing, talking, and having fun in between tests and writing papers, there was nothing like coming home.
Especially at Christmas.
Although it had only been a month since she’d been home to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family, a lot had changed in those few weeks. She had finally found the courage to tell her best friend that she was in love with her brother. She had known Rosie Xander since they were both babies. They’d grown up together, been best friends since they could walk, and she had been in love with Rosie’s older brother Zach since she was twelve.
Best friend or potential boyfriend.
That had been the internal debate she had been having with herself for the last seven years.
It would have been easier if it was just a crush, but it wasn't, she loved Zach, and she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. It also would have been easier if her feelings weren't reciprocated, but they were. Zach felt the same way about her as she felt about him, and they had decided they should talk to his sister and see what she thought about them dating. They had agreed that if Rosie had a problem with it, they wouldn’t pursue a relationship. She loved Rosie, and she hadn't wanted to lose her best friend to gain a boyfriend, she had wanted them both.
Having that conversation with her friend was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do. But thankfully, it had worked out perfectly. Rosie had been thrilled and told them they better get married because then the two of them wouldn’t just be best friends but sisters too.
So now she was about to celebrate her first holiday with the man she loved as an official couple. She was so excited. As soon as they had talked to Rosie just after Thanksgiving, they had told their families, neither of which seemed particularly surprised at the news, but both of which had been happy for them.
Arianna had to admit she was a little nervous. There was so much pressure on her new relationship. Her mom had known Zach’s dad since before they were born, they’d even dated briefly before her mom met her dad, and then a few years later Zach’s dad reconnected with his childhood sweetheart. She really loved Zach, and she wanted the two of them to still be together and in love like their parents when they were their age.
As nervous as she was, she was equally as excited. This year they wouldn’t have to just sneak looks at one another, wondering if the other felt the same way they did. This Christmas they would be able to hold hands, kiss under the mistletoe, and be like a real couple.
The light changed to green, and she drove off. Arianna turned up the volume, and for the next twenty minutes she sang along—woefully out of tune, but what she lacked in talent she made up for in vigor—to an array of Christmas carols and songs. By the time she pulled into her parents’ street, she was brimming with Christmassy glee. She couldn’t wait to get inside, hug her parents and sister, set her gifts under the tree, have lunch, and catch up on everything that had happened over the last few weeks. Then she was having dinner with Zach, who had driven back from college yesterday.
Pulling to a stop outside her parents’ house, she was filled with nostalgia when she saw the big blow-up Christmas tree surrounded by a family of lighted reindeer in the front yard. She still remembered the year they’d gotten it; she’d been six and Hayley had been eleven. They’d spent ages in the store deciding which of the large blow-up displays to buy. Every Christmas since, they’d set it up in the yard. For many years after they’d bought it, Arianna would sit at her bedroom window at night and stare out at the glowing scene.
Home really was something special, but this house wouldn’t be her home for much longer. It would always be the first real home she’d had, and it would always be a place she could come to when she needed love and support, but soon she would be making a home of her own with Zach.
They’d talked about it. She was only nineteen, and he was only twenty, both of them hoped to follow in their parents’ footsteps—her mother and Zach’s father—and join the police force. It was going to be a busy but stressful time of their lives, and they thought they would face it better together than on their own. So, the summer after they graduated—only two and a half years away—they were going to be married. She’d be twenty-one by then, and Zach would be twenty-two. They’d be young but they’d both been set wonderful examples of how a successful relationship worked by their parents and extended family, so she knew they would be okay.
It was snowing out, so she turned off the engine and shrugged into her coat, wrapped her scarf around her neck a couple of times, pulled a beanie down low so it covered her ears and most of her forehead, then grabbed her suitcase from the front seat and stepped out into the cold.
In her peripheral vision, she saw someone walking down the sidewalk but didn't pay them much attention. She wanted to get inside and start celebrating Christmas.
She was just locking the car when she noticed a shadow looming over her.
Arianna turned around expecting to see someone who needed help, or maybe one of her family or friends.
Instead, it was a man with brown hair and blue eyes.
She’d never seen him before.
“You’re not Hayley,” he growled when he got a look at her face.
Her sister?
Why did he think she was Hayley?
What did he want?
“No, I'm her little sister, Arianna,” she said. The man must be a friend of Hayley’s or maybe he worked with her. Her sister was very dedicated to her job.
“Sister, huh?” He looked thoughtful, and again she wondered who he was and what he was doing here.
“I can pass on a message to her if you like,” she offered.
