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Chapters (48)
  1. 1. One
  2. 2. Two
  3. 3. Three
  4. 4. Four
  5. 5. Five
  6. 6. Six
  7. 7. Seven
  8. 8. Eight
  9. 9. Nine
  10. 10. Ten
  11. 11. Eleven
  12. 12. Twelve
  13. 13. Thirteen
  14. 14. Fourteen
  15. 15. Fifteen
  16. 16. Sixteen
  17. 17. Seventeen
  18. 18. Eighteen
  19. 19. Nineteen
  20. 20. Twenty
  21. 21. Twenty-One
  22. 22. Twenty-Two
  23. 23. Twenty-Three
  24. 24. Twenty-Four
  25. 25. Twenty-Five
  26. 26. Twenty-Six
  27. 27. Twenty-Seven
  28. 28. Twenty-Eight
  29. 29. Twenty-Nine
  30. 30. Thirty
  31. 31. Thirty-One
  32. 32. Thirty-Two
  33. 33. Thirty-three
  34. 34. Thirty-Four
  35. 35. Thirty-Five
  36. 36. Thirty-Six
  37. 37. Thirty-Seven
  38. 38. Thirty-Eight
  39. 39. Thirty-Nine
  40. 40. Forty
  41. 41. Forty-One
  42. 42. Forty-Two
  43. 43. Forty-three
  44. 44. Epilogue
  45. Afterword
  46. Also by
  47. Acknowledgments
  48. About Author

The tree was huge, and I wasn’t sure how we would ever fit it on any of our cars, but I was looking forward to seeing it in the house. The last time I was this excited for anything revolving around Christmas, it ended miserably with a long road trip to West Palm and a passenger seat filled with empty tissue boxes.

I looked to see what the rest of my family’s thoughts were. Mom and Dad were in their own world, not paying attention to anything other than each other. Matt was off to the side on his phone and Taylor was beside him smiling at me and nodding. I hesitated to look at Sarah and Logan. Logan was looking at Sarah with loving eyes as she stared at me. She seemed nervous and seeking approval. I knew she had a million things to say to me; she could probably talk to me for the next twelve days straight and still have more to explain. But I wasn’t ready.

I swiftly turned back to the salesman, who had no idea the love I felt for this tree. “Yeah, this one will do.”

He smiled and shouted at a coworker to help him get it ready for us. I looked up at Finn to find him already glancing down at me with that sweet grin on his face, and I couldn’t help but smile back, my eyes softening and teeth flashing.

“You should do that more often,” he said confidently.

“What?”

“Smile like that.”

I didn’t respond or move. I simply smiled wider but looked down to my feet, embarrassed that for the first time in years I had butterflies in my stomach. It felt like I was looking at the ocean: there were beautiful waves crashing against the shore and a sunset lighting the back like a perfect portrait, but there were sharks in those waters. Sharks with luscious brown hair and eyes that said, take me, I’m yours.

15. Fifteen

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Remember when I said I was blessed with good luck? Still rings true.

I drove my loaded SUV, which held an unreasonably large tree on top of it, a beautiful blonde in the passenger seat, and a damn good hot chocolate in my cup holder, back to Olive’s parents’ house. See—good luck.

Olive wasn’t a talkative girl; I learned that within five minutes of meeting her. But if you paid attention, her face broadcasted every thought running through her mind. The way her eyebrows raised and lowered, how her lip twitched, the small dimple that popped through when she got excited but didn’t want to admit it. All you had to do was watch and her gorgeous, tan freckled face would tell you anything you needed to know.