They walked the length of the beach, filling the bag with shells of all shapes and sizes as well as tiny pieces of driftwood and a long-dead starfish. With the wind whipping around them, it was hard to hear each other, so they didn’t say much. They didn’t need to. They kept up a steady communication with expressions and shared smiles over a particularly good find.

He ran ahead of her, stopping to scoop up an object that defied description. At one time it might’ve been a shell of some sort. Now it had barnacles growing on it and a starfish stuck to one end. Slim held it up high and shouted, “Topper?”

“Works for me!”

Smiling, he added it to the bag, which was nearly full. He took hold of her right hand for the walk back to the truck against the cold wind that brought tears to their eyes. Erin wanted to switch hands so he’d hold the left one instead. It took effort not to ask if they could switch, but she withheld the obsessive urge, hoping he wouldn’t notice the way she favored her left side, even though she was right-handed.

She’d given a lot of thought to the question of why the left side and had come to the conclusion that it was because when they were photographed as children, Toby had usually been on the left and she on the right. That was the best explanation she—and many therapists—had for the odd left-side fixation she’d developed after his death.

Back in the truck, he blasted the heat and rubbed his frozen hands together. “This is going to be the coolest Christmas tree ever.”

“It’ll certainly be the most unique.”

“I just thought of something we need from the grocery store,” he said as they drove away from the beach.

“What’s that?”

“Bleach. Unless we want your cute little lighthouse to smell like a bait shop tomorrow.”

“Um, no bait shop, please.”

“Not to worry. I gotcha covered.” He told her to stay warm in the car while he ran into the store, emerging ten minutes later with three big paper bags in his arms. “Saw a couple of other things we needed to get into the Christmas spirit.”

“Like what?”

“Hot chocolate, steak, baked potatoes and candles for the table. I’d rather make you dinner than take you out when it’s freezing.”

“You might be the best houseguest I’ve ever had.”

“You just found me out. My goal is to get invited back.”

Erin could tell she surprised him when she reached for his hand. “You have a standing invite.”

His smile lit up his eyes, and he leaned in to kiss her. “God, I’ve been dying to do that for hours now.”

“So why didn’t you?”

“Afraid to scare you off. You’re kind of skittish about all this, aren’t you?”