Nick got home from the reading of John’s will just after five on Christmas Eve and went straight to the kitchen to dig out the bottle of whiskey he’d kept on hand for John. He poured himself half a glass and downed it in one long swallow that burned all the way through him. Pouring a second shot, he took it with him to sit in the living room where a seven-foot Christmas tree waited to be decorated. Under the tree were six festively wrapped gifts for Sam.

He hadn’t heard from her all day, and after her refusal to discuss the Virginia Democrats’ offer when they finally got home late last night, he had good reason to wonder if she would keep her promise to spend this evening with him. She hadn’t even called to tell him that Marquis Johnson had been remanded over to trial—without incident. Nick had to hear about it on the news.

Still hopeful that Sam would keep her promise to spend tonight with him, Nick went into the kitchen to make the dinner he’d shopped for earlier. By nine o’clock the pasta was rubbery, and he had given up on her. Could she really be that freaked out by his job offer? Didn’t she know that if she wasn’t in favor of it, he wouldn’t do it? Disappointment mixed with disbelief. That she would let him down like this, that she would let herself down like this…

He stretched out on the sofa with another shot of whiskey. The empty tree was a stark reminder of how his plans for this evening had failed to materialize. Without Sam, what did it matter? What did anything matter?

He must have dozed off because the ringing doorbell startled him awake an hour later. His heart surged with hope as he got up to answer it. He swung open the door, and there she was.

“Hey,” he said. “Hey.”

“I thought you weren’t coming.”

“I almost didn’t.”

Nick stepped back to let her in and took her coat.

“What do I smell?” she asked, surprised. “Did you cook?”

He shrugged. “Nothing special.”

“Did you leave any for me?”

“All of it.”

“You didn’t eat?”

“I was waiting for you.”

Snuggling into his embrace, she said, “I’m sorry. I totally freaked, and I handled this all wrong.”

Nick hugged her close, overcome with relief at having her back in his arms after a day filled with uncertainty. He brushed his lips over hers. “Tell me what you’re thinking, Samantha. Tell me the truth.”