He smiled because she was going to be okay. She was stronger than she knew. She would overcome the accident like she’d overcome all the other challenges in her life so far.

“I know you’re not that excited about Christmas,” she added. “Do you mind having a tree here?”

“No,” he said. “But we have to get some ornaments.”

“We do?”

“We can’t leave it like that. That’s not doing the ‘whole Christmas thing.’”

She grinned. “Then, we’ll go as soon as the food’s done.”

He checked his watch. “It’s nearly three. We have to hurry if we want to buy anything. The stores close early on Christmas Eve, especially here in Silver Springs.”

“I can leave the rolls to rise and turn off the soup. The pies haven’t gone in the oven yet, so we’re good there.”

“Perfect.” Since he hadn’t gone back to the house with Aiyana, he hadn’t eaten since the bowl of cereal he’d had for breakfast. He was hungry, but he figured he could pick up a small snack to tide him over while they were out. It was suddenly important to him that Tia have the kind of Christmas she was looking for. “I’d better line up Pentatonix for some Christmas songs while we drive over.”

“You don’t mind Christmas music, either?”

Not if it was for her.

Tia held one of the small arm baskets that’d been stacked by the door of the local gift shop as Seth helped her load it, and they spent almost thirty minutes choosing ornaments they liked. Tia had a feeling it didn’t go like this for most people—where every ornament was expensive and unique—but they didn’t have a lot of other options. There were no large stores in Silver Springs where they could buy more standard decorations, and there was no time to drive anywhere else before everything closed.

She was wearing her beanie, but she’d removed her sunglasses so she could see in the dim shop, and she’d untied the scarf so that Seth could hear her when she spoke. “What about this one?”

Although there were quite a few people out on the street, rushing here or there, trying to get last-minute preparations in place, there weren’t many people in this particular store, so the shop clerk had been watching them for a while. She flashed Tia an eager smile whenever Tia looked up, giving Tia the impression the woman knew who she was, but after approaching just once when they came in to see if they needed assistance, she’d left them alone, and for that Tia was grateful.

Seth looked at the fat snowman holding a top hat in its hand. “That’s a definite yes,” he replied and put it in her basket.

“If we keep going, we’re going to need a bigger tree,” she remarked.