Bella loved Christmas. She took part in every tradition and activity with unbridled enthusiasm. He still felt bad that she’d canceled her trip to Colorado and wanted these few days with his family to make up for it in some small way.

At least the Anderson clan was never boring.

Holding tight to Lucas’s legs, he made his way through the crowd toward Bella and Kyle, who stood near his dad and stepmom.

“Can I get another hot chocolate, Papa,” Brianna, Lucas’s older sister, asked as she grinned up at Pete Anderson with a mouth already ringed in chocolate.

“Sure, pumpkin,” his dad answered, patting her head.

“Marla’s going to kill you,” Kyle muttered, but Pete only shrugged and then winked at Bella. “What’s the use of being a grandpa if you can’t spoil your grandkids?”

“I want some, too,” Lucas shouted, and Sam lowered him to the ground.

Bella took a step closer to him and the scent of her lemony shampoo drifted toward him. He wanted to drape an arm over her shoulder and pull her close but kept his hands to himself.

“Your family’s wonderful,” she said, although her smile wobbled ever so slightly at the edges.

“But you’re missing yours,” he guessed.

She nodded. “A little. I’ll call them when we get back. It’s two hours earlier in Colorado.” She gestured to the temporary ice rink that had been situated in the local hardware store’s parking lot. “I love everything about this town. I can see why you feel at home in Magnolia. There’s a very similar vibe.”

“Except in Magnolia, there aren’t a dozen people calling me little Sammy every time I turn around.”

She giggled at that, and the sound moved through him like music. God, he needed to get a grip. Maybe it was all the holiday spirit or his heightened emotions being home. Surely he could get ahold of his crush on her. He wouldn’t risk losing her as a friend.

“There’s nothing little about you.” Her eyes went wide as she said the words, like the potential innuendo of them just dawned on her.

Another thing he liked about her was the lack of artifice. Add it to the mile-long list.

“I’m glad you noticed,” he answered in his best teasing tone. It was easier to keep it light than to show her his true feelings.

Her cheeks flooded with color, her mouth formed a tiny O and all he could think about was leaning in to kiss her.

Which would, of course, ruin everything. At this moment, Sam couldn’t bring himself to care.

Then the choir director, who’d been leading the local high school glee club in carols at one end of Main Street, whistled shrilly into the microphone. Bella startled and they both turned, along with almost every other person at the event, to face the bandstand that had been erected in one of the closed-off intersections of downtown.

“Let’s give a big thank-you once again to our talented students,” he boomed into the mic, and the crowd dutifully clapped and wolf-whistled. When the noise died down, the man leaned in with a waggle of his bushy eyebrows. “We have a real special Christmas treat for y’all tonight. Turns out that after his concert last night over in Asheville, country star Jake Combs made his way to Ridgeway for the holiday.”