Kate structured her original plan, with its intricate, timed details, to act in the same manner as a whirlwind. They were meant to sweep Clark from one themed activity to another, whipping him into a happy Yuletide frenzy. She’d added Christmas caroling as a last-minute effort to kill time before Emily arrived, and though it wasn’t a part of the original plan, Kate thought it fit right in. Clark stood at the end of the piano, doing his best to look every bit as stoic as a Mr. Darcy reenactor, but every once in a while, Kate would look up at him from under her eyelashes and catch him mouthing a phrase of a song before catching himself and pretending it never happened.

He thought no one saw his slip-ups. He was wrong. Kate caught them, and they fanned the flames of hope in her heart, for her plan and for him. She tried her best to hide her triumphant smile behind a curtain of hair. Spooking him could lead to disaster; she had to play her cards right if she wanted him to keep opening up.

In the middle of the song, Emily shot to her feet, checking her phone’s clock against the one on the wall.

“That’s the time? Kate, we’ve got to go if we want to make it.”

“Make it where? Where are you going?”

If Kate didn’t know better—and to be totally honest, she didn’t know better—she would have sworn she heard a whimper of disappointment in Clark’s voice, but she dismissed the thought as soon as it came through her head. Sure, maybe some of his edges had softened. Flickers of humanity peeked out from behind his stony exterior. That didn’t mean he was suddenly an avid caroler, nor did he enjoy her company and want her to stay.

A stupid and exceptionally loud part of Kate’s brain desperately wanted to hear what Clark’s singing voice sounded like. Would it be thick and deep? Tenor and sweet? Would he be able to sing on key at all? She realized what a small thing it was, to want to know how someone sang, but she couldn’t help wanting it all the same. In her experience, though, the smallest things were always the hardest to get in this life.

“Christmas isn’t just a day for eating and eggnog,” she said, leaving the piano and her dreams of hearing Clark sing behind.

“Though eggnog is a big part of it,” Michael joked.

“It’s also,” Kate said through a laugh, “a day to do good.”

“Well,” Clark corrected.