Thank goodness for adrenaline and makeup and the promise of a vacation soon. She had two whole weeks off over Christmas. Two weeks to sleep late, ignore her phone and catch up on TV shows everyone talked about but she never had time to watch. And, most exciting of all, a whole week with Holly and Christy in Lapland.

How many times had they talked about Lapland as children?

It was a dream that had seeped into her work, and the company had recently launched an Arctic range at her suggestion. A remote-controlled wolf, a board game for the whole family that involved racing around Lapland by ski, snowmobile and sled. Meet a reindeer, go back five spaces. A night-light that shone greeny-blue aurora around the room. She’d already sent one to Holly.

Hopefully her trip would provide more inspiration for additions to the new range, but she didn’t mind if it didn’t. This was all about enjoying time with Holly and Christy. Could there be any better way to spend Christmas?

Seb would be there, too, of course, but after a rocky beginning to their relationship, they’d both moved on.

Whatever their differences, they had one big thing in common.

They both loved Christy.

Of all the challenges that friendship could bring, the one Alix hadn’t expected was that her closest friend would marry a man she didn’t like.

Alix frowned. No, it wasn’t that she didn’t like Seb. More that she didn’t trust him. She’d known him vaguely before Christy had met him. He’d frequented the same fashionable bar that she often went to after work, where the crowd was the usual predictable mix of stressed city workers. They’d never been interested in each other, but she’d been aware of his reputation with women, so when he and Christy had been attracted like magnets the first time they’d met, she’d been concerned. Concern had turned to alarm when Christy had announced shortly after that she was pregnant and intended to marry him. What should have been a fun, casual evening had turned into forever.

But if rumor was correct, Seb Sullivan didn’t do forever.

And she’d felt guilty and more than a little responsible because Christy would never have met Seb if it hadn’t been for Alix.

She’d done everything she could to talk her friend out of it, which hadn’t exactly endeared her to Seb or to Christy or to the best man—although that was a whole other story—but at the time that hadn’t mattered. She’d been trying to save her friend from making a terrible mistake. What was friendship if it wasn’t looking out for someone you loved? Being straight about the things that mattered? Christy’s happiness mattered to her, but Christy had decided that happiness had meant marrying Seb.

Fortunately that little blip hadn’t damaged their friendship, and Alix knew nothing ever would. Their bond was unbreakable. It was true that she felt a little squeezed out by Christy’s relationship with Seb, but she had to admit that, so far, the marriage seemed to be working out. Seb was a good father, and he seemed to love Christy. He’d embraced Christy’s dream of moving to a cottage in a small country village. Alix hadn’t been able to imagine Seb spending his weekends going on muddy walks or enjoying a pint in the local pub, but apparently she’d misjudged him, because they’d been in the cottage for eighteen months, and everything seemed to be going well.