“Let’s go.” His mouth set in a grim line, he shifted Holly more securely and then grabbed the luggage trolley. “I’m loaded down here, so you’re going to have to sort out the car rental.”

“No problem.” Anything to get away from him.

They walked in silence through the airport, signed the necessary forms and picked up the keys to their car.

Alix helped maneuver the sleeping Holly into the car seat. “We should have accepted Robyn’s offer to pick us up. Given that we landed on ice and snow, I’m assuming the roads will be the same.” And the thought of being trapped in the suffocating confines of a car with Zac for a couple of hours did nothing for her stress levels.

“It seemed like a waste of her time. And we might need our own vehicle.” Zac loaded up their luggage and then slid into the driver’s seat, and she settled herself beside him. “Don’t worry. All cars here are equipped with snow tires, and I’ve driven these roads before, and Christy thought it might be better for Holly to meet Robyn when she’s rested. Holly doesn’t love being strapped into a car for long. She gets bored. Christy says her latest thing is to unfasten her seat belt.”

Oh joy.

“Maybe I’ll sit in the back. It will be safer.”

He turned to look at her. “For you or for her?”

“You’re not funny.” She unclicked her seat belt, ignoring his laughter.

“I can be funny, Alix. But you’re always too tense around me to notice.”

He had to be the most aggravating man she’d ever met.

“I’m sitting in the back because of Holly. Don’t flatter yourself that this has anything to do with you.”

“Of course it doesn’t.”

“You are so annoying.”

“I try my best. Annoying you turns out to be surprisingly entertaining.”

She slammed the car door so hard Holly’s eyes flickered open. Alix stroked her hair gently and felt a pang because the little girl looked so like Christy. The irritation drained out of her. What was her friend doing right now? Was she sad? Stressed? She hated the idea of Christy struggling with a problem alone. Of being unhappy without her support. And she hated not knowing what was wrong.

Why wasn’t Christy talking to her? Had Alix been a bad friend to her?

Her throat thickened.

Suddenly it felt like too much. Her head throbbed, she was tired and not at all sure she was up to handling what lay ahead. She had to be on her guard with Zac, and she already felt exhausted from it.

Wrestling with misery, she stared out the window, watching the landscape slide past.

It was stunningly beautiful, but it felt wrong to be enjoying this without Christy. How many times had they talked about Lapland when they were children? Santa lives there.

Alix had always known there was no Santa, but she’d fiercely protected her friend’s magical belief.

The road was snowy, the world shrouded in a strangely beautiful light, the sky tinged pale pink. Zac drove with quiet confidence, as comfortable in this icy wilderness as she would have been on the streets of London. And although she would never have admitted it, she was grateful for that confidence. There was no way she would have wanted to do this journey by herself, especially alone with Holly.