“Do you need a hand? I can take one of the smaller cases.”

“How about you go inside before you freeze to death, and I’ll help with the bags?” Will said from behind her.

“Yes, Lucy, come inside!” said Jules, wrapping an arm around Lucy’s waist.

“Oh, thank god,” said Chloe, who was stamping her feet and rubbing her hands together. “I didn’t think there could be any place colder on the planet than Penham, England.”

“Come on, you two.” Jules shepherded her friends into the cabin and before Lucy knew it, she, Jules, and Chloe were standing in front of the fireplace defrosting.

Lucy looked from one of her best friends to the other. “I still can’t believe you’re here, even though you’re right here.”

“It’s totally surreal, but that pretty much sums up my entire Christmas,” said Chloe. She held her hands out in front of her and Lucy could see that the tips of her fingers had a blueish tinge.

“Chloe, here.” Lucy took Chloe’s hands in hers and rubbed the fingertips gently.

“Guys, I know I said I wanted a traditional Christmas, and it’s been ah-mazing—well, most of it, anyway—but seriously, how the hell do you live in such cold weather year in, year out?”

Jules laughed. “By sucking it up, or booking vacations to somewhere sunny so you have something to look forward to, or—”

“Moving to Australia?” Chloe said, looking past Lucy at Jules. Lucy dropped Chloe’s hands and spun on her heels to catch Jules giving Chloe a pointed look.

“You’re moving? To Australia?” Lucy asked incredulously.

*

“Shhh, Will,” Jules whispered, looking behind them. She could hear the others in the foyer and Will’s voice telling Matt and Archer to follow him upstairs. Hopefully, he hadn’t heard. She looked back at Lucy. “I’ve decided I’m moving to Australia,” she said, her voice low.

“For Matt.” Lucy posed it as a fact, rather than a question, and Jules thought it was an odd assumption.

“For me, Lucy.”

“I don’t …” Lucy looked perplexed.

“This is about me shaking things up. You know that I’ve been stuck in place for some time now, and … I sorta fell in love with the place.”

“And Matt?” Wow, Lucy was really attached to the “Matt” thing.

“He factors into all this, for sure, but this is something I’m doing for me. And it won’t be right away. I’ve got to get a job and my work visa. They’ve got these skilled migrant visas in Australia and programmers are in demand, so that shouldn’t be a problem. There’s a lot to do, a lot to think about.”

“But Matt knows, right?”

“Yeah, for sure. We’ve talked it through. And when I move there, we’ll date, like normal people,” she smiled. “Look, the guys will be back down soon, and—”

“I know.” Lucy nodded. “You need to be the one to tell Will.”

“Thanks, Luce. That part is gonna suck. Will, my dad, my mom … telling them and leaving them.” She blew out a breath. No matter how hard it was going to be, she knew to her core this was the right decision for her. Her time in Australia had felt like a homecoming of sorts, like that was where she needed to be, at least for the foreseeable future.