As Reggie drove slowly along the familiar streets, she felt an easing of a tension she hadn’t noticed until now. Being back was right, she told herself. Seattle was great and she loved her life there, but coming home to Wishing Tree, especially for Christmas, was pretty wonderful, too.

Her parents lived in one of the older neighborhoods. The brick houses sat on oversized lots. Wide porches offered lots of space for holiday decorations. Right now there were plenty of scarecrows and turkeys in front lawns. The Friday after Thanksgiving, all that would change as the town appeared to flip a switch and begin what was, for them, the best season of all, with the Lighting of the Trees.

From the back seat, Belle began to whine, as if she recognized where they were and couldn’t wait to see her grandparents. Reggie noticed the absence of snowmen in the decorating. Town rules—no snowmen until the first snowfall. And the definition of snowfall was very specific, at least in Wishing Tree. It had to snow steadily for at least fifteen minutes, at the end of which the ground had to be lightly dusted. If that happened, the first snowfall was declared. Horns sounded and everyone headed for The Wreath to celebrate.

The first snow was incredibly late this year, Reggie thought, taking in brown, bare lawns. With a little luck, she would still be around when it happened. After all, Wishing Tree had had a white Christmas every year of its existence. There was no reason to think this year would be any different.

She pulled up in front of the familiar two-story brick house. There were big windows and a wide porch. She and Dena had grown up in this house. She knew which stairs creaked when she was trying to sneak out and exactly how long she could shower before the hot water ran out. She knew the sound of rain on the roof in her upstairs bedroom and which part of the basement was comfortable to work in and which part creeped her out.

The front door opened and her parents rushed out. Belle nearly went through the window in her eagerness to get outside and greet them. Reggie hurried around and let out her dog. Belle burst forth with all the joy her giant body could contain, rushing toward two of her favorite people in the world.

“Who’s a beautiful girl?” Reggie’s mom said, holding her arms open wide. Reggie’s father got between them, taking the brunt of Belle’s body blow as she slammed into them before circling, barking and whining, wiggling with happiness and drenching them with kisses.