Chapter 24: Chapter 24

“Hi, Memory,” Jen said first, her face lit up as she pulled at her long brunette braid. “How are you?”

“Good. Hi, Jen. Hi, Chet.”

“Hi there, Memory.” Chet’s voice was a little too sing-song for Memory’s taste as well. “You look nice.”

“Oh, thanks.” She looked down at what she was wearing. “It’s just... my coat. My regular old white coat. That I always wear. All the time.”

“Okay....” Chet caught Jen’s eye, and said, “Weren’t we going to meet your parents?”

“Yep, and I bet they’re probably... over there. By the hot cocoa stand. It was nice to see you, Memory. Dak, nice to see you again.”

“You, too,” Dak said to Jen, giving her a little wave as Chet clapped his arm. Memory followed them with her eyes, still not having looked directly at Dak yet, until he said, “Hi, Memory. How are you?”

Her eyes flickered to his, taking in his amused expression. “Fine. I’m good. How are you?”

“All right. It’s a little cold, but not too bad.” A shy smile pulled up the corners of his mouth as she glanced down to see what he was wearing.

He had on the same black coat he’d worn the other day and jeans, but he was wearing boots today, which was a good call since they were standing in snow. The gray scarf he wore looked warm. “You should’ve worn a hat,” she noted, moving so that she was standing by him but not between him and the stage anymore. She was hoping the ceremony would start in the next few minutes. It usually didn’t last too long. They’d sing a few carols everyone knew, maybe have a speaker who’d say a few words about the town’s traditions, and then the mayor would flip the giant switch that turned the lights on. They’d all clap, sing “Deck the Halls,” and then people would chat for a bit before they headed out. Hopefully, she’d be home by 7:00.

“I thought about wearing a hat, but I didn’t want to mess up my hair.” He reached up with a gloved hand and touched it. Memory noticed the swoosh at the front didn’t move much and figured he must have been joking. “I actually just forgot to grab it.”

“Oh, and I thought I was the only one who chronically forgets things,” she muttered.

“You forget things?” He seemed genuinely surprised.

“All the time.”

“Huh.” He rocked back and forth from the balls of his feet to his heels. “Bit of a misnomer then, huh?”

“Totally. My mom didn’t know me before she named me, you know.” Memory glanced at him quickly before returning her attention to the stage in front of her. No one was on it, and a look around told her Mayor Andrew Charles was still talking to people toward the back of the crowd. It might be a while before he even made his way up here to get things rolling. She wanted to check the time, but that would be rude—and she’d already been rude enough.

“Your mom must’ve been a pretty amazing person. Do you have lots of pictures of her?”

Memory looked up to see the sincerity in his expression as he gazed down at her. “Uh, yeah, I do. And lots of old videos. My dad used to record her all the time. It was before everyone was recording everything, but he had a little handheld video recorder, and any time they’d go anywhere, he’d pull it out and make a video. My mom would always pretend like she didn’t like to be on film, but you can tell she did.” She found herself smiling, thinking about her mom. “I’m really lucky to have all of that. Even though I guess I’m not lucky enough to have my mom.”

“I can’t imagine. My mom and I are so close.... It must’ve been really hard for you, growing up without her.”

“It was. But... I had my grandma. And my dad. And Kirsten, even though she’s just two years older than me.”

Dak chuckled. “Yeah, I saw her messing with you earlier. My older brother would’ve been doing the same thing—or worse.”

“You have a brother?”

“Yep. Montana.” Memory raised an eyebrow at him. “Kidding. Craig. His name is Craig.”

“Oh, right.” She laughed, thinking it would be so weird to name both kids after states. “What do your parents do?”

“My mom’s an architect. She co-owns the company I started in Chicago when I finished my undergrad. My dad’s a pediatrician.”

“That’s nice.” Clearly, he came from a different world than she did, one that had money. But she was hoping her expression didn’t say that. “Will you be spending Christmas with them?”

“No, they’re away on a business trip. My dad retired a few years ago, so he goes with Mom whenever she travels. My brother and his family went to the Bahamas for Christmas. I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”

Memory stared at him for a minute, thinking it would be just awful to spend Christmas alone. “Will you go back to Chicago?”

“Maybe. I have some friends who’ve invited me over. Jen and Chet said I could come to their house for Christmas dinner if I want to. I don’t know.” He shrugged and toed the snow with his boot. “Do you have a big family Christmas?”

“Oh, yeah. We always go to Grandma’s house....” Memory drew in a deep breath and corrected herself, painful as it was. “Well, we did. Kirsten’s decided to have it at her house this year. It’ll be Anson’s first Christmas that he’ll actually be awake for—she hopes—so it’ll be nice for him to wake up and see his presents at his own house. Kirsten’s looking forward to Lorelei running down the stairs in her pajamas to open presents instead of getting dressed and driving out to Grandma’s place for it. Not that she wouldn’t rather....” She stopped talking again.

His mouth twisted into a sympathetic smile. “I’m sure this Christmas has been hard for all of you.”

Memory nodded. “It has. Grandma loved Christmas so much, it’s just so hard to believe she’s not here. She almost didn’t come to the lighting last year because she wasn’t feeling well. It would have been weird if she wasn’t here. And this year... I just keep thinking she’s at home, and I can go see her when it’s over.”

“I’m really sorry, Memory.” He patted her on the back, and even through her coat, Memory could feel the warmth of his touch and knew that he meant it.

“Thanks.” The thought of tears freezing and sticking to her cheeks had her determined not to let any fall. She looked over at Ellie and Lorelei, playing some sort of clapping game, and found a smile. “Oddly, it’s been easier having Ellie here. I’m not sure what it is about her, but, whenever she’s around, I don’t miss my grandma as much.” She turned and looked at him, hoping he didn’t think she was nuts.

“I think Ellie has that effect on everyone. She just feels like someone you’ve known your whole life, doesn’t she?”

“Exactly,” Memory agreed, glad his hands were back in his pockets, even if she did sort of like it when he was patting her back. “Lorelei asked her if she was an angel.” She giggled, thinking back to her niece’s reaction, but it didn’t surprise her too much. Ellie was angelic in a lot of ways.

“Huh,” Dak said, shifting his weight. “Seems like a legitimate question to me.”

“I know, right?” She laughed again, her eyes glued to Ellie who was having so much fun with Lorelei they almost didn’t notice Mayor Charles climbing the stairs to the gazebo. Part of Memory was disappointed she’d have to stop talking to Dak now, but that’s what she’d been waiting for since she got here, so it made little sense that she wouldn’t be happy to have a reprieve.