Chapter 56: Chapter 56

She didn’t—the number was disconnected. Memory held her phone away from her face and stared at it, listening to the obnoxious tone on the other end and the message telling her she’d dialed incorrectly on repeat. Pressing the button to disconnect the call, she rested the phone against her chin. Part of her thought perhaps Ellie had been a figment of her imagination—but other people had seen her, spoken to her, interacted with her. None of it made any sense....

Memory put her phone down and grabbed her purse, remembering what Ellie had said right before she left. The journal. She’d mentioned she should read it. Maybe Ellie wrote her a message in the journal to explain what was going on. She opened her bag and dug through it, feeling around in all of the mess, but the journal wasn’t jumping out. “What in the world?”

She turned on the overhead light and opened her bag wide, pulling out the larger objects, like her wallet and makeup bag. Nearly everything was out, and the journal wasn’t there. It wasn’t a huge book, only about the size of her palm, but it was thick and heavy, so there was no way she was missing it.

Memory set her bag down and looked around on the floorboards, hoping it had fallen out one of the times she’d haphazardly tossed her bag in the car. She couldn’t find it anywhere. “Great!” She slammed her hand against the steering wheel. It had to be somewhere—maybe it had fallen out at home, or at the store. If she lost that....

Frustrated and upset about more things than she could count, Memory scooped everything back into her purse and put her seatbelt on. She wanted to check at home to see if the journal was there. If she could find it, that would be one less thing to worry about.

The inn was only a couple of blocks from her dad’s house, so it only took a minute or two for her to turn onto his street and arrive at her destination. She pulled into the driveway and shifted into park, turning the car off but taking a minute to catch her breath. The house was dark, indicating her dad was still at work, which made sense since it was just past 4:00 yet and he usually got off at 5:00. Memory grabbed her bag and pulled herself out of the car as the sound of crunching gravel and snow from the street had her head turning that direction.

A familiar Mercedes pulled to a stop along the street, and Memory’s breath caught in her throat. She tossed her bag back into the car and shut the door, shoving her hands into her pockets, waiting.

Dak took his time getting out of the car and coming around. She couldn’t read his expression until he was only a few feet from her, and her bottom lip was quivering so fiercely, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to get her apology out before she started crying.

He stopped a good three feet in front of her, his hands in his coat pockets. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Her voice was a whisper. “I’m... surprised to see you. I thought you were headed home.”

“I was.”

She nodded. She knew that. “Why did you come back?”

He inhaled and held it for a second. “A couple of reasons. I got your message.”

Memory’s shoulders dropped down from where she’d been holding them around her ears. “Oh. Yeah. I’m... so sorry. I’m an idiot.”

“No, you’re not.” He rolled his eyes.

“Well, I acted like one. I’m so sorry, Dak.” She took a step forward, one hand coming out of her pocket. “I should’ve known that you would never do something like that. It’s just... ever since I met you, or at least since I sort of thought maybe you were interested in dating me, I’ve wondered what in the world you would want with someone like me. And I know what you’re going to say—but just because you think I’m beautiful and smart and all of that doesn’t mean it makes sense to me. Anyway, it wasn’t hard for me to convince myself that you had to have been after the house all along.”

“Memory, I hate that you feel that way.” He moved closer to her, but his hands were still in his pockets. “You are worth so much more than anything money could ever buy me.”

Her heart caught in her chest as the depth of his words penetrated her soul, cutting through all of the walls she’d built around herself, all of the stories she’d been repeating for so long she’d lost sight of her value through the haze of her own misperceptions. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.” He took another step closer, his left hand finding its way out of his pocket. She reached for it, feeling a wave of relief wash through her when his ungloved hand met hers. The same electric pulses she’d felt every time he’d touched her raced through her as his fingers intertwined with hers. “Memory, you’re the only reason I’ve stayed here. Sure, I was hoping I’d find a property I could use to help benefit the town, but my interest in the factory came later, after talking to you. If I hadn’t met you and wanted to get to know you better, I would’ve went back to Chicago empty-handed.” His eyes dropped to their interlaced fingers, and they both chuckled.

“Thank you for not giving up on me, even when I was so dismissive of you. I didn’t even want to give you a chance....”

“I noticed.”

She smiled at him, feeling the color rise in her cheeks as she closed the distance between them and his arm came around her waist. “You didn’t give up on me, though. And I’m so glad you didn’t because you are the most amazing man I’ve ever met. You’re so generous, so kind, funny....”

“Dashingly handsome.” He chuckled, his tone conveying sarcasm.

“That, too,” she agreed. He may have been trying to make her laugh, but it was true. “I’m so glad you came back. Will you give me another chance?”

Dak let out an exaggerated sigh. “I don’t know.... I was thinking of driving home and microwaving a burrito while I watch It’s a Wonderful Life on TV.”

“You can do that here. Kirsten’s cooking isn’t much better than mine. You might have to.” She grinned at him, glad to hear him laughing again. “I want to spend this Christmas with you. And next Christmas... and all of them, Dak, Dakota, Cody... whatever your name is. Because... I’m falling in love with you. And I can’t let you walk away from me ever again.”

Letting go of her hand, Dak wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her in tight. His lips were hovering just above hers, his minty, warm breath caressing her cheek. “I love you, Memory. And I promise you... I’ll never walk away from you again. No matter what.” He lowered his head, and she raised up to meet him, her hand on the back of his neck to hold him close as he showed her just how much he meant it as his lips pressed to hers.

Memory pulled back, smiling up at him as she lost herself in his dark brown eyes. She could’ve stood there for ages, staring at him, if it wasn’t so cold, and if there wasn’t so much she wanted to talk to him about. “Did you say goodbye to Ellie?”

“I saw her this morning, but when I got back to the inn, another couple was moving into her room.”

She cocked her head to the side. “You know which room she was in?”

“I think so. I’m pretty sure it was the room right across from mine. Every time we met in the hallway, she seemed to be coming from there. Why?”

Clearing her throat, Memory said, “I went to the inn to try to find you, but you were gone already. So I asked Leon if Ellie was still there.” She took a deep breath, wondering how he would react to what she was about to say. “He said he had no record of an Eleanor, or Ellie, Snow ever registering there.”

Dak’s expression mirrored how she felt when Leon told her that news. “Maybe she told us a different name for some reason....”

Memory shook her head. “He didn’t know who I was talking about.” Goosebumps rose up all along her arms as she considered all of the strange occurrences that had surrounded Ellie since she’d arrived. “Her phone number doesn’t work anymore. Did you... did you ever actually see her car?”

“Her car? No, why?”

“I don’t know. It’s just... I never saw it either. She said she had one, but she didn’t park it next to mine in the alley. I never actually saw her in one.”

“I’m not sure what difference that makes.”

“How did she get to Kirsten’s?”

“I always assumed she drove.”

Memory couldn’t remember a time when Ellie didn’t just seem to be wherever she was supposed to be. She’d never seen a different car in front of her sister’s house, though she could’ve just arrived before Ellie and left after her; she wasn’t sure. “The whole thing is so strange. It’s like she just dropped into my life when I needed her most, made sure you and I got together, and then she left again.”

“Hmmm....” Dak considered her words, but then his eyebrows knit together, and his eyes volleyed up to the sky. “What is that?”

Melody turned so she could see what he was looking at. A bright light shot across the early evening sky, leaving a trail of glitter behind as it faded into the heavens. Memory’s mouth dropped open. She turned back to look at him, her eyes wide. “Do you think?”

“I don’t know,” he said again, his eyes alternating between her face and the sky. “But... if anyone could be a Christmas angel, it’s Ellie.”

“What if she really was my grandma?” Memory knew she sounded crazy, but there were so many similarities between the two women. “What if she came down here to help me, but she had to leave again?”

“Normally, I would say you need to go in and lie down, Mem, but... the insurance policy was in the chair in the ballroom. Just sitting there. And I know it wasn’t there yesterday.”

“What?” She couldn’t believe it—she had been in the house searching for that paper a hundred times. There’s no way it had been in that chair before.

“Yeah, and that’s not all. Two cardinals led me to it. Literally. I’m not kidding. Flew into the house and made me open the ballroom door for them. Ralph saw the whole thing.”

Memory covered her mouth with one hand, still in a state of disbelief. “That’s crazy. Were they the same two that stopped Lorelei last weekend?”

“Could be. I didn’t see them at the snowball fight. Anyway, people say cardinals are our loved ones back for a visit....”

“My grandma used to say that. That’s why I bought her that journal, the one with the cardinal on it.” She remembered that she needed to find it, and fought the frustration rising inside her.

Dak let go of her and dug in his coat pocket. He pulled out the journal, and once again, Memory’s mouth fell open. Not only did he have it, there were three cardinal feathers sticking out of it. “That’s the other reason I came back. When you called, I dropped my phone, and it fell between the seats. I pulled over to fish it out, and I found this.”

Memory took it, holding it carefully, like it was a fragile piece of Venetian glass. “Where did the feathers come from?”

His forehead crinkled. “They weren’t in there already?”

“No. I didn’t put them there....”