Alicia

The scent of fresh-cut evergreen hung in the air from the giant tree in the center of town. It towered over the festival. It was busier than last year, and the town square was crowded with people.

Alicia inhaled deeply, trying to absorb it all—and tried to get into the mood. She loved the festival. She just wished she was here under better circumstances. But she had to remain positive.

Maybe tonight would go perfectly. Maybe Zeke would suddenly come to his senses, and they could put it all behind them and enjoy this Christmas. This last Christmas...

Alicia looked around the crowd, searching for Sterling, Celeste, or the Brightons. It was hard to see much in the busy crowd. As she scanned the sea of people, something on a nearby wall caught her eye. A poster. She'd noticed the local workers pasting them up around town, but she had never taken a moment to read it before now...

WINTER GROVE GAMES

Bring the whole family together with fun and festive games!

INCLUDING:

Fruitcake Fling ✦ Snowman Pageant ✦ Scavenger Hunt

The WINNING TEAM will be crowned to the WINTER GROVE COURT and be invited to light the tree's star at the CHRISTMAS EVE BALL.

SIGN UP TODAY!

Alicia wrinkled her nose. She liked Christmas plenty, but the idea of holiday-themed games was too much, even for her.

"Alicia!"

Alicia turned and saw Sterling and Celeste heading her way. She waved them over.

"Hey! Where are your parents?"

"They said they'd meet us here," Celeste said, looking around. She frowned as she had as much luck as Alicia spotting anyone. "Have you seen them?"

"I haven't," Alicia said, "Though, it's crazy busy right now. I might have missed them."

"I wonder where they are," Celeste muttered to herself. She pulled out her phone to call.

There was a message already waiting for her on the screen. A picture had been attached. Celeste's mother had taken a selfie of herself and her husband, with Zeke behind them both.

He had a sour look on his face, which Alicia matched.

"Oh, they're at the wrong entrance," Celeste said with a groan as she inspected the photo. "I told them we were meeting at the South Entrance! Damn it, now I've got to get through this crowd to go find them."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Sterling asked.

Celeste shook her head. "No, no. Stay here. I don't want to lose you, too."

She hurried off into the crowd.

With Celeste gone, Sterling turned to Alicia. Gone was the air of cheerfulness he'd put on for Celeste. He was almost glaring at her. "When did you become such a Christmas nut?"

Alicia gave a faux-offended gasp. "What do you mean? I've always liked Christmas." She averted her gaze. "Sort of."

Sterling snorted. "Sure. But you've really dialed up your enthusiasm. You've been particularly gung-ho about it this year."

Alicia gave a shrug, doing her best to make it seem casual... but she still didn't look at him. Celeste may be her best friend, and Olly may have known her for longer, but Sterling had a sharper eye. If he wanted, he could see right through her.

"It's my last Christmas in Winter Grove," she said. "And with Celeste. I wanted to make it special."

A sudden lump rose in her throat, and Alicia had to fight to swallow it. Her eyes stung. Suddenly, the idea that this might be her last day in Winter Grove hit hard.

To her surprise, Sterling gave a happy sigh. "I'll give you that. The town is pretty special. My first good Christmas memories were made here."

Alicia finally turned to him. He was staring up at the lights overhead, a soft smile on his face. It warmed her heart. Sterling had been looking for a home, a place to put down roots, his whole life, and it was nice to think that he might've finally found it.

"There are a lot worse ways to spend the holidays," he said, looking back down at her. All traces of his anger were gone. It seemed he might've forgiven her. Alicia let out a breath of relief.

"Yeah," she said with an awkward laugh, changing the subject, just in case, "you could be forced to enter the Winter Grove Games."

She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder to the poster that Sterling was now standing in front of.

Sterling looked behind him and cringed. "Celeste may have breathed some Christmas spirit into me, but not that much."

Alicia giggled. "Don't let Cee hear you saying that—or seeing that. That kind of thing is totally up her alley. If she wasn't so distracted by this whole situation with her brother, she'd probably want to enter."

Sterling closed his eyes and cringed again as though he could picture her doing just that. "She totally would and would drag me into it right alongside her. I guess that's one small comfort in this whole mess, that I won't be forced to fling any," he squinted at the poster, "fruitcake?"

"Don't pretend," Alicia said, elbowing her old friend. "If Celeste asked you to do it, you'd fling that damn fruitcake as far as the eye could see."

Sterling paused, then a wide grin spread across his face. "You're right. I absolutely would. I can't say no to that girl."

Alicia smiled back. Seeing Sterling happy was nice. He was genuinely devoted to Celeste. If she had to leave Celeste, at least she knew her friend was in good hands.

Speaking of her friend, she had finally reappeared. Her family followed behind her, including Zeke, who looked as miserable as ever.

Celeste's mom, Lydia, looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry to keep you waiting for so long. For a small town, it sure is easy to get turned around here."

Sterling gave her a gracious smile. "Don't worry about it. It wasn't long at all."

Lydia patted Sterling's arm and asked him how he was doing. Alicia didn't hear his response. Her eyes had fixed on Zeke, who was staring her down. His green eyes seemed to flash as they narrowed.

She put on a bright smile. "Ready for the festival, Zeke?"

"Ready or not," Zeke replied, his deep voice gruff. "I don't really have much of a choice, do I?"

Alicia's smile turned to a smirk. "No, no you don't."

✨