THE FIRST SATURDAY in December was a clear cold day. The sun shone on the snow like it was sprinkled with diamonds as Nick and Maggie drove toward Missoula. Many of the homes they passed along the road were decorated for Christmas with different ornaments and Santa Clauses and nativity scenes in the yards. Nick commented that the decorations looked better in actual snow instead of green grass and tropical plants like he was used to at home in Florida.
Maggie was excited to go shopping in an actual city and had been saving up her nursing salary to afford gifts for her friends. They were not allowed to send anything back home, but she had made some close friends and she planned to find small items for them. She also wanted to purchase some decorations for their real pine tree they had at h
