Christmas Eve arrived quietly.
There were no church bells, no distant carols drifting through the air, no bustling streets or glowing shop windows. Just snow. Endless, unrelenting snow, blanketing the world outside the cabin in white silence.
Inside, the cabin breathed softly, warmed by the fire and lit by candles placed deliberately in corners, along windowsills, on the mantel. Shadows stretched and danced along the wooden walls, giving the space a hushed, almost reverent feel.
Michelle sat on the edge of the guest bed, knees pulled close to her chest, staring at her open suitcase.
She still couldn’t quite believe she was here.
Christmas Eve.
The very night she had sworn ten years ago that she would never acknowledge again.
And yet, here she was, snowed in with the one man who had
