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promised Robert he’d share it with him and his wife. For the moment, though, he’d just need to make his way indoors to keep from getting further drenched.

    “How does it look?” she asked when Matt stepped inside.
    Matt removed his dripping coat and held it outside the door, shaking it hard. “Not good. That road won’t be passable today.”
    “Oh.” Sarah tried to frame her response as mild disappointment, but inwardly her mood lightened. All night long, she’d relived Matt’s words telling her he wasn’t taken, as if he’d been hinting he wanted to give things with her another go. It was possible she’d misread his signals. There was an equal chance that, even if she hadn’t, she wasn’t fully ready. Ready to take the risk of telling the truth to yet another man.
    Matt picked up the landline mounted on the kitchen wall and started to dial. “I think I’d better call the ferry and see what the status of things is there.”
    While Sarah couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, she could imagine as Matt creased his brow and said, “Uh-huh. Um-hmm. I see.
    “I’m sorry, Sarah,” he told her, hanging up the phone. “It seems the docks took quite a beating. They don’t think the boat will be running again before the end of the week.”
    “End of the week? But that means—”
    “Looks like we’re stuck here for Christmas.” He shrugged apologetically. “I’m sure that’s the last thing you had in mind.”
    Actually, the only plans that she had involved spending another uncomfortable holiday with her mom and her mom’s new boyfriend. Not that they tried to make her feel in the way. It was just that it was pretty clear they enjoyed spending time alone, making Sarah feel like a third wheel. A lovely fantasy began unfolding before her… Just her and Matt, and a big, wonderful Christmas tree, dotted with shiny lights… Then reality sank in, and Sarah realized they had no tree or presents or stockings to hang from the mantel. And here she was acting like she’d already had three hits of eggnog. With bourbon! “Are you sure?” she asked, trying not to sound overly hopeful.
    Matt studied her with a frown. “You’re pretty disappointed. I can understand that. You probably have family plans.”
    Her mom didn’t even decorate for Christmas and had never really believed in the holiday for myriad reasons. So, they typically ordered take-out Chinese and watched a movie in front of the fake fire. That was the only sort of family holiday Sarah was used to.
    “My family’s plans will likely go on without me,” she answered truthfully. “But what about yours?”
    Matt laughed, stepping out of his drenched boots. “Oh, I think Robert, Margaret, and their new baby will manage just fine.”
    “You weren’t planning to go to Chicago?” she asked, remembering the large, happy family she’d met at Elaine’s first wedding.
    “My brother and sisters and I sent our folks on an anniversary trip to Tuscany this year. It’s their fortieth anniversary.”
    “Oh, how sweet!” she said, meaning it absolutely. Sarah tried but couldn’t imagine what that would be like. Being a part of such a warm, loving family and having parents who’d stayed together for that many years. She didn’t even remember her father, and her mom refused to say much about him. The men she remembered growing up with were a series of short-term boyfriends for her mom, none of whom ever stuck around. Sarah had liked one of the early ones when she’d been a kid. His name had been Joey, and he’d a few daughters of his own. He was a kind man who’d seemed to take an interest in Sarah from the start. He took her out for ice cream with his own girls and had even taught her how to ride a bike. He’d been a good guy but somehow not good enough for her mom. She’d thrown him over for Fred just about the time Sarah got off her training wheels.
    “Don’t you think Robert and Margaret will miss you?”
    “With that new little