After the dress fitting, Holly arranged for the estate to be opened so she and Katharine could take a look at the property. Katharine was quiet, but she seemed purposeful in her comments, and Holly wondered if she was mentally preparing for the big day. After all, Katharine’s whole working life was about readying herself for anything that was thrown at her—she was a lawyer. That could’ve been the reason for her earlier wobble during the fitting: Katharine wasn’t used to having to rely on others. A marriage required two people to make it work and Katharine wasn’t in control of Joe. It had to be difficult for her.

With the final alterations now being finished on the dress, it was time to consider placement of the wedding party, musicians, artwork, and the locations of various tables.

She had a couple of hours to kill, so she grabbed an early bite to eat, telling Katharine she’d meet her there, and Katharine went back to her hotel. While she was nibbling on a sandwich at a local takeout, Holly noticed she had a notification. It was an email message and the subject was “The Boy.” Curious, she opened it. An unsigned email followed, the address as cryptic as the message: [email protected] She read the email:

Holly stared at the screen, paralyzed. What if it was just a prank? How would she know? Was it just a stranger out there, or was this some of Papa’s Christmas magic? Her fingers hovered over the screen as she decided on her response.

She typed back:

She sent the message, nervous energy pulsing through her hands. Should she contact Joe and tell him she’d had a message? No. Maybe not yet. She wouldn’t want to get his hopes up. Holly decided she’d wait until something actually came of it. It was probably nothing.

After leaving the restaurant, Holly tried to forget about the email until she got a more informative response. The whole drive, her mind was on the wedding she had to finish. She pulled her car to a stop behind a pair of colossal scrolled iron gates at the estate and hit the button. “Holly McAdams, here for the Barnes wedding preparations.”

There was a buzz and the enormous iron doors swung open slowly. Holly proceeded to the circular drive out front and parked the car. When she got out, she put her hands on her hips and took in the view, the estate towering over her like a monument to the rich and famous. A sprawling mass of white, with a portico supported by columns that were bigger than two hundred-year-old oak trees loomed over her. The whole thing sat on an expansive piece of land that managed to have green grass even in the winter, the leftover snow magically lifted from every surface. How had they done it?

Just then, the Range Rover pulled up. Holly turned to greet Katharine through the car window but stopped when she saw Joe was driving. He caught her eye as he parked and got out.

“Hey,” he said, that one word seeming to have so much more meaning than just a hello. Was she imagining it?

“Hi.” Holly caught herself chewing on the inside of her lip after she said it and made herself stop to eliminate any show of emotion, however small. This wedding was happening no matter how she felt, and she had a job to do.

Katharine exited the passenger side and walked around the car to greet Holly. “Ready?” she asked as she took Joe’s hand in hers.

Holly looked away from them toward an empty bench sitting under a large maple tree. In the winter, with its cold seat and empty branches on the tree above it, it seemed cold and barren. She could just imagine it in the springtime with the glow of sunshine all around it, the tree in full bloom… The crunch of light gravel under their feet brought Holly’s attention back to the wedding couple. They’d started walking. So Holly followed, stepping up on the other side of Joe, ready to work. Joe deserved a great wedding and she was going to give it everything she had.

They climbed the massive steps, leading to the double doors that, when opened, could be the size of an entire wall in her own home. When they arrived, the one on the left opened, a man in a suit greeting them.

“Hello. You must be the Harrison-Barnes party,” he said with a nod. “My name is Jay Woodson, house manager. Please, come in.” When all the introductions were made, Mr. Woodson invited them to look around and told them he’d be in his office off the parlor should they have any questions. Then he graciously left the room.

Holly got to work immediately. She started, “This is a good place to have your guests sign in, take their coats…” She walked across the black-and-white tiled floor, under a glass chandelier the size of a small condo, and waved her arms toward the sweeping staircases that flanked the room. “I’ve been looking at photos of the interior online, and I have some ideas. Against the side of these steps here, I thought we could put your portrait. We want it far enough from the door that it will draw guests inward, leaving space for new arrivals.”

Joe followed Holly’s steps with his gaze, quiet.

“And along that wall there, I thought we’d have the table with the favors—the snowflake ornaments.” She felt a little fizzle of affection when she remembered planning with him, but she pushed it away. “Would that work, Joe?”

“Hm?” he looked between them blankly.

“The favors?” Katharine repeated, inquisitively observing him.

He seemed to come to.

“The ones you’d told me about, remember?” Katharine said, nodding.

“Oh, yes,” he said on an inhale of breath. “Perfect.”

Was he getting overwhelmed like he had when she’d run too much by him? This was her job, though, so she kept going. Having studied the floor plan of the building and extensively researching since Joe left the cabin, Holly was on her game and Joe and Katharine needed her to be. “This leads straight into the grand hall through the entrance there.” Holly turned around and peered back at the double doors at the front. “Hang on a second. Let me see something.” She walked over to them and pulled on their enormous brass handles, swinging both of them open, the winter sunlight pouring in from outside. Then she stepped back, thinking.

“The cold is lost on this big room for a moment, as long as we don’t keep these doors open all day…” She went over to the grand hall and walked into the room, turning back around to face them, a smile emerging. “I thought so. Come in here.”

Katharine clicked her way across the floor with Joe beside her, entering the grand hall where they would have the ceremony. When Katharine faced the entryway, she gasped.

The doorway to the entrance of the estate was so large that, when the doors were open, it created a perfect frame behind the opening to the grand hall with a backdrop of lush winter green gardens, and the sunlight illuminated the floor all the way to them.

“It’s like a natural spotlight,” Holly said. “You will literally glow. If we are lucky enough to get sun, it will bounce off of every diamond in your tiara, every bead in your train, and all that perfect white of the dress will be against the gorgeous landscape out there as you are revealed to the guests for the first time. We’ll close the doors to the grand hall right after the bridal procession and then, when everyone stands, we’ll have ushers open the doors here as well as the front doors at the same time, and there you’ll be, standing like a princess.” She waved her arms toward the doorframe. “I’d like to see those roses here instead of on the exterior. I think they could be better used as an addition to the visual framework around that first glimpse of you in the dress.”

“Oh my God, Holly. You’re amazing. Your attention to detail is astonishing. Joe was right, you are incredible.”

Holly felt a thrill at Katharine’s comment.

“Thank you,” she said with a confident smile. She did enjoy wedding planning. “Once you start walking, we’ll close the front doors again immediately so the cold won’t seep in,” she continued, turning away from them and going toward the front of the estate.

When they got back to the entrance area, she noticed Joe looking on intently—so different than how she’d known him—and it brought back memories of laughing over those ridiculous sunglasses, his arms around her on the dance floor in Otis’s barn, the attentive smile he had when he unwrapped the keychain she’d bought that said, “Joey.” To her, he was Joey. Joe. Never Joseph. Never this man that had been so quiet the whole time.

Holly closed the heavy doors and turned around. “If we put the roses inside, and go with the dark red and white ensemble, the deep red runner I’ve chosen will pop against your dress. I’d like to also do small floral stands of roses on the ends of each row along the runner. I already cleared it with the florist, having used pictures of the estate from the web. The white folding chairs will start here.” She brushed Joe’s arm by accident as she passed, catching a whiff of his familiar scent. It made her feel surprisingly calm, like he’d always been able to make her feel. “And they’ll end there about a foot from the back of the room where you’ll enter.”

Katharine nodded, concentrating on the directions. Holly was delighted that the person who had seemed completely disinterested in her own wedding was so enthralled under her direction.

Holly was more energized than she had been in years, and for the first time, she got an indication of what Rhett must feel when he was performing. It was so natural and effortless, and the more interest she got from Katharine, the more encouraged she felt.

“The musicians could be set up over here on the side. We can put the strings on this platform and the flutes will be just below.” She finally looked at Joe, and he was smiling at her—could he tell how much she was enjoying this? “Joe, you’ll stand here,” she said, stepping into position at the front, her attention on his spot on the floor. “The bridal party could be fanned out on either side.”

“Lovely,” Katharine said. She wriggled her hand under Joe’s arm and linked hers with his.

“Everything sounds fantastic, Holly,” Joe finally said when she’d finished, the sound of his voice making her happy.

“I’m just going to visit the ladies’ room,” Katharine said. “Then Joe and I are going out for the day! I hope you enjoy the rest of yours, Holly. It’s chilly but the sunshine is glorious.”

Holly nodded.

Katharine dropped Joe’s arm. “Be right back.” She walked away, leaving Joe and Holly in the entryway.

Silence immediately fell between them.

“I… Uh…” Holly started, trying to fill the void but knowing that anything she said wouldn’t work in this instance. “I…”

“Holly,” he said gently and every nerve in her body responded to it.

She wished she could somehow let him know that regardless of how their lives ended up, she really cared about him. She cared about whether he ever found his dad and whether he went to that café he liked near Times Square, or whether he had a chance to kickback and be Joey again one day since it seemed like he’d really enjoyed it.

The two of them stood, totally absorbed in the space between them, as if their surroundings had faded into nothingness and it was just Joe and Holly. Neither of them said anything. What could they say in this situation? Whatever they had experienced while staying together at the cabin wasn’t real life, Holly told herself. But it definitely was real to her. So real that she felt tears starting to surface, causing her to blink them away. Perhaps she was emotional because it was the first Christmas since Papa died where she’d had fun—at least that was what she was going to tell herself. Planning this wedding had been like one of those hidden gifts Papa talked about, the treasures that she had to look for to see. There would be more for her, she was certain.

“Thank you for waiting,” Katharine’s voice inched its way into her head.

She was glad that neither of them had said anything, because nothing good would’ve come of it. And this day wasn’t about Holly at all. It was about making great memories that would last generations. In a way, Holly could understand Katharine’s lack of interest in the wedding details now. When the roses were gone, the dress boxed up, all that mattered was the promise that Katharine and Joe would make to each other. The promise that would span their entire lives. The promise Joe had made to Katharine way before he’d ever set foot in the cabin this Christmas. That was what mattered most: love. How could she get in the way of that? But she knew one way to show Joe she cared: Holly could manage the details for them—she was great at that.

“I’m glad you liked my ideas,” Holly said. She stepped back from Joe and turned toward Katharine. “Is there anything else you’d like me to go over? Any questions you still have after seeing the estate?”

“Not that I can think of. Looks like you have it covered,” Katharine said.

Holly was glad for that. “Okay, then. Enjoy your day and text if you need anything at all.” Then, she hurried out the door. She couldn’t wait to tell Nana all about the plans she made today and how happy she felt making them.