Cami struggled to haul the last weathered box up the stairs and into the tiny apartment over the dismantled candy shop. The label that read ornaments was peeling from the side. There had to be ten years of dust covering the top. She let out a violent sneeze as she added it next to the others. She looked around, not knowing whether to feel triumph or defeat. She was surrounded by more than her personal belongings. Her life’s memories were here. Memories she had tried to outrun for years. No matter where she looked the floor was covered in packaged relics of every phase of her life.

The boxes piled high in the corners of each room. There was barely enough space to move, but somehow she had to make this work. There was nowhere else to go. This was home now. She cut a sideway glance at her guitar case in the corner.

She exhaled, knowing there was no use running any longer. She was smack dab in the middle of everything she had escaped. Wasn’t there a saying her great aunt always had said: the past is a faster runner than you’ll ever be.

Cami glanced up when she heard muffled sounds coming from the window. She strolled across the worn wide-planked floors. She pushed the curtains out of the way and peeked outside. Carolers.

If she cracked the window just enough, their voices were clear. She pulled tightly on the red cashmere sweater when a tiny gust of wind whipped through her apartment. But it was worth it, to have the company, even if it was from the street below. She started to hum along to Jingle Bells.

There was a time when she was a caroler. But it was hard to remember who that little girl was now. So much had happened.

Harpers Point always celebrated Christmas like it was a competition.

The voices filtered in the room while Cami tackled the horrid task of unpacking. Where to begin? Logic told her the kitchen was the first place, but she shook off the instinct and instead headed straight for the boxes of Christmas decorations.

Before she had the first wreath out of the box there was a knock on the door.

“Knock, knock. Cami, are you in here?” Claudine Francis pushed through the loft door and made it two feet in before her path was blocked.

“Oh hi. Sorry about the mess,” Cami apologized, rushing to help her real estate agent through the maze.

Claudine waved her hands in the air. “You’re moving in. No one cares about a mess. I brought you a casserole.” She held up a glass Pyrex dish covered in tin foil. “Mama’s recipe,” she explained.

“Thank you, but there’s no way I could eat all that.” Cami eyed the dish large enough to feed an entire family.

“Maybe you could invite someone over?” Claudine’s eyebrows raised several inches.

“I haven’t exactly reconnected with anyone since I’ve been back.”

The truth was, Cami didn’t know to blend back into Harpers Point life. Something that was as simple as breathing, was now foreign to her.

“What about those girls from high school you were such good friends with? Samantha Conners and Jamie Braxton?”

She sighed. She appreciated what Claudine wanted to do, but it wasn’t that easy. She’d been gone a long time. She couldn’t jump back in and pretend she had kept in touch with everyone when she hadn’t. She had heard Samantha was married and Jamie was engaged. Cami didn’t exactly have the same things in common with them anymore.

She was the one who had left in search of her dreams. They had stayed to live theirs here. She doubted they would understand what she had experienced the past twelve years. Who would?

“I don’t think so.” She heaved the casserole dish from Claudine’s hands and placed it in the refrigerator. “But thank you so much. Really. It smells delicious. I’ll freeze part of it?” She hoped the suggestion would make her seem more grateful.

“Oh I have an idea.”

Somehow Cami had a feeling, whatever it was Claudine was about to say was her original intent all along.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Have you seen Evan Jacobs since you’ve been home?”

Just the sound of his name did something to her. Cami shook her head. “Evan Jacobs? Why would I see him?” Cami reached inside a box and dusted off an antique Santa. The gold on his buckle still glittered. It had been one of her mother’s favorites. She focused hard on the rosy red on Santa’s cheeks and the sprig of holly in his cap. Anything but the sound of Evan’s name.

Claudine shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. Didn’t you two used to be high school sweethearts?”

Cami almost choked on the Santa dust. She coughed into her hand. “I-uh. That was ages ago. We haven’t spoken in years.” High school sweethearts was one way to put it. She had lost her virginity to him, but she wasn’t exactly up to telling her realtor about that.

“You know he’s the mayor now.” Claudine baited her with information.

“Oh?”

“Mmmhmm. Voted in right after he returned from Afghanistan. He’s a local war hero. And I know I’m a lot older than you two, but he’s grown into a handsome man. Not the boy you once knew. He’s quite the looker in a uniform and a suit. You know my Ralph was a veteran.”

“Yes, I do remember.” Cami would have described him as panty-melting hot.

“There’s just something about a soldier isn’t there? I remember when Ralph would shine his medals and his boots.” She sighed audibly. “Did you ever see Evan like that?”

Suddenly, Cami felt the need to have her space to herself again. She didn’t want to hear news about Evan Jacobs. And she certainly didn’t want to be the focus of one of Claudine Francis’s matchmaking schemes.

There was no hiding that look of disappointment on the realtor’s face. “Well, I thought it might be fun for you to reconnect. I could set it up you know. Maybe a nice quiet dinner at Hurricane’s. Do you remember how charming Carol makes the place? Candles. Greenery. And of course, you can’t forget the mistletoe.”

Cami cast a warning glance in her direction and placed Santa on an end table. Mistletoe was the last thing she wanted right now, and it certainly not be anywhere near Evan Jacobs. She couldn’t think of a worse combination.

“All right. All right. I’ll let you get settled. Looks like you have your hands full here. We’ll talk Hurricane’s another night.”

“Thank you.” Cami walked her to the door. “For everything. You helped make the move back easier. I couldn’t have done it without you, Claudine. Truly.” She would just have to pretend she had sidestepped her history with Evan. What happened was long ago. She had hoped everyone had forgotten, but she wasn’t going to be that lucky.

“Of course, dear. That dusty old shop downstairs has been closed up for years. Just wait until everyone sees what you’re going to do with it. And just in time for Christmas.”

Cami smiled slowly. “I guess we’re all a little anxious then.”

Claudine patted her arm. “I’ll check in on you this week. Good night.”

“Good night, Claudine.”

No one locked their doors in Harpers Point, but it was hard to break the old habit from living in the city. Cami slid the chain latch into place and turned to the mountain of work in front of her.

As far as apartments went, this one had the makings of something out of a southern design magazine. The sprawling exposed beams overhead were original to the building. One full wall was covered in exposed brick, casting a warmth over the entire room. It needed paint here and there, and it probably wouldn’t hurt to have a plumber take a look at the pipes and tell her what was responsible for that squeaking sound.

But Cami knew this place was special. Living over her great aunt’s shop didn’t happen by accident. She didn’t believe in accidents.