Chloe

Chloe was hugging a pillow face down on her bed when Margot knocked lightly on the bedroom door. Chloe didn’t look up but she knew it was her sister from the subtle way the mattress moved when Margot’s thin frame joined her on the bed.

She began to stroke her hair. “Co-Co, why didn’t you tell me?” Margot asked softly.

“I didn’t know how,” Chloe mumbled into the pillow.

“What happened?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. He decided he liked Maci better, I guess.”

“Maci Martin?”

Chloe rolled over and sat up. This had been the part she was dreading, but there was no sense avoiding the truth now. Margot would just keep digging until Chloe spilled all the details. “Yeah, Maci Martin.”

Margot’s pretty features reddened defensively. She was going into protective big-sister-mode. “Explain.”

Chloe sighed. “I saw them making out at Brady’s locker and that was it. We just broke up. Or rather he told me he was with Maci so that pretty much ended things with us.”

“What?” Margot was on her feet. “He cheated on you?”

Tears silently made their way down Chloe’s cheeks. All she could do was nod.

“Right before Christmas? What a jerk!”

Here it was. The lie she’d been keeping for all this time. “No. Not right before Christmas. It happened three months ago,” Chloe whispered. “I haven’t spoken to him since.”

Margot’s anger deflated instantly and she sank back onto the bed, pulling Chloe into her arms. “Oh my God, Chloe. I’m so sorry.”

That wasn’t the reaction Chloe had been expecting at all. She thought her big sister would be mad that she’d kept the truth from her, but Margot’s compassion only made Chloe cry harder. Why had she kept this from her sister?

All this time she could’ve been crying on Margot’s shoulder instead of suffering alone.

“I should’ve been there for you,” Margot whispered, wiping tears from both their eyes now.

“It’s not your fault, Go-Go. I didn’t tell you.”

Margot tucked Chloe’s hair back behind her ears. “Why didn’t you?”

Chloe shrugged. “I was embarrassed. And every time we talked you had something amazing to share. I didn’t want to bring you down by talking about my complete and utter failure.”

“Chloe, first of all, you didn’t fail. This isn’t your fault. Brady is a total slime-ball to do that to you. And secondly, I want to know everything that happens in your life. We’re sisters.”

“I know.”

Margot took a deep breath. “I want us to be there for each other in the good times and the difficult times.”

“Me too,” Chloe said. “I’m sorry I kept this from you.”

“It’s okay. Just promise you won’t shut me out. I need you in my life, Co-Co. More than you know. I love you and I miss this so much,” she said stroking Chloe’s hair again. “Just having someone to confide in, ya know?”

Chloe nodded. She did know. But it wasn’t like Margot to get so sappy. “Is everything okay, Go-Go?”

Margot smiled, tightly. “I think it will be.” She took a deep breath and blew it out, regaining her composure. She squeezed Chloe’s hand. “I don’t think you have any idea how much you mean to me.”

“You mean the world to me, too. I’ve been lost without you this year.”

Margot stroked her cheek. “Are you kidding? You’ve never needed me. You’re brilliant and strong and you don’t let boys rule your life. You’re everything I wanna be when I grow up.”

Chloe swallowed hard. That was an incredible compliment coming from her big sister. There was no way Chloe was admitting she’d kissed Ethan now. Honestly, she was beginning to think maybe she dreamt the whole thing up. Kissing boys in her kitchen at midnight was not something she normally did. It just went to show that this whole Brady-situation was making her crazy. Maybe now that she’d told Margot the truth things would go back to normal. She could heal and move on.

“So how have you been dealing with seeing Brady all this time?” Margot asked.

“Not well. He’s still dating Maci so I pretty much try to avoid them. I was doing okay until yesterday when I ran into him in the hall.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing really. He told me he didn’t want things to be weird between us, but then Maci showed up. She doesn’t like me talking to Brady so I left.”

“That jerk!” Margot hissed. “When I see him I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind.”

“Please don’t,” Chloe begged.

“Why not? No one gets away with hurting my little sister.”

“I just want to get over him already,” Chloe muttered.

Margot studied her carefully. “Do you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you ready to let him go so easily, Chloe? I know how long you had a crush on him. And you two seemed so solid this summer before I left for school. Maybe Maci is the one creating the problem.”

Chloe felt her heart constrict painfully. Things had been wonderful over the summer. She missed that so much. But she didn’t want Brady back—did she? Was that why she was still having so much trouble moving on?

“If you want to get him back, I’ll help you.” Margot got that mischievous sparkle in her eyes. “It can be our Christmas project!”

Chloe’s mind snapped back to Ethan and the perfect kiss they’d shared. “I don’t know what I want, Go-Go.”

Margot pulled her close and gave her a tight squeeze. “Well, I know I want to see my favorite sister happy this Christmas.”

Chloe grinned. “I’m you’re only sister.”

“Even if I had a hundred sisters, you’d still be my favorite, Co-Co.”

Tears sprang to Chloe’s eyes as she hugged her sister back. “I’ve missed you, Margot.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” Margot pulled back after squeezing Chloe just the right amount. “You don’t have to have it all figured out, you know? With Brady, I mean.”

Chloe frowned. “But I want to. I hate feeling like this. I want everything to be perfect and easy, like it is with you and Owen.”

Margot laughed. “We’re far from perfect, Chloe.”

“But you guys look so happy. And you said you love him.”

“I do. But that doesn’t mean I have everything all worked out.” Margot twisted her hands in her lap, looking anxious. “I know he misses his family. That’s why I wanted to bring him here for Christmas . . . to make things better.” She frowned again and her voice trembled. “But I think I’m making things worse.”

“How?”

Margot sucked in another steadying breath and plastered on a smile. “It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“But you’re my sister. I want to help if I can.”

Margot took Chloe’s hand and pulled her off the bed. “This particular issue can wait. Right now, we need to do what we do best.”

“What’s that?” Chloe asked.

“Spread some Christmas cheer.”

Ethan

Margot had followed Chloe upstairs about twenty minutes ago and it was driving Ethan crazy not being able to hear their conversation.

“Did you know she had a boyfriend?” Ethan asked.

Owen stuffed his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the banister and nodded. “Of course.”

“Well, thanks for telling me.”

“I’m pretty sure you were there when Margot mentioned it. She talks about Chloe all the time. Maybe if you listened to her every once in a while . . .”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “The girl talks twenty-four-seven, Owen. You can’t seriously expect me to listen to every nonsensical thing that comes out of her mouth. Last week she talked about types of braids for an hour.”

Owen shrugged. “Well, if you’re interested in her sister maybe you should listen.”

Ethan stopped pacing and glared at his brother. “Who says I’m interested in Chloe?”

Owen’s lips pulled into an easy smile. “I’m not blind, brother. It’s pretty easy to see.”

“What’s easy to see?” Ethan pushed.

“That you’re into her.”

Ethan scoffed. “You’re wrong.”

“Whatever you say, E.”

The sound of Chloe’s bedroom door opening stole the reply Ethan had been readying. He walked over to join his brother at the stairs and watched the girls descend. They’d both changed into warm winter sweaters and leggings. Margot’s hair was braided—of course—while Chloe’s was still in a messy bun. Her creamy skin was blotched with color and her beautiful eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. She was trying to hide it with her smile, but she’d been crying.

Were you crying over him, Chloe?

Ethan balled his hands into fists and cracked his knuckles. He was surprised by the protective feeling that flared in his chest when he thought of someone making her cry. He already hated this Brady kid. Ethan found himself hoping he’d come to the Christmas Eve party so he could tell him exactly what he thought of him.

“So,” Margot said, cheerfully. “You guys up for decorating a Christmas tree?”

Ethan glanced at the large, fully decorated trees in the living room, then back at Margot. “You already have three Christmas trees.”

Margot laughed. “It’s not for us, silly. It’s for the lodge.”

Just then Mr. Price marched into the living room with an axe. “You kids ready to go get our tree?”

“Where?” Ethan asked.

Mr. Price grinned. “Out there,” he said pointing toward the door.

“We cut our own trees,” Margot said proudly.

Owen laughed. “Awesome!”

“Are you serious?” Ethan asked.

“Deadly,” Mr. Price said.

“Tom takes his Christmas trees very seriously,” his wife said, coming into the room with a large thermos. “He’s been growing them since before the girls were born.” She leaned in and kissed her husband on the cheek. “Pick a good one, dear.” Then she turned back to the kitchen. “I’ll have lunch ready at the lodge when you get back.”

Ethan’s eyebrows rose. “So we’re gonna go out there, in all that snow, to cut down a Christmas tree?”

“Why not?” Owen replied. “Sounds like a real Christmas adventure.”

“That’s the spirit!” Mr. Price said.

“But we didn’t pack anything warm,” Ethan argued.

“Nonsense. We’ve got plenty of extra winter gear.”

Chloe

Chloe glanced from her father to Ethan, her eyes full of alarm as her father opened the coat closet next to the kitchen and began to pull things out. “Dad, they don’t want to wear our old hats and gloves.”

“Sure we do,” Owen replied, tugging a fur-lined trapper hat onto his head. He found another one with a pink plaid pattern and tossed it at Ethan. “Pink is your color, bro.”

Ethan handed it to Chloe. Her father started pulling out jackets and sweaters. Then he handed Ethan the same sweater she’d been teasing him with last night. Seeing him hold it again turned her stomach into a tornado of nerves.

Ethan gave her a half-smirk as he examined the familiar sweater. “I couldn’t have picked a better one,” he said, looking at Chloe.

“You don’t have to wear that,” she said.

“I want to.” He held it up to his nose and sniffed. “It reminds me of hot cocoa at midnight.”

Chloe felt her cheeks heat. God, his voice . . . and the way he smirked at her with only one side of his delicious lips . . . It made her legs feel like jelly. He tugged the sweater over his head.

“Are you going to wear one?” he asked Chloe, pointing to the closet full of red sweaters.

“I think I’ll stick with this one,” she replied, running her hands over the warm knit sleeves of her cream sweater.

“This is going to be so fun!” Margot said, passing out pairs of snowshoes to everyone. “Have you guys ever used these?”

Chloe watched Ethan examine the bindings on the lightweight aluminum cleats.

“Not a lot of use for snowshoes in Manhattan, babe,” Owen teased.

“Don’t worry, my girls will show you how to use them,” Mr. Price said. “Chloe, you show Ethan the ropes,” her father said, holding out two pairs of hiking poles.

Chloe reluctantly took them and walked over to Ethan. “You’ll want to sit down,” she instructed.

Ethan followed her over to the bench in the hallway and took a seat while Chloe knelt in front of him, preparing the snowshoes. Once she had the bindings open she set the snowshoes next to his feet. He was already wearing a pair of borrowed boots.

“Okay,” she said, “Watch how I do the bindings on this first one and you can do the second one.”

Ethan bent closer so his face was near Chloe’s, watching her as she fumbled with the bindings. Normally, she could do this in her sleep, but with Ethan’s eyes on her she kept losing focus. When it was his turn to try she helped him hold open the bindings to slip his other boot in. Their fingers brushed and the electric current that swept through her made her gasp out loud.

In that split second, Ethan’s eyes met hers. They were a stormy green sea, threatening to drown her. Chloe pulled back knowing two things for certain. She needed to sort out her feelings for Brady, because she could easily fall for Ethan.

Once everyone was dressed and ready, Chloe’s father slung on his hiking pack. “Looking good crew. Now let’s get hopping so we can make it in before the snow starts.”