Tamsin clenched the big platter of cookies wrapped in holiday cellophane to her chest and followed her parents up the steps to Griff’s house. Everything about being back on Shay Island for the holidays sucked, especially the pitiful judgmental looks from everyone. She didn’t need a constant reminder that her return was covered in failure.

The door opened, and Maya Berenger beckoned them inside. After welcoming her parents and ushering them in, the beloved matriarch took the cookies out of Tamsin’s hands, set them down nearby, and wrapped her up in a warm hug. “Sweet girl. Leave your past troubles outside. Come in and enjoy the festive present.” Maya rubbed her back with genuine affection.

Whatever special magic the Berenger mama possessed, she’d already mined underneath the surface and dug out Tamsin’s truth. Knowing better than to fight against the well-known juju, she gave in and leaned her head against Maya’s shoulder. “Thanks,” she murmured.

Maybe she should have brought her ex-husband to Shay to meet Maya all those years ago before marrying Tate. Maybe then she wouldn’t be a twenty-seven-year-old divorced woman because Griff’s mother might have given her a warning about his lying and cheating ways before the bastard had ripped Tamsin’s heart wide open.

Maya leaned back and placed her hand on Tamsin’s cheek, looking her square in the eyes. “I can see that it won’t be an easy journey for you.”

Tamsin appreciated the sympathy and settled in for an extended hug before joining the party. It took her a good ten minutes to navigate through the crowd of familiar faces. Warmth thawed out her heart as she looked around the room full of the family and friends she’d known all her life.

The Berengers always opened their home to most of the shifters on Shay Island around Christmas time. She waved at Brock Channing, eldest brother of a family of wolf shifters, sitting next to his best friend Titus, the oldest Berenger brother. Dr. Geesey, everybody’s local doctor and one of the few normal humans in on the island’s special secret, shared a friendly nod with her.

Maddox sat on the bricks in front of the roaring fireplace. When Tamsin caught her eye, her relatively new friend stood up, spilling a little hot chocolate down her sweater. Griff made a grand gesture to clean it up for her, but she batted his hand away and motioned for Tamsin to join them.

When Tamsin got through the crowd and made it into Maddox’s hug, she began letting go of all the baggage she carried with her, glad to be in the presence of unconditional love. Perhaps the holidays could be a time of healing instead of regret.

Maddox demanded Griff retrieve a cup of cocoa for Tamsin with a dramatic batting of her eyes and ordered him not to eat all the new cookies.

Tamsin snorted. “I should warn you, I baked them instead of Everly. Eat all you want, Griff, if you can stomach them.”

Parker, the youngest Berenger brother and rising football star, stood up. “Cookies? Who brought cookies?”

“Tamsin did. Where’ve you been.” Vaughn punched his younger brother. By the size of Parker’s wince, she guessed the third Berenger boy hadn’t held back.

“Sitting here drinking a glass of eggnog and wondering what would go perfectly with it. Oh, wait, maybe a cookie.” Parker smacked Vaughn upside the back of his head.

Rylan, Parker’s best friend and Tamsin's younger brother, wedged his way in between the brothers on the couch. “Pretty sure the two of you have eaten enough sweets tonight.”

“Never,” the two brothers said in unison.

A spark of warmth kindled inside Tamsin, and she touched her chest over where her heart ached. Was this what happiness felt like? It had been too long since she’d enjoyed being in the midst of such wonderful chaos.

Her ex-husband had moved her so far away with the only explanation being that he needed a place where he didn’t have to compete with other dominant shifters. The fact that he never understood what made Shay Island so unique should have been another hint that he would never be her forever mate.

Fearing that her welling tears might fall any second, Tamsin stood up and made her way as quickly as possible towards the bathroom. Instead of making a quick getaway down the hall, she ran smack dab into a hard wall. Losing her balance, she watched the world tilt as she fell. Two strong hands caught her by the arms and pulled her upright.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” exclaimed a deep, familiar voice.

Tamsin’s entire body stiffened at the buzz of energy that sizzled across her body. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Cranking her neck up, she found herself locked in the eyes of Aaron Sergeants.

The same deep pool of sadness Tamsin knew all too well reflected in the dark eyes staring down at her. A desire to banish that sorrow sparked to life. For a second, the thought that maybe she could kiss his hurt away sounded like an excellent plan.

“What are you doing here?” Sarge’s gruffness almost made her jump.

His response doused any and all hot-and-bothered ideas. Determined not to give him the high ground, Tamsin planted her hands on her hips. “I think the bigger question is, what are you doing here, Mr. Sergeants?”

Her voice came out sharper and louder than she’d intended, garnering unwanted attention from those gathered close by. With heat in her cheeks, she wished with all her might to sink into the floor and disappear. At the same time, she didn’t want to take her eyes off the ones glaring at her.

Maddox cleared her throat. “Aaron here was going to stay in Seattle by himself for the holidays. It was all I could do to convince him to come out to Shay Island and stay with us.”

Sarge dropped his hands from Tamsin’s arms, balling them into fists. “And I told you that it would be an absolute disaster bringing me here.” He whipped out his phone from his pocket. “What time is the last ferry back?”

Tamsin replied faster than Maddox or Griff could protest. “The last one leaves Shay after ten-thirty and will get you back to the mainland after midnight. I’m sure someone here would be happy to give you ride.”

“She’s kidding,” broke in Griff, his widened puppy-dog eyes pleading with Tamsin. “You’re totally staying, dude.”

Sarge crossed his arms. “When you practically kidnapped me to come here, you did not specify how many people would be involved. Or which ones.” He cast an unfriendly sideways glance in Tamsin’s direction.

Tamsin echoed his stance. “Are you referring to me? Because I have no idea what you would have against me.”

Sarge took a step closer to her. “You seem to have something against me.”

She held her ground with heated determination. “I wasn’t the one who was hot one minute at the Karing Kids event and then frigid the next.”

It had stung to high heaven when she’d realized that Sarge hadn’t forgotten about her but had intentionally run away at the end of the charity function.

Of course, she knew Rob took a little too much pleasure in telling her that information himself since she’d turned down the advances from the creep. Not only had he given her the heebie-jeebies creep vibes hitting on her but she also would never date her sister’s ex-boyfriend. Tamsin looked Sarge directly in the eyes and dared him with her glare to deny what had happened.

A blushing red painted the big pro hockey player’s cheeks. “I, uh…was late to something else that day.”

Tamsin cocked her left eyebrow. “Late. Really. So I shouldn’t have read something into the fact that you looked back at me several times as you made a run for it?” Remembering the haunted look on his scowling face still stung.

Sarge opened his mouth but uttered no words. Closing it, he frowned and looked down at the floor.

The satisfaction of her small victory faded fast in the hushed silence and lack of cheerful noises. Glancing around, she faltered. Her heart raced with all the faces looking back at her, horror rising inside her chest.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they were the perfect match for each other,” someone suspiciously sounding like her mother piped up.

Griff and Sarge’s sizeable teammate Samson piped up. “You can practically feel the tension all the way over here. You guys might as well give in.”

The vibrations of a growl rolled in Sarge’s throat. “What are you talking about?”

Maddox chuckled, unable to hold back. Shrugging at Tamsin with very little apology, she pointed at something. “Look where you two are standing.”

Sure enough, a sprig of fresh mistletoe tied with a red ribbon hung ever-so-close above their heads. Her turn to be speechless, Tamsin tried to find a coherent reason why kissing Sarge would not be a good idea. She looked at him for help and found him panicking almost as much as her.

When their eyes locked, for that one moment, the rest of the world dropped away. Tamsin's head told her to move away from him, but her body commanded her to stay near the flame that he lit with his close presence. From somewhere deep inside, something long-forgotten but not unfamiliar stirred to life.

For the first time since the holiday event, a smile threatened to break on Sarge’s mouth. He raised his eyebrows as if asking her permission. Something akin to hope blossomed in her chest, and she licked her lips in anticipation.

Griff, that traitor, started chanting, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

The whole house erupted into unified clapping of hands and stomping of feet. The pressure of it all crushed Tamsin and shattered the impassioned moment. Unable to handle it, she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away.

“I can’t.” Running as fast as possible, she made it down the hall and into the bathroom.

In the darkened room, she gripped the edge of the granite countertop, her breath ragged and heaving. “Get a grip, Tams. It was just going to be a stupid little kiss. A smack. A peck. You could have survived that. Instead, you’re in here freaking out. And talking to yourself. In the dark.”

With a chuckle, she flipped the light on and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed pink, and her eyes sparkled with all the excitement. How long had it been since she’d seen herself looking so vibrant? So alive. And not sad at all. If the prospect of one kiss from Sarge could do all that…

A quick knock on the door interrupted her. “Tamsin.” Maddox’s voice penetrated the barrier between them. “Can I come in?”

Opening the door, Tamsin did her best to give her friend the stink eye but gave into Maddox’s guilty look and open arms almost immediately.

“I’m so sorry. We didn’t mean to push you so hard.” Maddox squeezed her tight.

“It’s not you, it’s me. I knew this Christmas was gonna be a hard one. I guess I didn’t anticipate just how hard.” Tamsin rubbed her friend’s back. With a sniff, she let go. “And there’s something about that man that just gets to me.”

“Who, Aaron? Oh, he’s just a big teddy bear.”

“He’s a grumpy bear. I don’t get him. One second, we were having a nice moment at your event and the next, he’s growling at me.” Tamsin couldn’t believe how much energy she was spending on trying to figure him out.

Maddox checked out the cocoa stain on her sweater. “Well, this time of year isn’t exactly easy for him either.”

“Really?” The mystery intrigued Tamsin too much. “Why?”

Maddox shook her head. “Not my story to tell. But I can promise you this. I won’t meddle in your life anymore. Or maybe not for a month or so. Or at least until after Christmas. Deal?”

With an eye roll, Tamsin agreed. “Deal.” Her thoughts turned back to Sarge, wondering what could have happened to make him so…so… irresistible? No, that couldn’t be the right word. She sighed. “I guess I owe him an apology.”

Maddox’s eyes sparkled with mirth. “Who?”

“Sarge. I shouldn’t have pushed him away like that in front of everybody.”

“It’s understandable. I think I tried to push Griff away in the beginning, too. But he was way too cute to run away from for long.” She giggled, and her cheeks flushed.

Tamsin stared wide-eyed at Maddox. “I wasn’t running away from him. And he’s definitely not like Griff is to you,” she protested.

“Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that, missy.” Maddox patted her arm.

Was Sarge like Griff? Tamsin pictured him staring at her with the same heart-melting gaze that Griff showered Maddox with, especially when she wasn’t looking. Hope tapped on her own heart.

Tamsin shook her head, pushing such thoughts away. “Come on. People are gonna talk about the two of us if we don’t get out there soon. We can get some eggnog and some of my terrible cookies.”

“They’re not terrible,” admonished Maddox, opening the door.

“But they’re not as good as my sister’s.” That admittance of truth tasted like ash in Tamsin’s mouth.

“Let’s see if we can put some jolly into your holiday.” Maddox bumped her with her hip.

“How about we turn this Merry Christmas into your Marry Christmas?” Tamsin chuckled.

Maddox stopped in the hallway. “I wanna say something about Good Cheer-ing you and Sarge on, but I can’t come up with a strong enough joke.”

Hooking her arm through Maddox’s, Tamsin grinned. “As long as I’m not pushed into becoming a Ho-Ho-Ho under the mistletoe.”

“Oh, that’s a good one.”

Cackling far too loud, the two friends headed down the hallway towards the rest of the party. As they turned the corner, Tamsin’s feet and heart stopped working.

Her younger sister Everly stood on her tiptoes under the same mistletoe with her arms draped around Sarge’s neck, and her lips pressed against his.