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“That’s a fantastic dream. Count me in.”

“We just have to find you a nice boy,” Ivy said. “So we can have kids at the same time.”

I laughed. The world according to Ivy was a sweet place.

“I hope you won’t think this out of line, but I have a question for you,” Ivy said, lowering her voice. “About Grant.”

I flinched at the sound of his name. “What about him?”

She leaned closer. “I have a feeling about something.”

“Okay?”

“I think Grant’s into you,” Ivy said.

“Why do you say that?”

“The way he looks at you. And he asks about you. A lot.”

I digested this information for a second or two. “We had a moment. Three Thanksgivings ago. But he wasn’t into me after that weekend.” I paused, glancing behind me to see the guys still gathered at the bar. “He told me today that Jack said I was off limits. This was ten years ago, but Grant’s not open to the idea of anything more with me because of it. Jack and the boys are his family. Has Jack said anything to you about it?” I flushed, feeling like I was in seventh grade.

“No, he hasn’t,” Ivy said. “He’s oblivious.”

“Please, don’t mention it to him. I don’t want it to be a thing.”

“Won’t say a word. We’re about to be sisters. We have to have secrets, right?”

“Right.”

“I have to ask, and then not another word about it,” Ivy said. “But how do you feel about Grant?”

I took my time answering, looking for the right words. “He makes my pulse race. We enjoy hanging out together, or at least it seems that way to me. That weekend at Jack’s, we watched all my favorite Christmas movies.” I sighed, remembering how nice it had felt to sit on the couch with him at Jack’s house, cabernet in our glasses, a bowl of buttery popcorn between us. “I don’t know. We just get along. He makes me laugh. And we never run out of things to talk about. I’ve never had that with a man. But it’s hopeless. Even with Jack in the mix, we have completely different lifestyles. He a drummer on the road half the year. Women throwing themselves at him. I take care of sick kids most people couldn’t care less about.”

“Sure. Makes sense. Probably best to leave it alone.”

The way Ivy said it didn’t give me confidence that she was truly in agreement. Dolly’s “Hard Candy Christmas” started playing through the speakers. Perfect timing.

“Oh, I love this one,” Ivy said.

Jack rushed over to us, hauling Ivy to her feet. “Dance with me, pretty girl?”

“If you insist,” Ivy said.

There was a small stage to the left of the bar. Tonight it was a dance floor. Nursing my glass of wine, I watched my brother twirl Ivy around the floor. I’d not expected this—but his joy made me lonely. It was an awful thing to admit to myself, but it was true.

Rhett and Holly joined them on the dance floor, fitting together as nicely as they had when we were all young. One summer they’d spent hours learning a dance for a competition in town. The prize was fifty dollars. They didn’t win but they had fun anyway. I wondered if they still remembered their routine?

I noticed Blake Bennett, video camera in hand, had joined us in the bar. She was in a corner, quietly recording Jack and Ivy dancing. I remained seated, wishing that Grant would ask me to dance. He wouldn’t, though. There was a steel center to him that never deviated outside of what he thought was right. I would have to accept that he saw me as forbidden fruit. No matter how fast my pulse raced, he was not the man for me.

I didn’t have time for a relationship, anyway. My work was my great love. That was exactly as it should be.

We all bundled up for the tree lighting, oohing like kids when Soren Moon threw the switch and the big blue spruce came alive with light. Instinctively, I turned to look at Grant. He was standing a little apart from the rest of us, his expression wistful.

After a fun round of trying to stump Knox on Christmas songs around the fire pit, I decided to call it a night. It had been a long day, with an early flight, and I was dog-tired. I said my goodnights to the gang and headed toward my cabin just as it began to snow. Although slippery, the pathway was well lit, with mushroom lights planted into the ground every foot or so. Earlier, Finley Moon had shown me around the ranch, pointing out the lights and ropes that were tied between cabins and buildings, in case of a blizzard. The very thought made me shiver.

I was halfway to my cabin when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Grant behind me.

“Hey,” I said. “You headed to bed?”