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“Two, then?”

“Yeah, two kids.” Her smile turned regretful. “But there’s no going back. Only forward.”

She leaned toward him. He met her halfway and kissed her. The wanting was just as strong, but this time it was accompanied by something else. A sense of rightness. He didn’t know what it meant, but he was going to let it sit for a while and figure it out later. In the meantime, he was going to pretend he was still eighteen again and kissing his girl.

Reggie walked home enjoying the steady snow and her general sense of happiness. As per tradition, snowmen had appeared everywhere. They were on porches and front steps and in yard displays, and the city workers were hanging snowmen banners on light poles. The snow had arrived, and now all was well in the Wishing Tree world.

On a more personal note, her parents’ wedding was less than a week away, and she felt good about being ready. The Christmas cactus were beribboned, her mother’s dress was back from the alterations lady, and according to her last call with Paisley, all was well with the resort. Which meant she was perfectly free to think about Toby’s kisses.

They’d been pretty good—in some ways better than she remembered. Or maybe it was that all the other kisses in her life were a poor second.

He’d seemed different today. More relaxed and open. She knew better than to get her hopes up—he had a lot to work through before he would be willing to risk a relationship—but maybe a little progress had been made.

That was what she wanted. She wanted Toby and Harrison in her life. She wasn’t sure when she’d decided it, but today, celebrating the first snowfall together, she’d known. He’d been a great guy when she’d known him in high school, and he was a better man now. He was a terrific father, an intelligent businessman, and a kind soul who loved his grandmother, and he kissed like a dream.

She felt things with Toby she’d never felt with anyone else. Talking about how different their lives would have been if he hadn’t left town had helped her see what was important. Toby was the one. Maybe he’d always been the one. A thought that made her dizzy with happiness. Unless, of course, he was going to be difficult. He’d always been stubborn, and once he got something in his head, it was tough to change his mind.

“Not a problem for today,” she said, walking up the path of her parents’ house.

A large inflatable snowman sat in the middle of the yard. There was a family of snowmen by the front door, making her smile as she let herself in.

“You’ve been busy, Mom,” she called, starting the unraveling process.

She hung up her coat and scarf, put her hat on the little shelf and unlaced her snow boots before stepping out of them. Hmm, there hadn’t been a response from her mom, and Belle and Burt hadn’t come running.

“Mom?”

“Is that you, Reggie? We’re in the basement.”

Reggie headed for the stairs. When she was halfway down, her mother moved to the bottom of the stairs.

“Don’t be mad,” she said, her expression two parts guilt and one part amusement.

“Unless you decided on a different favor for your wedding, I couldn’t possibly be mad. What’s going on?”

Leigh pointed to the far end of the basement, where Belle was stretched out on the carpet, Burt resting beside her. At first Reggie couldn’t figure out what her dog was doing, but then she saw the scattered pieces of what had been Gizmo’s vacuum. Belle was chewing on a piece of the casing.

“It’s my fault,” her mother said quickly. “I was running late, so I thought I’d let your little invention take care of the upstairs. When I got home from running errands, I didn’t think anything of it, except Belle didn’t come to greet me, so I went looking for her. This is what I found. She must have carried it down here to kill it.”

“Oh, Belle,” Reggie said, trying to sound stern. “Gizmo is not going to be happy.”

Belle wagged her tail.

Reggie wasn’t overly concerned about her client. Gizmo had at least a half dozen of the machines at his workshop. It wasn’t as if Belle had destroyed the only one, but still, this was so unlike her.

“You’ve become a sassy girl,” Reggie said, pulling out her phone and taking a picture of the damage. “You might need a little extra training when we get home.”

She texted the photo to Gizmo, along with an explanation.

Bill me the cost of the vacuum. And maybe look at making it a little more dog-proof. Belle won’t be the only one going after it.

Three dots appeared.

Belle is awesome. And you’re right. The casing isn’t tough enough. After the first of the year, I’ll work on modifications.

Reggie tucked her phone into her jeans, then looked at her mom. “I’ll get this cleaned up.”

Her mother’s mouth twitched. “Too bad we don’t have a fancy electronic vacuum to take care of it.”