The Mistletoe Melody. Jennifer Snow

that I’m still here, Mom.” How many times had he wished he’d died on the side of the highway along with his friend? Most people saw his second chance at life as a gift, but he saw it as a punishment. A lifetime to reflect on the damage he’d caused.

      His mother stood and kissed the top of his head. “Well, I almost lost my son that night. I thank God every day that I still have you, even if you don’t.”

       CHAPTER FOUR

      THE DOOR TO Leigh Norris’s home-based day care opened just as Melody raised a hand to knock on it. “Hey, Melody. David,” Leigh’s new husband, Logan Walters, said as he moved aside to let them enter.

      “Hi, Logan. You heading out already?” It was just after seven. Her shift at Play Hard started at eight, and Leigh had agreed to watch David for her that day while she worked. But Melody was surprised to see Logan, a bestselling author who’d recently moved to Brookhollow, planning to start his day so early. “I thought writers slept in and wrote into wee hours of the night.”

      Logan laughed. “I’m not sure about the sleeping-in part, but the staying-up-all-night part is true enough. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fallen asleep at the office during the day. Good thing Ginger’s furniture is still there.”

      After Leigh’s grandmother had suffered a heart attack and decided it was time to move into a seniors complex, Logan had rented her apartment. “Hi, guys,” Leigh met them in the hallway, her newly adopted baby girl in her arms. She leaned forward and kissed her husband. “See you at dinner?”

      “You bet.” He bent to kiss the baby’s forehead, and with another quick kiss to Leigh, he left.

      Melody touched the baby’s cheek. “Look, David, how tiny she is.”