The excitement coursing through her was palpable.  Her foot pushed down harder on the accelerator, her small car eating up the miles that were bringing her closer to home.  A giddy laugh escaped into the silence of the car and she immediately turned the radio on, flicking the volume dial up so the music was blasting.

A country song was playing on her usual Sirius station, the singer crooning about margaritas and dancing.  She made a mental note to put both things on her to-do list for the next girls’ night out in two weeks.  Tonight, though, she would celebrate her good news with her better half and perhaps try on the new lingerie set that she’d bought on a whim last week.

Her smile dimmed just the slightest as her inner voice whispered that lingerie was not likely to fix the rift between the two of them.  With a huff, she squared her shoulders and pushed the thought away as she turned down Main Street and searched for a spot to park on the busy thoroughfare.

The small town of Eversfeld, located twenty minutes north of Grand Rapids, Michigan was home to a couple thousand people.  It was a typical tourist stop, boasting a quaint, walkable downtown with old cobblestone streets and inviting shop windows.  In summer it was home to a well-known rustic wedding venue that frequently landed in bridal magazines.  In the winter season, the 20-room lodge was booked solid starting after Thanksgiving and extending into the new year.  Tourists came to enjoy skiing, sleigh rides and bask in the glow of a small-town American Christmas.

Everything was decked out for the season.  Christmas lights were wrapped around all the lamp posts and hung suspended over Main Street, lighting up the entire road like a tunnel until it split into a Y at City Hall at the end of the block.  Storefronts glittered in green, red and gold and beckoned shoppers into their warm interiors.  The gazebo in Eversfeld Park was also covered in lights and all around it, workers could be seen setting up for the annual ice carving competition happening this weekend.

Hope McKinley breathed in the cold air as she stepped out of her car, gazing upwards as a light snow began to fall.  She stuck out her tongue, catching a few flakes as they fell.  After quickly jamming her winter hat over her long dark hair, she headed towards her favorite coffee place for a couple cups of seasonal brew and some of the to-die for pastries her best friend somehow managed to dream up.

She had lived in Eversfeld her entire life and had no plans to move away.  The small town feel and the sense of community always made it feel like she was part of this large extended family.  And now that she had finally closed on the property she’d bought to start her business in, she was well on her way to living her dream in the place she loved.

A bell tinkled as she pushed open the door to the coffee house and the bright blue eyes of her best friend Emery immediately found her.  A smile broke out on Emery’s face as she quickly wiped her hands on her apron and came from behind the register.  Hope returned the gesture with her own smile, full of all the excitement she felt.

“So….I take it that it went well?” Emery questioned, pushing a wayward blonde curl behind her ear after giving Hope a quick hug.

“I closed on the property.  It’s all mine!” Hope practically squealed

“I just knew that you would,” Emery responded, beaming proudly at her friend, “I don’t see how it wouldn’t go through when we are in such serious need of another place to eat around here.  Dude, you are like the Rachel Ray of Eversfeld.  I swear I would be a hundred pounds heavier if I ate your cooking every day.”

“Huge compliment coming from the girl who can bake anything with her eyes closed.  You know I’m going to be special ordering a bunch of your desserts to feature on my menu, right?” Hope countered, her green eyes dancing with joy.

“Well duh!  Together we will work on making everyone in this town love us, one stomach at a time,” Emery quipped with a grin.

“I just can’t wait to get into the building now that it’s mine.  I can’t believe how long it’s been vacant when it’s right on Main Street,” Hope said.

The business loan she’d been approved for had allowed her to purchase the Moody building, which had previously been home to a different variety of shops over the years but had stood vacant for the last two.  The stately brick building was two stories tall, the upper floor a large two-bedroom apartment and the lower, 4000 square feet of real estate gold.  Hope had visions of the Italian bistro she planned to open just swimming in her head.  Of course, there was plenty of remodeling needed and she knew it was likely to be at least another six months until she could think of an opening day, but her dream was really starting to come alive.

She’d learned her love of cooking from her grandma and had spent many an hour in the kitchen, the two of them cooking and experimenting with new recipes.  When her grandma had fallen ill last year and passed a few months later, Hope had seriously considered moving away from Eversfeld.  Her grandma was the last familial link she had in this town; her older brother was in Traverse City running his winery and her parents had made the move up there a few years later when her brother and sister-in-law had made them grandparents.

After inheriting an old familial recipe book in her grandmother’s will, Hope’s determination to open her own restaurant won out over the desire to move where her family was.  After all, the town was like her extended family.  And of course, her three closest friends lived here as well and had no plans of moving.

So, over the past year, she had been scrimping and saving, paying off debt and working hard towards her goal.  The Moody building had always been the ideal space for her restaurant and now, it was within her grasp.  She was ecstatic.

“Girl, that place is going to need some serious remodeling mojo,” Emery said, breaking Hope out of her thoughts, “I hope you know a good contractor!”

“Well considering Eve’s dad owns a contracting company, I figured I’d start there,” Hope responded, shrugging her shoulders, “I don’t know how many times I covered for Eve when we were teenagers and she was sneaking out to meet Matt Cromwell.  That girl owes me big time!”

“Oh gosh, I forgot all about Matt!!  Eve was just sooooo in love with him at the time.  Can you imagine that now?” Emery stated after a short hoot of laughter, “Dude’s well on his way to having his own football team with that crazy wife of his.”

“Guess she dodged a bullet,” Hope said with a laugh of her own.

“Oh, did Eve mention to you that her brother is back in town?  Rumor has it that his big-time architect career in Chicago has him completely burnt out,” Emery slyly mentioned, wiggling her eyebrows at Hope.

Hope flushed as an image of ocean blue eyes and a charming grin came quickly to mind.  How could she forget the guy she’d had the most massive crush on all throughout high school?  It had never come to anything since he was Eve’s older brother, but she’d had plenty of daydreams that involved kissing him and…other things.

“Nope, I hadn’t heard that,” she evenly stated, trying to calm her jumping heart, “Well I guess we’ll be seeing him around soon then.”

“That’s all you have to say???  Girl, you crushed on him so hard!”

“Yeah, like back in middle school when I was a geeky teenager,” Hope said, rolling her eyes, “That was a long time ago.  I’m now closer to thirty than I am to twenty, you know, an adult?  And besides, I’ve got Jacob.”

“Ugh, so you’re still with him.  I thought you’d have upgraded by now,” Emery grumbled.

“Jacob is perfectly nice and sweet,” Hope countered.

“Yeah, so is my great Aunt Edna,” Emery snorted.

“Oh shut it!  Jacob and I have history, I’m comfortable with him.”

“Which is NOT how a relationship is supposed to be.  Where’s the passion?  Where’s the heat?” Emery countered, hands on her hips as she stared at her friend.  Hope just shrugged.

“It’s there…”

“Yeah, buried in a blanket of snow and ice!”

“Emery…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.  You love the guy and blah, blah, blah,” Emery scoffed with a sigh, “I just want my bestie to be happy, that’s all.”

Was she happy in her relationship?  Hope thought that she was.  Jacob had been a bit distant lately, but he’d been putting in a lot of hours at the law firm he worked at.  A couple big cases that required a lot of late nights and most of his attention, plus all the hours she’d been working at the couple jobs she kept didn’t leave them much time for each other.  They hadn’t been physically intimate since…

Hope honestly couldn’t remember when.  Well, tonight would change that.

“I know,” she told Emery, giving her friend another hug, “Maybe I need to go rekindle the flame a bit.  Give me a few of your pastries and some coffee to go so I can start tonight…”

“That’s my girl!” Emery said, grinning as she went back behind the counter to get the order going.

After a few more minutes of idle chat and a friendly wave to Emery, Hope was back on the road and headed home.  The three-bedroom house she shared with Jacob was on the outskirts of town, more away from the hustle and bustle than she’d like, however, since Jacob had bought the home before they’d started dating, she hadn’t argued when he’d suggested she move in.  She’d been renting an apartment closer to the downtown area, so it made more sense for her to give up her place rather than for him to try to sell the house.

It was a cute little cape cod with a small galley kitchen but plenty of room to grow into and start a family.  Jacob had called it a “starter home” and had dreams of something bigger but Hope loved its coziness and character.  She could see herself raising a family in it.

Again her inner voice whispered at her, reminding her of the distance between the two of them.  But yet again she shoved the thoughts away as she pulled into the driveway, right next to a small sports car that she didn’t recognize.  Her brow furrowed in confusion, not remembering Jacob mentioning any plans for visitors this Friday night.

With a sigh, she parked the car, shut it off and climbed out.  The snow began to pick up and was swirling more angrily, the wind pushing the light flakes into the darkening skies.  She quickly climbed the steps to the front door and let herself inside.

The first thing she noticed when she walked in was a pair of red stiletto heels.  Heels that did not belong to her.  Puzzled, she quickly slipped her shoes off, pulled her hat off her head and shrugged out of her coat.

“Jacob?”

Muffled sounds reached her ears and she tilted her head to listen.  The noise came again, drifting down from the second floor.  Her gut suddenly feeling like it was full of lead, Hope quietly made her way up the stairs and down the hall towards the master bedroom.

A distinct moan floated through the closed door and Hope raised trembling fingers to the knob.  With her heart pounding, she took a deep breath as she swung it open.  A startled cry escaped her lips as she took in the sight before her.

A buxom blonde sat astride her boyfriend of two years, bouncing up and down as his hands grasped tightly to her hips.  Both were naked, both oblivious to her presence.  Jacob was staring adoringly up at the unknown blonde, a look that he hadn’t given her in months as he groaned in pleasure.

“Oh yes, baby, right there…”

“Fuck Tay, you feel so good,” Jacob ground out, “Ride me, just like that…”

The two remained oblivious to the figure in the doorway as they chased their pleasure.  And Hope merely stood there, mute as she felt her heart shatter into a million pieces.  How could she have been so blind?

“Jacob?!?  What the hell!” Hope cried once she found her voice.

Her boyfriend stopped mid-thrust, his eyes widening as he finally noticed her standing in the doorway.  His companion screeched as she bounced off him and frantically searched for something to cover herself with.  She quickly pulled Jacob’s T-shirt over her head and Hope immediately felt her heart break just a tiny bit more.

“Hope, what are you doing home so early?” Jacob asked as he reached for his boxers on the floor and slipped them on.

“Oh don’t start with that placating voice you asshole.  Who is she?” Hope hissed, waving vaguely at the well-endowed blonde who was now adding panties underneath the T-shirt.

“Now Hope…”

“No Jacob, answer my question,” Hope stubbornly persisted, wanting to know who this woman was that had stolen the attention of the man who was supposed to love her.

“We work together,” the blonde helpfully supplied, shrugging her shoulders, “But he told me he was single.”

“Single?” she screeched, her anger blazing, “Not for the last two years.”

“Hope, you’ve been so busy with the multiple jobs and trying to go and buy that stupid old building downtown.  I’ve been bored and neglected,” Jacob explained as he stepped closer; she immediately took a step away from the smell of sex and another woman’s perfume.

“Bored and neglected…I’ve been working my ass off so I can open up my restaurant in that so-called old building!” Hope growled, “It’s been my dream and you’ve always known this.”

“I didn’t think you were actually serious,” Jacob defended, crossing his arms over his chest warily, “I mean, I’m partner in the law firm, how would it look if I had a wife that was never around and was always working?”

“Oh, so I’m just supposed to be arm candy?!?”

“Now I didn’t say that, but I thought you’d think of doing something less demanding.  Like taking that receptionist job with the travel agency,” he stated.

“I didn’t realize that me having big dreams was such an inconvenience for you!” Hope cried, eyes welling with tears.

“Now don’t cry Hope, I don’t know why you’re so emotional about this  It’s not like there’s a whole lot of spark between us anymore,” Jacob responded as if spending two years of her life with him meant absolutely nothing, “I mean, you don’t even want to try anything besides missionary style.  I’ve got needs you know.”

“Well it’s good to see your true fucking colors you asswipe,” she ground out, wiping angrily at the tears.

How had she not seen this coming?  How had she wasted two years of her life on someone who didn’t even think she did sex right?  The broken pieces of her heart shuddered.

With an angry growl, she stomped over to her closet and grabbed her big wheeled suitcase down from the shelf.  There was no way in hell that she’d stay in this house after witnessing the man she thought loved her banging someone else.  She’d pack a bag for now, then figure out what came next after a night of wine and whining to her friends.

“Hope, what are you…”

“What the fuck do you think I’m doing?  Packing and leaving!” she snapped, her green eyes flashing as she opened her dresser drawers to fill up the suitcase.

“But..”

“Jacob, I think it’s time for me to go,” the blonde suddenly spoke up from the side of the bed where she’d now donned a leather pencil skirt and pulled on a blouse over Jacob’s T-shirt.

“Taylor, can we talk later?” Jacob pleaded as she headed for the bedroom door.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea right now,” Taylor responded, glancing in Hope’s direction, “But you know my number.”

Hope angrily blinked away more tears as they again welled up and threated to fall.  She continued to stuff her clothing into the large suitcase as Jacob followed the blonde out of the room.  Taking a deep breath after they were gone, she quickly strode to the ensuite bathroom and haphazardly threw all her cosmetics and toiletries into her toiletry bag.

When she came back to the bedroom, Jacob was standing there, having now pulled on a pair of pants and shirt.  She continued to ignore him as she threw the toiletry bag into the suitcase.  She opened her lingerie drawer, tossing lacy bras and panties into the suitcase and with a fierce grin, she topped it all with the new lingerie set that she’d planned on donning this evening.

Jacob’s eyes widened at the last article of clothing.

“Do not call me, do not text me and do not come to see me,” Hope ground out as she zipped the suitcase closed, “Give me some time to figure things out and I will come get the remainder of my belongings.”

“Hope…”

“No Jacob, you don’t get a say in this.  We’re done.  You’ve made a complete and utter fool of me and I just need to be away from you,” Hope quietly responded with a dejected sigh.

He immediately shut his mouth and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.  As she lifted the now heavy suitcase off the bed, he made no move to help her.  The tiny pieces left of her heart broke even more as she wheeled it out of the room and struggled down the stairs.

He didn’t make any attempt to follow her.

Once she’d gotten the suitcase into the trunk of her car, Hope backed out of the drive and headed back into town.  She wasn’t sure who to call first.  Emery, Eve and Sophie were her three best friends and had her back no matter what, but she wasn’t in the mood to unload this bomb on them yet.  She was too embarrassed and needed some time to lick her wounds.

After a quick stop at the liquor store for a bottle of wine, she pulled her car behind the old brick building that now belonged to her.  She threw some clothing and her toiletry bag into her oversized purse and grabbed the large blanket that she kept in her trunk for emergencies.  As she inserted the key into the back door, the wind whipped up the snow and she shivered.

She trudged up the flight of stairs and inserted the key into the second door at the top of the stairs.  The apartment was dusty and would need some remodeling, but it was empty and the electricity had been turned on so it was the perfect hideout for her to spend the evening drinking from a bottle of wine and coming to grips with being single again a year before turning 30.

As she flicked up the switch just inside the door, the overhead lights sprang to life, illuminating the large space.  The open concept kitchen was to her right, a large L-shaped area with a massive center island that would fit at least five or six bar stools.  To the left was the dining area, marked but a massive, ugly chandelier that would need to be replaced. Beyond that was a door that led to the master bedroom, complete with ensuite with the other smaller bedroom and full bath on the other side of the apartment.  In front of the kitchen island was the massive open living room with four large curve-topped windows that overlooked Main Street.

The windows were Hope’s favorite feature of the room and she was immediately drawn to them.  She dropped her bottle of wine on the kitchen counter and her large purse and the blanket next to the island and drifted over to the windows.  The snow had settled down and was now gently falling, covering Main Street and its occupants with large, beautiful flakes.

 With a sob, she turned away as she noticed a couple nuzzling together as they walked along the lighted sidewalk.  She felt so alone.  Especially with Christmas a mere three weeks away.  She was supposed to be spending the holidays with the man who loved her, not alone in a dusty old apartment that needed a thorough cleaning and more than just a fresh coat of paint.

She stalked back towards the kitchen and grabbed the large comfy blanket she had dragged in from the car. After spreading it out near the windows and turning the lights down, she quickly changed into some warm pajamas and cracked open the bottle of wine.  Thanking the heavens for Netflix on her phone, she started a Hallmark movie, one of her guilty pleasures and got lost in the happy ever after that she now did not believe existed.

As she shifted on the blanket, she noticed a sprig of fake mistletoe hanging over the doorway that led to the master bedroom.  She rolled her eyes and took a slug from her bottle of wine.  That would be the first thing to go tomorrow morning.

She no longer had any use for mistletoe.