A salesman interrupted before either of them could say anything else, but she tucked that memory away, too, to savor like the warmth of the sun finally hitting her face after a long, cold winter.

She was just going over it again, wondering what he might’ve said or done next, when he nudged her. “What do you think?”

They were looking at a 2002 Hyundai Elantra with 139,000 miles for $4,500. It was silver and not bad-looking on the outside, but the inside was pretty worn.

The reality of her impoverished circumstances really sank in as she got behind the wheel and smelled the mildew the air freshener couldn’t quite conceal. Was the engine in any better shape?

She had no way to tell, and Ted wasn’t much of a mechanic.

“I’m worried it might need repairs,” she told him. “It has so many miles. But...maybe it would last a year or so.”

The salesman reassured her it was in great shape, but Sophia knew better than to trust him.

“Should we go home and think about it?” she asked.

“I doubt you’ll find anything better,” Ted replied, and that convinced her to give it a shot. This was the best option they’d come across. But when they went in to the office to see if she could get financed, they received bad news. Despite the ad Sophia had heard claiming this dealership could help anyone, the manager told her she hadn’t held a job long enough to compensate for her bad credit. Before they gave up, Ted had offered to lend her the money, but she’d refused. He’d done enough for her already.

“I’m sorry to have wasted your whole day,” Sophia said as they left. It was now dark and the lots were closing. “You should’ve been at home, writing.”

“I needed the time off.” He slanted her a meaningful look. “Shall we catch an AA meeting before we head back? Now that you have a sponsor, she’ll be expecting you.”

Her sponsor’s name was Madge. She’d texted Sophia earlier, to check in. “You’re not too tired? You don’t want to sit through yet another one of those, do you?” He’d already been to several. Sometimes he stayed in his car answering email on his phone. But there were times when he came in with her, too.

“They’re important. And I’m willing.”

“I’ve had such a good day. I’d rather not cap it off with that. But...I don’t want to screw up, either. So I guess we should.”

“Maybe since you’re feeling strong, we could put it off until tomorrow and go over to the mall instead.”

She hadn’t done any Christmas shopping yet. Of course, she didn’t have the money to do much, especially after putting that attorney on retainer. But she needed to buy Alexa a few things. “That would be fun. I’ll text Madge to let her know,” she added.

He took her hand once they reached the mall, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Sophia had no idea where their relationship was going; she was afraid to even consider that. So she told herself she wouldn’t. She’d take this day as a gift and leave it at that.

They closed down the mall, too. Sophia bought several small gifts for Alexa. It had taken her forever to choose each one, since she was trying so hard to make her money last, but she was certain that what she’d bought would please her daughter.

Ted had left her to herself for a while after they ate at the food court and returned with a few packages of his own. But he hadn’t told her what was in them, and she didn’t ask. She’d done his business shopping, but he was taking care of the gifts for family and friends.

“Will you be going to your mother’s for Christmas dinner this year?” she asked.

He was holding her hand again. She pretended it was no big deal—nothing more than what any employer would do with his housekeeper. But the warmth of his palm against hers, and the memories of what it had been like all those years ago, made her feel love-drunk.

“I don’t know,” he said.

“If you’d like to save her the trouble of cooking, I’ll make a feast for both of you before Alexa and I go to the DeBussis’.”

He gave her a skeptical look. “Are you really going to the DeBussis’?”

She pretended to be preoccupied with navigating the traffic to get to his car. “Probably.” At any rate, she wanted to put him on notice that he didn’t have to worry about her, that she didn’t expect to figure into his plans. She wanted him to feel free to go and have a nice time.

“I’m not sure what my plans are yet,” he said.

“Okay. Just let me know. I’ve clipped some recipes, in case.”

When he smiled at her, she felt her heart leap into her throat. Something was happening, something as wonderful as it was terrifying—but she dared not examine it too closely for fear she’d find it was only wishful thinking.

As they drove home, they talked for at least half the journey. About Alexa and what she was getting for Christmas. About the score Sophia had achieved on her latest typing test—nearly 60 words per minute. About Royce and Alexa officially “talking.” About his book and how he planned to save his protagonist from certain death at the end. They even talked about the possibility of using some of what Skip had done in a future book. But after a while, Sophia couldn’t stay awake.

“This has been one of the best days of my life,” she told him and let her eyes slide shut.

He laughed softly. “You didn’t even get a car.”

“That’s okay,” she said and drifted off.

Ted woke Sophia when they pulled into his garage. He would’ve preferred to sit and watch her sleep, but that was a little too stalkerlike. He’d certainly never had that compulsion with any other woman. “Hey, unless you want me to try to carry you up those stairs again, you’d better start moving on your own.”

Opening her eyes, she offered him a sleepy smile—one he also found incredibly sexy. “Can you make it look easy this time?”

He brought a hand to his chest. “Of course, being so strong. It’s just that I’ve got a lot of shopping bags tonight.”

Her laughter sounded more carefree than it had since she’d come back into his life. “I’ll help.”

Once they were inside, he suggested they wrap their gifts so there’d be something under the tree when Alexa came home. He looked forward to surprising Sophia’s daughter and to spreading some holiday cheer. But Sophia seemed to think it would be too presumptuous to use his tree.

“We don’t need to crowd in on your Christmas,” she said. “I can stack Alexa’s presents on my dresser. I know that doesn’t seem very traditional, but she understands this year will be different.”

“It doesn’t have to be that different. Not when I’ve got a perfectly good tree.”

“You sure you don’t mind sharing?”

That would put them together on Christmas morning. He understood why she was hesitating. But he couldn’t believe she had other plans, and he wanted her with him at Christmas. Alexa, too. “Of course not. I got it for all of us to enjoy.”

“Okay.” She flashed him a smile before pulling out some wrapping essentials. “I bought some pretty paper and ribbon. You’re welcome to use it.”

She seemed to think that wrapping was important, but he didn’t usually go to much effort. “I’ve got some paper from last year, don’t I?”

“Oh, right.” She rose to her feet. “It’s in the front closet. I’ll grab it since we may not have enough here.”

He went to his office for tape and scissors and they spread out on the living room floor across from each other with the lights of the tree twinkling in the corner.

“What’d you buy today?” she asked as he began to empty out his bags.

He’d bought a pretty jewelry box for Alexa, but he didn’t want to make a big deal of that. He left it in the sack and held up a brown suede Calvin Klein coat. “This, for my mother.”

She examined it. “Nice. I bet she’ll love it.”

“I doubt it. She’s impossible to please. But I keep trying. And I bought this.” He pulled out a Giants cap for Noah. “I get him a new cap every year, and he gets me a pen. It’s sort of a standing joke between us.”