Page 3 of A Cozy Kind of Christmas
The race would take place over three days, drawing the best snocross athletes and spectators from all over the country. Normally, this would be just the kind of extreme sport Meg would be eager to cover. But not this December. Not with Matt, the guy she had loved since college. The guy she thoughtshewould marry eventually. The guy she was supposed to share a streaming account and fancy espresso maker with was celebrating his thirtieth birthday with a lavish party thrown by his current girlfriend. Meg wanted to beanywherebut Bend, Oregon.
“Jill will be thrilled. Girls’ weekend?” Johanna added. “And save both our asses and jobs, please? Pretty please?”
Jill Pettygrove, Meg’s longtime friend, had been living in Italy for seven years.
Meg still couldn’t believe it had been seven years. She had once read an article about the fact that the body’s cells regenerate every seven years, hence the old saying, “the seven-year itch.”
The very skin Meg was walking around in was new. Completely unique from the skin it had once been. She sort of loved that thought.
And the thought of seeing Jill again was seriously tempting.
Jill had left for art school around the time Meg took the job writing for ESPN, met a dreamy Irishman, and made her stay permanent. They’d kept in close touch over the years, visiting for birthdays and meeting up for spontaneous getaways. But their little trio had never found their way back together. Not after the breakup. Not after saying goodbye to Matt and an alternate life that might have looked very different than her life today.
Gam would remind her that every path was meant to meander. And Meg had been meandering for years, carving outher own version of adulthood and constantly trying to ignore the lingering ache in her heart from losing the one person she had loved with deep and unbridled abandon—the one person who still felt like home.
“Okay,” she finally said to Johanna with a heavy sigh, barely able to believe she was saying yes. She wrapped Gam’s cozy Christmas sweater tighter, feeling a strange mix of trepidation and excitement start to build.
She was going to see Matt again.
In Bend!
Break out the big band Christmas carols.
Was this a mistake?
But what other choice did she have? Her job was on the line, and rent was due soon.
What’s the worst thing that could happen?
Ha! Famous last words.
TWO
JILL
“So you’re in for Bend, yeah? Are you really sure?” Jill asked Owen, squeezing around the ever-growing stack of art supplies in their “home on wheels,” aka camper van. The shiny airstream was decked out for the holidays with vintage Christmas lights and a tabletop tree adorned with ornaments Owen had hand-carved over the years. She and Owen were minimalists—except for when it came to Christmas. They bothlivedfor the holiday season.
One might call it obsessed.
But hey, there were worse things in life to hyper-fixate on, as far as Jill was concerned. There was something uniquely magical about November and December—the pop-up Christmas tree farms displaying Fraser firs, Scotch pines, and blue spruce trees immaculately trimmed and pruned to fit in cheery front windows, shops featuring tins of Christmas candy and shiny packages of chocolate biscuits, and the general hum of happiness in the air.
Even though they didn’t have room to spare in the van, they made an exception for Christmas. The holiday season in Europe was even longer and, if possible, more festive than her memories from Portland—the big tree in Pioneer CourthouseSquare, the winter beer fest, the Santa pub crawl, and holiday lights dripping with rain. Italian Christmases involved caroling, bagpipes, holiday markets, food, food, and more food, with the festivities spilling into January with Epiphany.
Every year since they’d been together, on the day after Halloween, Owen dragged out giant tubs from storage, and they spent the day drinking Christmas wine and decking their roving halls. His childhood holidays hadn’t always been very merry, so he made up for those harder years by leaning into the festive spirit and going slightly overboard with décor.
Red-and-green knitted stockings hung from the front windshield intertwined with strands of popcorn and cranberries. Photos of them at holiday gatherings were framed like packages and taped to the walls and fridge. Bright tea towels and Italian Christmas dishes lined the open cupboard in the small galley kitchen.
“I’m about to book the tickets, but I want to double-check that you’re still game,” she said, tapping her laptop screen.
“Why wouldn’t I be game?” Owen did that thing where he scrunched his face like he wasn’t tracking the conversation. Jill used to find it cute and endearing, but lately, it was starting to annoy her. She wanted to shake him and scream,Make a decision already. Any decision.
“Well, my parents want to see me after Matt’s birthday, and you didn’t exactly sound thrilled about the idea of spending another week or two with them.” Jill reached for the invitation, which was printed on expensive cardstock with calligraphy and gold embossed lettering. It was a strange mix—like a wedding invitation meets a corporate event. Matt was a technical writer for a green-energy company in Bend, Oregon—Blazen. Jill found it slightly odd that the company logo and motto were included on the invite:Blazen into the future for Matt Parker’s 30th.
Owen dragged his hands through his shaggy ginger hair, shooting her the sheepish, lopsided grin she’d fallen for those many years ago. “Yeah, darling, count me in.”
“You’re sure?” Jill hesitated, her finger hovering over the keyboard as she double-checked the dates on the invite. “I know that they’re—well, a lot.”
“It’s fine. I’ll turn on the Irish charm. How can they resist the accent or this face?” He grabbed an empty frame from Jill’s traveling art studio and posed like he was sitting for Michelangelo. His freckles and affable grin made him look younger than thirty-three. Owen had classic Irish features—skin that burned to a crisp if he spent any amount of time in the direct sun, burly shoulders, and cheeky personality. Jill was more refined with long, silky hair, olive skin tones, and narrow bone structure.
