When Chloe awoke the next morning, she pulled back the curtain to peek outside. The sun was shining with such dazzling light that Chloe had to shield her eyes just from glancing out the window. I need my sunglasses more here than I needed them at the beach last summer, she thought. Luckily, Chloe had a brand-new pair of ski goggles for their outdoor adventures. Dad had surprised her with them as an early Christmas present.

Remembering that the lines for snow tubing would be long, Chloe picked out her warmest clothes, from her fleece-lined jeans to her chunky cable-knit sweater. Then she got dressed and bounded into the kitchen, where Dad was finishing his coffee.

“Morning, sleepyhead!” Dad said. “I was just about to wake you up. You don’t want to laze away the day.”

“Are you even kidding?” Chloe pretended to be outraged. “I’m dressed and ready to go. You’re still in your pajamas!”

Dad glanced down at his plaid pj’s and pretended to slap himself in the forehead. “Right! I knew I was forgetting something!” he joked.

Chloe gave him a little push toward the door. “You go get dressed. I’ll feed Charlie and give him his medicine. Then we can—oh!”

“What’s wrong?” Dad asked.

“I almost forgot about my breakfast!” Chloe said as her face fell. “So much for beating the snow-tubing line. Eating in the restaurant will take ages.”

“No worries,” Dad told her. “There’s a breakfast bar up at the lodge, and they make custom breakfast burritos. We can grab some to go and eat them on the way to snow tubing.”

“Awesome!” Chloe cheered. “What are we waiting for?”

“Bet you I can get dressed before you finish with Charlie,” Dad said. “On your mark, get set—”

“Go!” they said at the same time.

While Dad got ready, Chloe sped through the rest of Charlie’s morning routine. Pill in mouth! Food in bowl! Leash on collar! Jaunt around the cabin! Chloe and Charlie got back to Sugar Plum Cottage just as Dad, all bundled up, stepped out the front door.

“Tie!” Chloe and Dad yelled at the same time.

Chloe’s eyes gleamed as she brought Charlie inside. “Rematch,” she announced. “Race you to the lodge!”

“Oh, you’re on,” Dad replied. “On your mark, get set, go!”

By the time Chloe and Dad reached the lodge, they were laughing so hard they could barely run anymore. The aromas from the breakfast bar filled the lobby, making Chloe’s mouth water. She noticed Sandy standing near the line and hurried over to join her.

“Sandy! Hey!” Chloe exclaimed. “Can you believe this breakfast bar? They’ll wrap anything you want in a pancake and call it a breakfast burrito. Scrambled eggs! Bacon! French toast sticks! Anything!”

“Wow,” Sandy said. She didn’t bother to glance up from her phone. Chloe wasn’t even sure that she’d been listening.

“Are you… hungry?” Chloe asked.

Sandy frowned, swiped at the screen, and frowned harder. Chloe started to worry. What if Sandy had gotten a message with bad news? What if it was something from her dad?

“Hey,” Chloe said, tapping Sandy’s arm. “Is everything okay? You seem upset.”

When Sandy glanced up, Chloe could see the anxiety in her green eyes. “Look at this,” she said, thrusting her phone at Chloe.

Chloe took the phone from Sandy and scanned the screen. A weather app was open, and it showed a gray cloud hovering over the date—December 23. Not just a gray cloud, but a gray cloud with snowflakes.

“Snow?” Chloe squealed. “It’s going to snow?”

“That’s what everyone is talking about in the lobby,” Sandy said. “They were going on and on about it. Apparently the roads get really bad in the mountains and sometimes they get closed for days!”

Chloe was about to squeal again—she couldn’t think of anything more unexpected and exciting than getting snowed in at the lodge for Christmas—but the look on Sandy’s face stopped her just in time.

“Are you okay?” Chloe asked.

“No,” Sandy replied. “I don’t want to get stuck here! We’re supposed to leave first thing tomorrow morning. What if this freak snowstorm shows up and we can’t get out of here?”

It’s not exactly a freak snowstorm when it happens in the middle of December, Chloe thought, but she didn’t want to make Sandy even madder. “I’m sure everything would be just fine,” Chloe tried to reassure her. “I bet the lodge has generators and enough food to last for several days. It’s been around for decades; this isn’t the first time they’ve had to deal with a snowstorm.”

Anger flashed through Sandy’s eyes. “You don’t get it,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’m not worried about how we’ll survive if we get snowed in. I want to avoid getting snowed in at all!”

“Well, I mean, that’s totally out of our hands,” Chloe said. “We can’t exactly control the weather.”

“Yes, thank you, I know that,” Sandy said. “But we could leave early. We could pack up and check out this afternoon instead of tomorrow, and then we could get home before the storm hits.”

Before Chloe could respond, Sandy grabbed her arm. “Would you help me?” she asked. “I already asked my mom if we could leave, and she said no, but maybe if we both ask her—she thinks you’re totally amazing—she’d probably listen to you, or you could ask your dad and I could ask my mom again—”

At first, Chloe was so stunned she didn’t know what to say.

Then she found her voice. “No,” she said. “No way.”

“But—”

“I don’t want to leave early,” Chloe said firmly, just to make sure there was no doubt about where she stood. And it was true. Chloe had been looking forward to this trip for months. Sandy had done enough to try to derail it. Chloe wasn’t about to let her end it early—not for a little snowstorm that might not even happen.

“I’ve been excited about this trip for so long,” Chloe continued. “And that includes obsessing over the weather forecast. I’ve checked it every single night for a month. Even last night, there was no snow in the forecast. Big storms usually show up, like, days in advance. I’m not even convinced we’ll get any snow.”

“But you don’t know,” Sandy said stubbornly.

“Nobody does!” Chloe exclaimed. “But I do know this—I’m not going to miss the big party tonight for a few flurries that may or may not fall. Now, I’m really hungry. Do you want to hit the breakfast bar with me or should I go by myself?”

Sandy didn’t say anything, but she did move into the line next to Chloe. The girls were quiet as they waited to order breakfast. Chloe wanted to say something—anything—to fix things, but she didn’t know where to begin. There were a ton of questions whirling through her mind.

Why does Sandy want to leave so badly? she wondered. Is she really having such a terrible time that she wants to leave early? Is it me? Does she hate being stuck with me?

If only she and Sandy knew each other better, Chloe might have found the courage to ask. But they were like strangers. And strangers, Chloe thought, don’t have any reason to make up when they don’t get along to begin with.

But it was Christmas—the one time of year when everybody was supposed to be filled with joy and love. It was a season for miracles. A time when anything could happen.

And that was enough to give Chloe hope.

During the long wait for snow tubing, Chloe kept up such a steady stream of chatter that her throat started to feel dry from talking so much. It was worth it, though. Anything was better than the awkward silence that happened when Sandy refused to participate in the conversation. And once Chloe got everyone started on sharing their favorite Christmas memories, even Sandy couldn’t resist listening in—and laughing along to the funny stories.

“How about you?” Jessica asked Dad. “What’s your best Christmas story?”

“So hard to pick,” Dad said, shaking his head. “Here’s a favorite, though. Chloe was three years old—”

“Dad!” Chloe groaned. “Do you have to tell this one?”

“But, sweetie, it was one of the best Christmases of all time,” Dad said. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Fine. Go ahead,” Chloe said, sighing. Her cheeks were already turning pink.

“I’d decided to get Chloe a puppy for Christmas,” Dad began. “Of course, it would’ve been impossible to keep a puppy secret… and I really wanted her to be surprised when she woke up on Christmas morning. So our neighbors kept the puppy for me, and they played with him first thing Christmas morning, to tire him out.”

“Wait—so the puppy was Charlie?” asked Jessica.

“Yes, but he didn’t have a name yet,” Dad said. “So anyway, early in the morning, our neighbors put a big bow around Charlie’s neck and nestled him in a basket under the tree. He was so tired from playing that he fell sound asleep.”

“Those are some good neighbors,” Jessica said. Then she turned to Chloe. “How come you didn’t want your dad to tell this story? It’s sweet.”

“Just wait,” Chloe said. But she didn’t really mind that Dad was telling it.

“Anyway, little Chloe wakes up, and we rush downstairs to open presents,” Dad said, “and I’m really excited because I know she’s going to be so happy when she sees the puppy, but she passes right by him and starts opening a present instead. And I’m thinking, what’s wrong with this kid? There’s a puppy under the Christmas tree!

“Anyway, I try to nudge her over to the puppy, and then she sneezes, which wakes up puppy Charlie, who starts yipping, and Chloe starts screaming! It turns out she thought the sleeping puppy was actually a stuffed animal, and that her sneeze brought him to life! So Chloe spent Christmas either playing with puppy Charlie or sneezing on her other toys in hopes that she could bring them to life, too!”

As Dad finished the story, Jessica and Sandy were laughing so hard that people turned to look at them. Even Chloe had to join in the laughter.

“That’s one of the best Christmas stories I’ve ever heard,” Jessica said, wiping her eyes. “Sneezing on your toys!”

“Yes, I know, I’m hilarious,” Chloe said with a grin. “Glad I could bring so much joy and amusement to your day!”

When they finally reached the front of the line, Chloe turned to Sandy. “You can go first,” she told her.

Sandy shook her head. “You were first in line,” she said.

Chloe did a funny hop-skip so that she was standing behind Sandy. “Not anymore!” she sang out.

Sandy hesitated before she suddenly ducked behind Chloe. “You’re up!” she cried.

The attendant sighed. “You two done?” he asked. “There’s a line.”

“Sorry!” Chloe exclaimed. She prodded Sandy. “Seriously, you go,” she insisted. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“Okay,” Sandy finally gave in. “See you on the other side!”

Chloe watched, her heart pounding with expectation, as Sandy settled into the squishy black tube. The attendant gave her a strong push, and whoosh! Sandy careened down the slope. Just before she disappeared from view, Chloe caught a glimpse of Sandy’s face, which radiated pure joy.

Yes! Chloe thought, pumping her fist. Christmas magic in action!

Then it was Chloe’s turn. She plunked down onto the bouncy rubber tube and had just a half moment of second thoughts—the track seemed really steep all of a sudden—before the attendant gave her a firm push. And—

Whoosh!

Chloe zipped down the track, shrieking with glee as the tube flew over the bumps and dips. It was way more fun than she had expected!

As she reached the bottom of the hill, Chloe leaned a little too far to the left. Instead of gliding to a stop, her tube slammed into the snowbank on the side of the track, sending a cloud of soft powder into the air. Sandy was waiting for her nearby; she hurried over and held out her hands to help Chloe up.

“That—was—awesome!” Chloe exclaimed, trying to catch her breath.

“I know!” Sandy replied. She brushed some snow off Chloe’s shoulders. “Thanks so much for letting us try tubing. I’ve always wanted to go.”

Chloe’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Race you back to the line!”