But it was too late now. Chloe would just have to make the best of it for the next few days, until the snow melted or the plows could get through. She took a deep, shuddery breath and forced herself to go to the kitchen. Three’s a crowd, but Dad and Jessica will just have to get used to me, she thought. Tagging along with them would be a thousand times better than being alone with Sandy.

“Hey! Is it cocoa time?” Chloe asked, trying to sound cheerful as always. But her voice faltered a little, which made her chin quiver, and the next thing she knew, her eyes were stinging with tears. She stared off to the side, refusing to meet Dad’s or Jessica’s gaze, refusing to blink in case the tears spilled out of her eyes despite her best efforts to hide them.

But Chloe couldn’t hide it—not from Jessica, and definitely not from Dad.

“I think Charlie could use a walk,” Dad said. “Want to join me?”

“Sure,” Chloe said. Charlie was curled up on the couch, fast asleep—not whining at the door like he usually did when he wanted to go outside. Dad must’ve sensed how badly Chloe wanted to escape from Mistletoe Cottage… and Charlie was the perfect excuse.

When Chloe took Charlie’s leash off the peg on the wall, his ears twitched. Then he bolted off the couch and scampered over to the door. As Chloe bent down to ruffle his fur, Charlie put his paws on her shoulders and licked her face with his pink tongue. Impulsively, Chloe wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug. No matter what was wrong, Charlie always knew how to make her feel better.

When they walked outside, the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds; it wasn’t blindingly bright yet, but Chloe could tell that the snow-covered mountainside would be a dazzling sight if the sun kept shining. She took a deep breath and let the frosty air fill her lungs. Nothing had changed—nothing was fixed—but somehow, Chloe started to feel better anyway.

For several minutes, neither one of them said a word. Chloe knew that Dad wasn’t going to push her to tell him what had happened. It wasn’t his style to pry. But now, after walking through the quiet, peaceful landscape, she felt ready to open up.

“Dad,” Chloe began. “I think I know why Sandy has been so upset about the storm.”

Then she told him everything. She told him about Sandy’s dad, their ruined Christmas plans. All of it.

When Chloe finally finished, a pained expression crossed Dad’s face. “I’ve been wondering if there was something else going on—something Sandy didn’t want to tell us,” he said. “She was just too upset. It didn’t make sense.”

“So… she didn’t even tell Jessica?” asked Chloe. That was hard for her to understand. If her mom was still alive, Chloe had a feeling she’d tell her everything.

“Not that I know of,” Dad replied. “I don’t know all the details of Jessica’s divorce, but she and her ex-husband have a pretty strict policy against discussing the other one with Sandy. They didn’t want to trouble her with the problems in their relationship… but maybe they took things a little too far.”

“So you think that Sandy felt like she couldn’t tell her mom?” Chloe guessed.

“I think it’s possible,” Dad replied. “Which would be a pretty heavy burden for her to carry.”

Chloe was quiet as she thought about it. How lonely it must’ve felt for Sandy, to be missing her dad and dreading Christmas without him—and not be able to tell anyone how she really felt.

“Kiddo, do you mind if we head back to the cabin?” Dad’s voice interrupted Chloe’s thoughts. “Jessica has been really worried about Sandy. This information might help ease her mind.”

“Sure,” Chloe said. All of a sudden, she wasn’t dreading her return to Mistletoe Cottage. She was ready to try again with Sandy—and in that moment, Chloe realized that she’d gladly try again, and again, and again to mend things with Sandy. Chloe knew that it wasn’t her fault; she hadn’t done anything wrong. But it seemed clearer than ever that what Sandy really needed—what she needed most of all—was a friend.

Maybe she’d accept Chloe’s friendship.

Maybe she wouldn’t.

Either way, Chloe was determined to try.

Back at Mistletoe Cottage, Chloe and her dad found Jessica humming as she puttered around the kitchen, lining up ingredients on the counter. “Hey there, snowbirds!” she called out cheerfully. “How was your walk?”

“Good!” Chloe replied. “We really wore Charlie out. I think he’s ready for a long winter’s nap.”

“Elsa is in the nap zone, too,” Sandy spoke up. “I guess that’s something they have in common after all.”

That’s when Chloe realized that Sandy was perched on one of the chairs by the fireplace. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, and Chloe could tell from her red-rimmed eyes that Sandy had been crying—a lot. But Sandy managed to smile at Chloe anyway.

And Chloe gratefully smiled in return.

“Oh no!” Jessica cried.

“What’s wrong? Did you cut yourself?” Dad asked.

“No, no, I’m fine,” Jessica said. “I was just getting ready to make Christmas cookies—it’s Christmas Eve and it doesn’t smell like Christmas Eve, not without the scent of cookies baking. And the pantry is so well stocked, it’s got everything we need, but the fridge…”

“Uh-oh,” Dad replied. “What are you missing?”

“Butter,” Jessica said, making a face. “There isn’t anything I can substitute for it. We don’t even have a can of shortening!”

“You know what?” Chloe spoke up. “They must have lots of butter up at the lodge in the restaurant. I bet they’d give us some if we asked. I’ve still got my boots on.… I can go find out.”

Then Chloe had a brilliant idea. She turned to Sandy. “Want to come with me?”

“Um… sure,” Sandy said. She looked surprised by the invitation, but not as surprised as Chloe was that Sandy had accepted it.

“Here,” Jessica said, hurrying toward Sandy’s room. “Let me get your scarf and hat!”

Sandy and Chloe exchanged a smile. They didn’t have to say a word for Chloe to know they were thinking the same thing: Parents!

“So obvious,” Sandy mouthed.

“Totally,” Chloe silently replied.

Then they smiled again.

After they were all bundled up, Chloe and Sandy stepped outside. The path to the lodge had been well trampled by then, so it was easier for them to make the journey. Chloe didn’t waste any time.

“I want you to know that I’m really sorry we got snowed in,” she began. “I didn’t realize that us getting snowed in would mean that you couldn’t see your dad for Christmas. I mean, no wonder you were so upset! I feel awful about—about everything. I’m definitely not happy about the fact that you won’t get to spend Christmas with your dad.”

“I know you’re not,” Sandy said in a small voice. “I don’t know why I said that. It was mean, and it wasn’t true.”

It wasn’t exactly an apology, but it inspired Chloe to keep going anyway.

“My mom’s been gone for such a long time that I never thought about what it would be like if my parents were divorced instead,” Chloe continued. “How hard it must be, to miss your dad and know that he’s out there, missing you, too. To worry that he was having a lonely Christmas all by himself, when you should’ve been there with him.”

Chloe wasn’t sure if she was saying the right thing—or if her words would make Sandy angry all over again.

When Sandy didn’t reply, Chloe felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. But when she glanced at Sandy out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Sandy was wiping her eyes on her mitten.

“I’ve been the worst,” Sandy said. “The worst. And you’re so, like, nice about everything… even this stuff with my dad, when you never get to spend Christmas with your mom.” Sandy suddenly looked worried. “Sorry!” she said. “I shouldn’t have mentioned her.”

“Who? My mom?” Chloe asked in confusion.

Sandy nodded.

“You can mention her!” Chloe exclaimed. “I love talking about her.”

“Really?” Sandy asked. “It’s just—you’ve never said a word about her. So I told myself not to bring her up.”

Chloe smiled a little and shook her head. “No, no, I try not to talk about her because it makes other people feel sorry for me, and then they don’t know what to say, and it gets totally awkward,” she explained. “But if it doesn’t weird you out—”

“Nope,” Sandy said. “Not weirded out at all. I hate feeling like I can’t talk about my dad when I’m with my mom. It’s like he doesn’t exist anymore. But he loves Christmas; it’s his favorite holiday. That’s why I feel so bad that he’s going to be all alone.”

“My mom loved winter so much,” Chloe said, staring at the pine trees dusted with snow. “She used to collect snow globes—I still have them—and my dad told me that she would daydream about wintertime all year long. That’s why I wanted to try skiing. It was my mom’s favorite sport. So whenever it snows… I think about how excited she would be and then I get excited, too. It… This probably sounds kind of dumb, but it almost makes me feel closer to her.”

“That doesn’t sound dumb at all,” Sandy said. “You must miss her all the time.”

“I do,” Chloe said honestly. “But my dad says—and I have to believe him—that she’d want me to be happy more than anything else. Even though we can’t be together. So I try… for her.”

They reached the lodge then, so Chloe pulled open the door and held it for Sandy.

“Thanks,” Sandy said.

“No problem,” Chloe said, shrugging.

Sandy stopped and looked straight at her. “No, I mean it,” she said. “Thank you.”

When Chloe and Sandy returned to Mistletoe Cottage, they found total pandemonium! Charlie was racing in wild circles around the living room, with Elsa chasing him. There was so much barking and yowling and hissing and shouting that it drowned out the Christmas carols playing on the radio.

“What’s going on?” Chloe yelled above all the clamor.

“They just tore in here like this!” Dad yelled back. “And they’ve been impossible to catch!”

Chloe and Sandy leaped into action. Chloe dodged to the right and crouched down so that she could grab Charlie the next time he raced past, while Sandy dove between the pets in hopes that she could nab Elsa. The sleek gray cat was too quick—and too clever. She jumped over Sandy and just kept going!

“Gotcha!” Chloe cried as she scooped Charlie into her arms and lifted him high above Elsa. Every muscle in his body was trembling, but Chloe couldn’t tell if it was from fear or excitement.

“Elsa! Come here right now!” Sandy ordered.

When Elsa realized that Charlie was out of reach, she stalked away, her tail swishing angrily. “Excuse us,” Sandy said as she shooed Elsa back to her bedroom. “Someone needs to work on her manners.”

“What happened?” Chloe asked again, now that things were calmer. “I thought Elsa was in Sandy’s room.”

Jessica raised her hand. “It was my fault, I’m afraid,” she said. “I think I forgot to close the door when I got Sandy’s scarf. Charlie must have wandered in there—maybe he was looking for you, Chloe—and when he did, Elsa went on the attack. Is he okay?”

Chloe examined Charlie, who had stopped trembling. His tongue lolled out of his mouth as she stroked his fur. “Not a scratch on him,” she announced.

“Looks like the old boy’s still got some speed left in him,” Dad joked.

“I think he wants to make friends with Elsa,” Chloe said. “Too bad she’s not interested!”