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I missed Layla so much that it hurt to be without her. It killed me to know she didn’t feel the same. Worst of all, I wondered if what happened tonight would be what the rest of my life was like.

Was it possible I’d ever get over Layla? Or would I spend the rest of my life turning down anyone who might have been capable of loving me the way I’d wished she had?

ONE YEAR LATER

“Okay, so I know this seems insane. I should have considered what I was doing before I volunteered.”

I glanced over at Jules and cocked a brow. The two ofus were standing at the trunk of her car. She’d begged me to come with her to run an errand, claiming she needed my help.

Without even asking where we were going, I hopped in the car.

But now we were here, outside the post office, staring at several heaping piles of Christmas cards. “Why are you doing this? We have a mail service at Westwood’s that could have picked these up.”

She nodded. “I know. I know. But Mom got so far behind this year, and when I was helping her finish up last night, I offered to send them out. Unfortunately, I don’t think I realized until I saw them all in my car just how many we had.”

My family didn’t skimp on celebrating every special occasion to the fullest. That meant a lot of things happened at Christmas, and Christmas cards were no exception. Not only did my mom insist on sending out cards to all our family and friends, but she sent them out to all the staff and many of our guests at Westwood’s, too. I honestly didn’t know where she found the time to do everything she did.

“Let’s just get these inside so we can get out of here.” I reached into the back of the car and hoisted one of the boxes of cards into my arms. I held it out to Jules. “Can you manage this one?”

“Yep. I’ve got it.”

Stacking the two remaining boxes on top of one another, I lifted them out. Thankfully, Jules managed to close the trunk once I’d removed them.

We’d made our way inside, slid the boxes of cards across the counter, and turned to leave. But no sooner had we stepped outside, it happened.

“Liam?”

I froze at the sound of the familiar voice.

If it hadn’t been for my sister halting in her tracks, too, I might have thought I’d imagined it. Twisting my neck, I looked to my left and saw that I hadn’t made anything up.

She was there, a single letter in her hand.

“Meredith.”

I hadn’t seen Layla’s mom since the day after I’d proposed, and I hadn’t spoken to her since she called me later that afternoon. Once I’d gotten that first letter from Layla, asking me not to contact her mom regarding her whereabouts, I didn’t reach out to Meredith. It was clear Layla didn’t want me to know. And if there was one thing I agreed with, it wasn’t fair for Meredith to be dragged into the middle of it. I didn’t expect her to betray her daughter’s confidence.

It wasn’t like it had been difficult not to run into her.

I worked all the time.

And if I wasn’t working, I was at my parents’ house for someone’s birthday or at my grandparents’ lake house for some other celebration. I didn’t get out much, and I certainly wasn’t hanging around in spots where it’d even be possible for me to run into Meredith.

So, this was a first.

And the tension was thick enough to slice witha knife.

My eyes dropped to the envelope in her hand, Meredith unable to avoid noticing.

She held it out to me. “This is… I was coming to mail this to you for her.”

It had been just over a year since I’d received her last letter. Nothing since my birthday. And when my birthday passed this year without another one, I’d assumed she’d decided to no longer send them. At this rate, with more and more time passing between each letter, I wondered how many years it might be before I’d get one after this.

I hesitated, wondering if I should even take the letter. But I knew that considering refusing it was a waste of time. I was too curious not to know what Layla had to say.

I took the letter from Meredith. “Thanks.”

Her chin jerked down.