She loved her life. She loved her apartment in London, with its views over the river. She loved the fact that she had her huge, comfy bed all to herself. She didn’t sleep on one side, waiting for someone to fill the other. She slept in the middle. If she wanted to read in the middle of the night, she turned the light on. Her fridge was full of her favorite food, her shelves stocked with her favorite books. And most of all she loved her job—every glorious, challenging, frustrating, stimulating minute of it.
Lonely? Chance would be a fine thing.
Alix stood in front of the mirror in the luxurious hotel bathroom and carefully applied her makeup.
She particularly loved her job right now, when she had a few minutes to reflect on the success of the Christmas advertising campaign she’d spearheaded the year before. She’d even made her boss smile, and that had only happened twice in the whole time she’d been VP of Marketing for Dream Toys.
She’d spent the whole day at head office on Broadway, listening to presentation after presentation, drinking endless cups of bad coffee to keep herself awake. She’d spent twelve months working in the Manhattan office the previous year, so the place and the people were familiar. In that year she’d increased sales and shaken up the way they worked. She’d shifted the focus from more traditional marketing techniques to digital, adapting the strategy to ensure they reached a wider group of customers and stayed competitive. Her year had culminated in the launch of a campaign for the holiday season—a campaign that was the reason she was here now, heading to the awards dinner.
What a year they’d had. While many businesses were struggling, theirs was soaring—thanks to careful curating of their range and to Alix’s skill at spotting a winner and making it top of the wish list for every child.
Campaign of the Year.
At work, they called her the Queen of Christmas. They barreled into her office, asking questions about the holiday season, seeking her opinion. It made Alix laugh to think they considered her an expert on all things festive. She knew toys, but that was it. Everything she knew about the holiday itself she’d learned from watching and listening. She had no personal experience of a family Christmas. She didn’t know how it felt to gather together as a family and celebrate.
She’d been shuttled between her parents like an unwanted Christmas gift. “If you take her this year, I’ll have her next year.” She was pretty sure if they could have sent her back for a refund they would have done it. Christmas had been a tense time for all, until the year they’d both had to travel abroad for work and had asked Christy’s mother to take Alix.
In Christy’s warm, cozy home she’d experienced her first family Christmas, and the fact that it hadn’t been with her own family hadn’t mattered. She’d sat under their enormous tree and stared in wonder at the glittering ornaments. She’d helped in the kitchen, eaten at the table, played games and joined them on long winter walks. She’d even had her own stocking—red, with a bow, and stuffed with thoughtful presents.
Christy’s mother, Elizabeth, had treated her as her own, and only once had Alix overheard her talking about her.
“That poor girl. Some people shouldn’t have children.”
It had been the first of many Christmases she’d spent with them. Thanks to that experience, she now considered herself an expert on how to create the perfect Christmas for children.
She ignored the slightly hollow feeling inside her and pointed her mascara wand at the mirror. “You, Alix Carpenter, are a big fake. Let’s hope you’re never found out.”
She felt a wave of exhaustion. Thank goodness for adrenaline, and makeup, and the promise of a vacation soon. She had two whole weeks off over Christmas. Two weeks to sleep late, ignore her phone, catch up on the TV shows everyone talked about and she never had time to watch. And, most exciting of all, a whole week with Holly and Christy in Lapland.
How many times had they talked about Lapland as children?
It was a dream that had seeped into her work, and the company was bringing out an “Arctic” range the following year, at her suggestion. A remote-controlled wolf, a board game for the whole family that involved racing around Lapland by ski, snowmobile and sled—Meet a reindeer. Go back five spaces—and a nightlight that shone a greeny blue Aurora around the room, which she’d already sent to Holly.
Hopefully her trip would provide inspiration for an innovative marketing campaign to support the new range, but she didn’t mind if it didn’t. This was all about spending time with Holly and Christy. Could there be any better way to spend Christmas?
Seb would be there too, of course, but after a rocky beginning to their relationship they’d both moved on. Whatever their differences, they had one big thing in common. They both loved Christy.
Of all the challenges that their friendship might have brought, the one thing Alix hadn’t expected was that her closest friend would marry a man she didn’t like.
Alix frowned. No, it wasn’t that she didn’t like Seb. More that she didn’t trust him. She’d known him vaguely before Christy had met him. He’d frequented the same fashionable bar that she often went to after work, where the crowd was the usual predictable mix of City workers. They’d never been interested in each other, but she’d been aware of his reputation with women, so when he and Christy had attracted each other like magnets, the first time they’d met, she’d been concerned. Concern had turned to alarm when Christy had announced that she was pregnant and intended to marry him.
What should have been a fun, casual evening had turned into forever.
But, if rumor was correct, Seb Sullivan didn’t do forever.
She’d felt guilty, and more than a little responsible, because Christy would never have met Seb if it hadn’t been for Alix. She’d done everything she could to talk her friend out of it, which hadn’t exactly endeared her to Seb or to Christy—or to the best man, although that was a whole other story. But at the time that hadn’t mattered. She’d been trying to save her friend from making a terrible mistake. What was friendship if it wasn’t looking out for someone you loved? Being straight about the things that mattered? Christy’s happiness mattered to her, but Christy had decided that happiness had meant marrying Seb.
Fortunately that little blip hadn’t damaged their friendship, and Alix knew that nothing ever would. Their bond was unbreakable. A difference of opinion wasn’t going to change that.
And Alix had to admit that so far the marriage seemed to be working out. Seb was a good father and, as far as anyone could tell, was good to Christy. Still, Alix had been surprised when Christy had announced that they were moving to a cottage in a small village. She hadn’t been able to imagine Seb spending his weekends going on muddy walks, or enjoying a pint in the local pub. But apparently she’d misjudged him, because they’d been in the cottage for eighteen months and everything seemed to be going well.