December 5 – Zoey<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Molly came back to herself again as Jade accepted the little gingerbread house. \u201cBut won\u2019t your father miss this for the season?\u201d the Snow Queen asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Sarah said, smiling. \u201cHe\u2019ll be able to see it here every day. Besides, he\u2019s the boss now. He doesn\u2019t have to drive around if he doesn\u2019t want to.\u201d She looked slyly over her shoulder and winked at her father, who had just stepped up as the chief of police for Carter\u2019s Cove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jade carefully hung the ornament on the tree as Sarah made her way back to stand with her family. When the Snow Queen turned back to the crowd, Molly saw that Lily\u2019s best friend Zoey had taken Sarah\u2019s place. In her hand was something Molly recognized instantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is from our very first year at Carter\u2019s Cove,\u201d Zoey said, holding up the snow globe. \u201cI didn\u2019t believe in magic when we moved here, especially not Christmas magic. I thought it was something that only little kids believed in. After all, I\u2019d never really SEEN magic. Not like this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the fog cleared, it was dark, and Molly smelled smoke. Not the comforting smoke of a Christmas fireplace – this was thick, choking smoke that forced its way up her nose and down her throat, carrying with it the tang of loss and fear. Schrodinger pressed himself against her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d forgotten how bad it was,\u201d she said, watching the firemen fighting to save Zoey\u2019s home from the fire that had been started by an electrical spark while they\u2019d been at the Snow Queen\u2019s ball. The remains of the decorations that they had all put up in the family\u2019s front yard were trampled, wet, and stained with smoke. The entire house had been a total loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yet, I\u2019ll bet Zoey still thinks this is the best Christmas she ever had,<\/em> Schrodinger said. He jumped slightly as one of the roof timbers fell into the flames with a crash. Even as they lost everything, they gained so much.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was true. The entire Cove had come together to replace nearly everything that had been lost to the fire, and the family had been bundled into Molly\u2019s own family for Christmas Day. And that too had been a day\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n As if her thoughts had conjured it, the fiery night turned to the bright sunshine of morning, and she watched Old Man Winter\u2019s sledge come up the driveway to the ruin of the house. Everyone got out, and Zoey opened the box that had been left for her under the tree from Santa. She took the snow globe out, shook it, and then stepped back, astonished, as snowflakes had shot from the ornament. They whipped around the yard and then into the hole that had once been the house. As they all watched, the house had rebuilt itself, including all the decorations that had been a gift to the family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Molly blinked, and saw they were back in the present. Zoey was saying, \u201cI thought this was the worst move we\u2019d ever made, coming to this town, because nothing ever happened in small towns. I thought I\u2019d miss the city we\u2019d lived in before. But Carter\u2019s Cove is the best place in the world to live, because of the people.\u201d She held out the snow globe to Jade. \u201cThe magic is just the icing on the cake. I don\u2019t ever want to live anywhere else, because there isn\u2019t anywhere else where people are your friends even if they don\u2019t know you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" December 5 – Zoey Molly came back to herself again as Jade accepted the little gingerbread house. \u201cBut won\u2019t your father miss this for the season?\u201d the Snow Queen asked. \u201cNo,\u201d Sarah said, smiling. \u201cHe\u2019ll be able to see it here every day. Besides, he\u2019s the boss now. He doesn\u2019t have to drive around if …<\/p>\n