by Nancy Naigle
A warm hand slipped under Allie’s arm and around her waist from behind. “Hello, Dr. Shaw,” Ryan whispered into her ear.
She turned into his arms. “Hello, Dr. B.”
“How’s it going?”
“Fabulous.”
He dropped a kiss on her nose.
“Zoe is doing great,” she said.
“You’ve taught her a lot about animals this year,” he said. “She’s a natural.”
“She is.”
Zoe led the children out of the petting area and locked the stall behind her. “Hey, Dad!”
“Hey, kiddo. I hear you did a great job. I’m sorry I missed it.”
“That’s okay,” Zoe said.
The same woman who’d spoken to Allie earlier came over. “Young lady, I want to tell you that you were very informative. I was just telling your mother how impressed I was. Thank you for making today extra special for us.”
“You’re welcome,” Zoe said politely.
The woman walked away, and Allie felt her skin flush. “I’m sorry. I should’ve corrected her when she said something to me. That I’m not her mom. I—”
“That’s okay.” Zoe took Allie’s hand. “You’re like a mom to me.”
Allie pulled her hand to her heart.
“Zoe and I have talked about that.” He looked lovingly in Allie’s direction.
Her eyes teared up. “Thank you. That’s so sweet to say. Such a wonderful compliment.” Her phone pinged. The text was to let her know the camel had arrived. “I have to go check the camel in. What time are we going home to decorate the tree?”
“Seven o’clock,” Zoe said. “Right after Santa leaves.”
“Perfect.” Allie waved, leaving Zoe and Ryan behind.
The live Nativity began right on time. Music played as the actors and animals took their positions. People were already snapping pictures and talking about how wonderful it was. A bright star hung high in the sky above the manger. It was truly magical.
The announcement came over the loud speaker that Santa had been sighted, and shortly thereafter the sound of sleigh bells filled the hall. Then Nick, dressed as Santa, stepped out onto the stage.
At seven o’clock sharp, Allie, Ryan and Zoe met at the Snowball Bash station.
“Everyone ready to go?” Ryan asked.
“We are,” Allie said, holding tight to Zoe’s hand. “My parents just said they’re going to come over and help. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Mind?” Ryan asked. “Of course not. The more, the merrier.”
“Great. Thanks. This is the best Christmas ever.”
Ryan wrapped his arms around Allie and Zoe. “I couldn’t agree more.”
When they got to her house, they turned on the Christmas music and started trimming the tree. They’d already decorated a tree at Ryan’s and in both the veterinarian clinic and Ryan’s office weeks ago, but they’d saved this one as a Christmas Eve tradition. Where it had all begun.
Allie’s parents came in the door. “Hey, honey. We brought dessert.”
“Of course you did,” she teased. Mom was always bringing food over.
Zoe ran over to them and gave them a hug.
The five of them gathered in the living room, each taking a turn placing an ornament on the tree. One at a time, the tree began to transform.
Carol pulled Allie aside. “Allie, you know my wish on the snow globe took a while, but it’s come true.”
“You mean the one about you wanting a baby girl and getting me?” She’d heard that story a million times.
“No. A new wish. That you’d find the right man and have a daughter of your own. Just like you. You have Ryan now, and Zoe is just like you were at that age.” Carol hugged Allie’s arm. “I’m so happy for you, dear. I knew that snow globe would come through.” She nudged Allie’s arm. “Maybe I should wish for a son someday too.”
“Don’t rush things, Mom.” But Allie would be lying if she didn’t admit that she’d allowed herself to dream about that, too. “But thank you for wishing on the snow globe.” She looked over at Ryan helping Zoe place an ornament high on the tree. Allie had never imagined this kind of happiness. “I love them so much.”
Carol’s eyes teared up. “Chopping onions,” she pleaded.
“Right, Mom.”
Ryan turned down the music. “This is a perfect night. I’m so glad we’re all here together to decorate the tree, and to celebrate Christmas together. I bought something new for the tree.” He pulled a big, glossy white box from behind the chair.
“How did you sneak that in?” Allie asked.
“My secret,” Ryan said, sending Zoe into giggles. He opened the box and lifted a beautiful white angel tree topper from inside.
Allie and Carol exclaimed in harmony, “She’s beautiful.”
“I was hoping you’d like her,” Ryan said.
Zoe grinned. “I helped pick her out.”
“I love it. I do. She’s perfect.” Allie’s heart overflowed with love tonight.
“Come on, Zoe. Let’s get you up here to do the honors. Allie, you spot her. She’s grown a lot since last year.” Ryan lifted Zoe to his shoulders.
Allie walked over and placed a hand on Zoe’s knee to spot her.
Zoe held the angel and leaned toward the tree, then the angel went toppling right into Allie’s hands.
“Oops,” Zoe said.
Ryan stooped to the floor so Zoe could get down.
“It’s okay. I’ve got her.” Allie handed the angel back to Zoe.
“Wait.” Zoe’s face showed confusion. “Something’s wrong with her.”
“Did she break?” Allie rushed in to check. When she did, she realized that wired to the perfect halo on the angel’s head was a diamond eternity ring.
Allie looked at Ryan, who was smiling, then to her mother, who had tears streaming down her cheeks and was clapping her hands together. “Is this…?” She couldn’t believe her eyes.
Ryan stepped over and took her hands into his. “Zoe and I have something to ask you, Allie.”
“We’re already a family,” Zoe said. “We love being here in Evergreen with you. And Dad’s back with his patients and spending more time with me. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I don’t ever want this to change.”
“I—” Allie put her hand to her heart, which felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest. She sucked in a breath.
“Allie, I know this is soon,” Ryan said. “But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that sometimes you can’t plan for things too far out. There’s an expiration date on everything, even life. We just don’t know what it is.” His face was serious, but his eyes were filled with love. “I want to spend the rest of my life making every single day the very best one possible for you and for Zoe.”
Zoe had taken the ring off of the halo. She handed it to her dad.
“I hope this isn’t too soon for you. If it is, I understand.” He glanced over at Zoe. “We understand. But I’d love to make this official. I’d love nothing more than for you to be Mrs. B…”
“And stepmom to me.” Zoe clasped her hands together. “Please say yes, Allie.”
Allie brought both hands to her face, tears of joy springing to her cheeks. “You knew,” she said to her mom and dad.
“We did.” They were both smiling and were teared up, too.
“Yes.” She turned to Ryan, and looked into Zoe’s sweet face. “Yes. I want to be your wife. Zoe’s stepmother. Live each day to the fullest with both of you for the rest of our lives.”
Ryan pulled her into his arms and kissed her, then slipped the ring on her finger.
“Come on, kiddo.” He lifted Zoe, and she placed the angel on top of the tree. He
put her down next to him.
“I love you both,” Allie said.
“You. This. Our love.” Ryan said to her. “Us being together as a family here in Evergreen. This was my wish on the snow globe last year. My heart truly wanted it.”
“Mine does, too.” Allie rose to her toes and kissed him, so thankful for snow globe wishes being granted.
And it lived on, for many yuletide seasons to come—but perhaps those are stories for another time. Until then, hold tight to the magic of Christmas…you never know when the next wish might come true.
Vermont Christmas Card Cookies
A Hallmark Original Recipe
In Christmas in Evergreen, snowy weather—and wishes on a magic snow globe—lead Ryan and Zoe to an idyllic small town in Vermont. As they help Allie make her favorite frosted sugar cookies for the town festival, they get caught up in the joy of the season. Whether you make our Vermont Christmas Tree Cookies with friends or family, or you share them with the people you love, they’ll give you that warm, Christmas-y feeling, too.
Yield: 3 dozen cookies
Prep Time: 75 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours
INGREDIENTS
Soft Sugar Cookies:
- 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- 6 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Assorted food coloring (various shades of green)
- 4 piping bags fitted with an assortment of tips
- Assorted sizes white pearl nonpareils
- White sparkling sugar
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
To prepare sugar cookies: cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix until completely incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl; add vanilla and orange extracts and mix until blended.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl; slowly add to mixing bowl on low speed until fully blended and dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Divide dough into 2 pieces.
On a 12-inch x 16½-inch non-stick silicone baking mat or parchment paper, roll out half of dough to ¼-inch thickness. Place baking mat or parchment on a cookie sheet and chill dough in freezer for 5 minutes. (Freezing dough slightly makes it easier to cut out shapes and transfer to cookie sheets.)
Remove dough from freezer. Cut out shapes with a variety of Christmas tree-shaped cookie cutters. Arrange on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Repeat with remaining dough.
To prepare buttercream frosting: cream butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium speed until fluffy. Slowly add confectioner’s sugar and beat on low speed until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl after partially blended. Add cream and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.
Divide buttercream frosting into 4 portions. Tint each portion to desired shade with food coloring and transfer to a pastry bag.
Using a variety of tips, pipe buttercream frosting on cooled sugar cookies to resemble tree branches. Decorate frosted cookies with sparkling sugar and pearls. If making ahead, refrigerate cookies to hold.
Thanks so much for reading Christmas in Evergreen. We hope you enjoyed it!
You might like these other books from Hallmark Publishing:
Journey Back to Christmas
Christmas in Homestead
Love You Like Christmas
A Heavenly Christmas
A Dash of Love
Love Locks
The Perfect Catch
Like Cats and Dogs
Dater’s Handbook
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About The Author
USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle whips up small-town love stories with a whole lot of heart. She began her popular contemporary romance series Adams Grove while juggling a successful career in finance and life on a seventy-six-acre goat farm. Along with the Adams Grove series, she is also the author of the Boot Creek Novels, G Team Mysteries, and several standalone novels, including Christmas Joy, a heartwarming holiday story coming to the Hallmark Channel as part of their holiday programming. Now happily retired from a career in the financial industry, she devotes her time to writing, horseback riding, and enjoying the occasional spa day. A Virginia girl at heart, Nancy now calls North Carolina home.