That first flush of love and passion had never waned for Maggie and Joe, and it continued to grow year on year as they settled into a life of togetherness. Maggie would never tire of stealing kisses with Joe and Joe would never stop feeling proud to have Maggie by his side; after having to hide their love for so long, Joe still reveled in the feeling of Maggie’s hand clasped in his as they walked down the street.
* * *
It was the morning of December 21, the day of the winter solstice celebration, and the North family were sat together in Star and Duncan’s garden—formerly Augustus’s—on four large garden sofas. They wore thick coats and hats and hugged steaming paper cups of coffee—hot chocolate for the children—which Maggie and Joe had brought from Betty’s café. Artemis was curled up asleep on a folded blanket. It was the quiet before the storm . . . well, relatively speaking; the children were definitely making themselves heard.
“This coffee doesn’t taste very strong. Is this a single shot?” Verity asked.
“Yes,” said Joe.
“I have a double shot now,” she replied, in that way teenagers have of making statements lilt up at the end like a question.
“Not on my watch.” Joe smiled.
“Da-ad,” she complained. “I’m not a child anymore.”
“You’ve got years ahead of you to become a caffeine head like your mother . . .”
“Cheers.” Maggie grinned and raised her triple-shot Americano in a toast.
“I just want you to embrace the natural energy that comes with your youth; you’ll need coffee to get going soon enough,” Joe finished.
“You sound like Aunty Star.”
“She’s a wise woman,” said Duncan fondly.
Primrose and Ava were sitting between Duncan and Evette, working on their Christmas coloring books.
“Is Sameera coming tonight?” Patrick asked his sister.
“Yeah, if she can bear to be apart from her boyfriend for two minutes!” Sameera was not abiding by the “sisters before misters” rule. “I was thinking, I know we usually sit at the tables with you guys these days, but I feel like it’s time Natalia got her first taste of the solstice banquet in the tree house. Can we eat up there together?”
Natalia’s eyes lit up and she looked hopefully at Simone, who smiled and said, “It’s fine with me.”
Evette nodded and said, “I think that sounds like a wonderful idea.”
“But not Ava and Primrose,” Natalia clarified. “They’re still practically babies.”
“Don’t worry,” said Star. “Ava and Prim will be on the ground with us for a couple more years. It’ll just be you big girls.”
Natalia looked like she might float with happiness.
“We saw Fable Folk arrive on our way over here,” said Patrick.
“Betty said she and both the pubs have brought in extra stock just to keep them fed. I couldn’t tell if she was serious or not,” added Louella, and they all laughed knowingly.
“Right,” said Maggie. “Let’s finish these and get cracking.”
By now Maggie, Simone, and Star had the winter solstice preparations down to a fine art.
“I vote myself not to stuff the chickens,” said Star.
Simone laughed. “You haven’t stuffed a chicken since the first solstice!”
“And I want to make sure I never have to do it again.” She shuddered.
In an hour, Troy and Kev would roll the giant hog roaster into the garden. Their joint side venture had become a very successful business; demand was high for the Rowan Thorp Roasters. But they always kept their calendar free for the solstice celebration.
Duncan and Evette were in charge of childcare, which left the North sisters free to focus on the preparations. As usual it was a whole village affair, which meant there was no shortage of volunteers.
Maggie stood, and her sisters followed her back along the garden, leaving the others to continue catching up with Patrick and Louella.
“Shall we grab more coffees before we head to the kitchen?” Maggie asked.
“Of course,” Simone replied.
“God, I love the winter solstice,” said Star.
“Me too,” agreed Simone.
“I think I love it even more than Christmas,” Maggie added, and her sisters nodded.
“What do you think Dad would say if he could see us now?” asked Star.
“Probably something annoying like ‘I always knew you had it in you, my little babes of the woods.’？” Simone tried to mimic his gravel-with-a-smile-in-it voice.
“I’ll bet he’s chuckling his arse off.” Maggie smiled.
The forecast was for snow, and the pale lilac clouds didn’t look like they would disappoint. The three giant Christmas trees on Holy Trinity Green glowed resplendent in the gray morning light, and every shop window glittered with snow globe perfection. The North sisters’ breath clouded out in front of them and the cold bit at their cheeks as they linked arms and walked with heads bent together, the bobbles on their hats shaking as they laughed at some joke known only to them. No more were they sisters bonded by summers alone. That first winter solstice had marked the beginning of a new journey, one they would take together, always.
Acknowledgments
I always find acknowledgements hard to write because I am so deeply thankful to so many people and I worry that my words won’t properly convey my gratitude. So please know that everyone mentioned here is appreciated more than my meagre words can ever express. And if I’ve missed anyone, then I am truly sorry; it is only a result of my scattered brain and no reflection on you.
To Hayley Steed, my agent at Madeleine Milburn, thank you for your faith in me when I have none in myself, and for being so fiercely supportive; you are like a feisty mother hen in agent form. Thank you, Elinor Davies, for being a ray of sunshine and a helpful star. And to the rest of the MM team—which is the very best team to be a part of—thank you for all the work you do to push my books out into the big wide world: Hannah Ladds, Liane-Louise Smith, Georgia Simmonds, Valentina Paulmichl, and everyone working so hard behind the scenes, I am grateful for you all.
I have a whole bunch of love and gratitude to give to my Putnam family. My US editor, Kate Dresser, is marvelously funny, kind, and supportive. Kate, thank you for making my stories better and keeping me from disappearing down the many rabbit holes I find myself teetering over, like the time I panicked because I don’t write spicy books and I felt like I ought to, so I tried to write a spicy scene and it was so incredibly bad and you said “What was that? Don’t do that again!” Thank you for telling me it’s okay to be me and not to worry about trying to be somebody else.
Thank you, Tarini Sipahimalani—editorial assistant and lovely human—for guiding me through the editorial process with patience and kindness and for writing the most brilliant discussion guide questions for A December to Remember. The glorious book jacket was designed once again by Sanny Chiu, whose talent blows my mind and makes me feel lucky indeed; thank you, Sanny. Production editor Claire Sullivan and copyeditor Kathleen Go, thank you for your editing wisdom. I always look forward to your comment boxes; you make editing fun and keep me on my toes. I especially love the bafflement that my Britishisms create! And to proofreaders Ryan Richardson and Leah Marsh, your eagle-eyed observance is deeply appreciated. Thank you, Elora Weil, publicist, for setting up events, talking me through my nerves, and making sure everyone knows about my books; you go above and beyond, and it doesn’t go unnoticed. My heartfelt thanks go to the rest of the Putnam publishing team, without whom there would be no book at all: Shina Patel, marketer; Maija Baldauf, managing editor; Emily Mileham, senior managing editor; Alison Cnockaert, interior designer; Ashley McClay, marketing director; Alexis Welby, publicity director; and last but definitely not least, Sally Kim, publisher.