Forever This Time Read Free Page A

the gift shop postcards.
    â€œSure.” Her voice was tentative as she breathed in, realizing just how long it’d been since she’d smelled the crisp pine scent that defined Snowflake Village.
    Had she ever missed it?
    No. Not possible.
    â€œWell, you have a happy ho-ho day, then, dear.” The elf-lady tottered on by, scooping a stray leaf into her dustpan. So clean they could eat off the paths, honey. Dad’s voice crept into her brain. That’s the Snowflake Village way .
    Josie took a few steps, pausing under a giant pine to pull her blouse away from her sticky skin. Maybe it wasn’t humid, but clearly it’d been a while since she’d done the goat-path thing in heels. She felt for her ever-present Evian bottle, but had left it in her Jeep.
    As she looked around, she was struck again by the notion that not much had really changed here. The paint on everything still shined bright, and the employees all had crisp red polo shirts and Santa hats on, along with their supersized Snowflake Village smiles. Have a happy ho-ho day! they crowed, piercing Josie’s eardrums every time she heard the phrase.
    But they were only doing what they were paid to do: don the hat, don the smile, and create a universe where it was Christmas every day of the year.
    Once again, she’d entered the world where reality was optional—where for eighteen dollars you could cover your problems with cotton candy and sparkles.
    Too bad jingle-bell therapy ended when the gates closed at dusk.
    Too bad it also ended when you got old enough to know better.
    She heard a metallic clanking sound and looked down the hill toward the maintenance shed. Sounded like Ole Ben was working on his endless to-do list, as he always had. What would he say if she showed up on his proverbial doorstep after all this time?
    Would Ethan think to look for her down there, if he got word she was wandering the park? She doubted it, so it seemed as good a place as any to hide until she worked up her courage.
    She angled off the path and around the back side of the Penguin Plunge ride, which was teeming with screeching teens. Trying not to ruin her heels beyond repair, she hobbled down the hill behind yet another snack cottage and headed toward the open door of the maintenance garage.
    â€œWell, if it isn’t my Twinkle-toes!” Ben’s back was to her, but his voice boomed out the open door just as she raised her hand to knock on the frame. “You get right in here, girl!”
    Josie felt a laugh sputter out, tension slowly draining out of her pores as she stepped onto the cement floor of the garage and right into Ben’s huge embrace. “Hey, Ben! How’d you know it was me?”
    â€œHeard those heels clip-clopping down the hill and figgered you were about the only one who’d be running around here in city-girl shoes but still know where to find Ole Ben.”
    Josie smiled. “You’re still in the same place. That helped.”
    The maintenance area looked as it always had, cluttered and dusty, but somehow homey. She breathed in the smell of fresh lumber and Ben’s familiar Old Spice, and felt herself relax a little bit more.
    â€œHow’s your dad?” He took her hand in his huge one and led her over to one of the spinning stools beside his workbench. “Did you just come from the hospital?”
    Josie nodded, trying to clear visions of tubes and beeping machines out of her head.
    â€œHe’s—I don’t know.”
    â€œTough thing, this.” Ben nodded. “I imagine it scared the bejeebers right out of you to see him like that.”
    â€œI couldn’t—couldn’t stay, Ben.” Josie fought to keep a hitch out of her voice. “It’s been forever, but I just … couldn’t.”
    He put an arm around her shoulder, hugging her close. “You will, Twinkle-toes. You will. One step at a time. And till you’re ready, you just hang out