Returning to my sister’s castle for the holidays should have been a chance to rest and reset.

But with a baby on the way and my past weighing on me, peace feels like an impossible dream.

Then there’s Broderick—

my sister’s mysterious, charming friend who’s been showing up everywhere I go, making it clear he’s interested.

As we walk hand in hand through the blazing fires of Hogmanay, I feel something I thought was beyond me:

hope.

Yet my past mistakes loom large, and I can’t help but wonder

​​​​​​​if a man like Broderick could ever truly see a future with someone like me.

Alexa Reynolds

I glanced out the window of my room in my sister’s castle. It was a far cry from the nomadic life we’d led where we moved from one apartment or trailer to another a few times a year.

Our mother had died young, and our father was an alcoholic who’d spent every dime he earned on his next drink. And then when I turned eighteen, I betrayed the only person who had ever watched out for me.

At least on my surprise visit this Christmas, she’d said she forgave me.

I vowed not to wear out my welcome.  I had to make plans because my unborn baby would never feel rootless the way we had.

I left my tower room, which overlooked a lake called a loch and a mountain range, in my black dress for the first part of Hogmanay.

My sister hugged me as I entered the great hall, where her tree was still lit. “You’re welcome to stay and have your baby here,” she said.

Right. No need to talk about the big mistake that left me pregnant tonight. I wasn’t showing or anything, so I squeezed her hand. “That’s so far away. I came for the holidays. Let’s leave it at that.”

She took my hand, and we headed outside, where her husband-to-be must have been waiting. “I won’t pressure you, but just know that my fiancé is ready to set you up in your own apartment or wing in the castle. You get to decide, and of course, healthcare is covered.”

Denver to Scotland. It was as she said: one flight to see her might change my life too. I wasn’t stupid, though. I’d survived because I knew I could. In a few months, it would be time for me to grow up fast. I walked beside her. “What would keep me here is you, Sophia.”

She handed me a new Chanel winter jacket as she put on her new tartan coat. “That sounds good. And you look great.”

We both put on hats to stay warm and headed out to celebrate the night before New Year’s Eve. We were to pick up fire and follow the ring of fire men as a stream of people with torches.

I’d never held fire in my hands before, but the movie where the bad guys hunted the beast played in my mind. “When I came to find you, I absolutely didn’t think you lived in a fairy tale.”

She glanced around the crowd, probably looking for her fiancé. “My life isn’t perfect.” She waved to the men then turned back to me.

I needed to cover the fact that I was slightly jealous. “No one’s is. Look, I started reading Emma, as your friend Amelia suggested.” I swallowed fast.

She beamed at me as if I’d just told her I’d made her money, which I would never do. I had zero skills at anything but screwing up my life. “And?”

I hugged her before she had to go march in the front as head of the clan. “I keep picturing you. She’s superrich and has a good heart and wants to help everyone find love.”

She pressed her hand to her heart. “Me?”

I’d slept with her horrible ex-boyfriend for a place to stay, though he beat me, and I was having his baby. At least she’d ended up in a better place. So I told her the truth and asked the question that burned in my mind. “Yeah, and you keep sitting me next to Broderick?”

Her gaze narrowed, and she bounced on her feet like she was cold. “I’ve not.”

Maybe he’d enjoyed being near me. “You haven’t sent him to watch out for me.”

She shook her head and held my hands as if she wanted to protect me. “No. I knew you had dinner a few times, but if you want me to talk to Harris and get Broderick to back off—”

“No.” The man who’d spent his evenings with me the past few days had been just dreamy. I tried my best to make the billionaire laugh, as that really was all I had to offer. He didn’t need lessons in surviving, as money usually worked as a buffer to the darker side of life. I’d assumed my sister had sent him to me, though. I let out a sigh and told the truth, which wasn’t easy for me to do. “I just thought he was there because he was asked to be.”