Love Comes Home for Christmas

Prologue

Amariah

Eighteen years ago...

The air puffing out between my lips showed up in soft white clouds, winter’s way of proving Jack Frost had already come to town, biting at my nose and fingertips.

I didn’t mind it, though. I never had. I’d always loved nights like this when everything felt quiet enough for your thoughts to create new dreams. Sitting on the front steps, staring up at the dark sky where a few stars blinked like they were a guiding light, I let myself release all the fear and worry I’d been carrying.

I wasn’t alone. My best friend, Jacob, sat beside me, our shoulders brushing, our breath floating into the cold in little puffs.

We’d been doing this since we were ten, back when our parents finally trusted him to cross the street by himself and hang out at my house without supervision.

Back then, we were just kids whispering secrets under constellations that watched us grow from scraped knees to now, our senior year.

This porch had seen it all—half-baked plans, pinkie-swear promises, big dreams that had only been shared between the two of us.

It was ours. Our clubhouse. Our safe place. Our confession booth.

Aside from my parents, there wasn’t a single person in the world I felt safer with than Jacob Gold.

True, I was my mama’s sweetheart and my daddy’s baby girl, but Jacob was my person.

No matter how many friends came and went, no matter how life changed, it was always him for me, and the same was true for me with him.

When Jacob and his family moved from the South up here to Skye Ridge, it took him a while to adjust and fit in.

In middle school, a few boys tried to tease him about being best friends with a girl, until Jacob shut it down with one punch and a broken tooth.

That was the day everyone in Skye Ridge learned, yes, Jacob Gold had a female best friend, but he was still that dude.

We met when we were seven years old, when his family moved across the street.

My parents invited them to our annual snowball fight, and I still remember getting smacked right in the face by one of Jacob’s throws.

I pretended to cry just long enough for him to come rushing over, panicked and apologizing, then I nailed him back and knocked him face-first into a pile of snow.

He came up soaked and laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe.

That laugh. That was the sound I fell in love with long before I knew what love even was.

Our parents eventually dragged us inside from the frigid weather, worried we’d lose fingers and toes to frostbite.

Once inside, we warmed by the fireplace with cups of my mother’s famous extra-sweet hot cocoa and peppermint sticks and bonded over episodes of Hey Arnold!

and plotting our next snowball attack. That’s where our friendship began. That was the start of us.

So sitting here now at eighteen years old, at the crossroads of our lives, it felt like we were standing at the edge of a cliff neither of us wanted to jump off.

“What if I decided to be a Bison?”

I blinked, caught completely off guard. “What?”

Jacob tilted his head, that familiar mischievous grin playing on his lips, which always made me roll my eyes. “Howard. What if I decided to go there with you?”

“Hmm.” I rested my chin on my knees. “I mean, yay for me, but I think your coaches and parents would probably freak out. Did you even get an offer from Howard?”

He shot me a look. The kind that said, You know better than that.

And I did. Jacob didn’t care about straight A’s.

He cared about touchdowns. He kept his grades just high enough to stay on the field, and every Friday night, he lit it up like a celebrity highlight reel.

Every major Division I program in the country wanted him.

Howard was Division I, sure, but it was not the kind of school that was a direct pipeline to the NFL.

Jacob’s path was already drawn: big school, bright lights, fast track to the league.

Meanwhile, I was the academic overachiever. As the valedictorian, I received a full ride to Howard University, my dream school. That was never a question. Although I applied for other colleges, I knew that if Howard accepted me, scholarship or not, I would attend.

Those were our paths. While he chased the field, I chased the future.

But when he said that—What if I decided to be a Bison?—my heart betrayed my senses and skipped.

He looked at me with something soft in his eyes. “Just feels weird, ya know? After all these years together to…being apart.”

That hit me like a gust of cold air. I smiled, but inside, my chest ached.

We both knew what was coming: college, life, distance.

Words like forever were too fragile for what we were facing.

Our lives would lead us in two different directions to two separate places.

I’d never admit that out loud. Saying it aloud would make it real, and it would slowly take root, growing and twisting around my heart until it shattered my resolve and forced me to accept it.

And that’s exactly what I wanted to avoid.

As long as I could cling to the temporary comfort of our current situation, I could protect myself from the heartbreak of our eventual separation.

I shrugged, settling on a safe answer. “I mean, college is new for both of us,” I said lightly, nudging his shoulder. “You should be excited. You’re on your way to the NFL, Jacob Gold.”

He tried to smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Yeah, man. I hope… Do you think I made the right choice?” His question came across as uncertain, which didn’t fit him.

I was the only person who knew that he was taking his talents to Virginia Tech.

The world and his parents would find out tomorrow when he officially signed his letter of intent.

Everything inside of me wanted to beg him to choose differently—to choose Howard and me.

But that would have been selfish. His dream had always been this, and who was I to stand in the way of his destiny?

He deserved this. As much as I would miss him and wanted to give him permission to change his mind, I knew that wasn’t fair, so I gave him what he needed— reassurance, not redirection.

I extended my hand, and he took mine in his, interlacing our fingers. Anxiety flickered in his eyes as he gazed up at me. “Yeah, you did. You are going to shine at VT and become the best player to come out of there since Mike Vick.”

The tension melted from his face, and his confidence snapped back into place.

When he stood, that timid and unsure guy I didn’t recognize was gone, replaced by the confident swagger of the young man I knew almost better than myself.

He stood, tugging me up with him, never letting go of my hand.

That infectious, boyish grin he’d never outgrown shone at me, highlighting the small dimple in his left cheek that made all the girls swoon.

He bit his lip as he stared down at me, almost a full foot separating us in height.

“You know you gotta come to my first homecoming game, right?” Jacob coaxed as we swayed together with the rustling of the light night breeze.

“I’m already knowing,” I teased. “It won’t be nothing like a good ole HBCU homecoming, but I guess once you’ve graduated and are out of the league, you can hit one up with me as an old head.”

“We’re the same age. If I’ma old head, you’ll be one, too, smart-ass.”

“Whatever. You’re six months older. Remember that,” I huffed, pretending to be annoyed.

A few still beats passed as Jacob eyed me as if he was trying to commit me to memory. Without breaking his gaze, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a box.

“Before I sign tomorrow, I wanted to give you this,” he said, placing it into my hands.

“What is it?”

“Only you would ask a question instead of seeing for yourself,” he teased. “Open it.”

Lifting the lid to the burgundy box, I gasped at the sight. “Jacob—”

“Before you tell me I didn’t have to do this for you, I know. I wanted to,” he interrupted me, lifting the sterling silver charm bracelet out of the box and clasping it around my wrist. It was a perfect fit.

“That’s because you already gave me this necklace,” I said, fingering the piece hanging at the base of my neck. “But this is beautiful, too.” I twisted my arm, admiring the jewelry. “It only has one charm, though. A lock?”

“It means no matter where we are in life, we’ll always be locked in.”

With that, he removed his keychain lanyard from his pocket, which held his house keys, his state championship ring, and an identical lock, showing it to me.

I brushed my fingertips across the lock on his lanyard, then a quirky catchphrase came to mind: “From VT to D.C., we stay locked.”

Jacob smirked and held up his pinky finger, and I placed mine around his.

It was our symbol that we’d always keep that promise.

Then the quiet settled in again, but it wasn’t comfortable.

It was heavy and thick with all the things neither of us was saying.

When he finally pulled me into his arms, I didn’t resist. His warmth melted the cold between us.

His chin rested on my hair, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I’m really gonna miss you, Mari Mar.”

He was the only one who could call me Mari Mar. No one else.

Squeezing him tightly, I returned the sentiment. “I’ma miss you more, JuJu Bean.” The nickname I gave him slipped out through the strain of my emotions.

Our embrace lingered longer than usual. And just like that, I knew this wasn’t the start of college.

It was the beginning of goodbye. I was determined to move past this feeling tonight because tomorrow was a celebration.

No sadness. No tears. Just excited anticipation for the next chapter of his life.

When he pulled back, there was something in his eyes I couldn’t read. Hesitation. Fear. Maybe…love.

“What is it?”

Emotions seemed to flood through him as he furrowed his brows. “It’s just…” He paused. “It’s nothing. I’d better get home. It’s late.”

“Jacob, wait.”

He raised his hand. “It’s all good, Mari. See you tomorrow.”

Rather than protest, I let him walk away. He trotted down the steps of my front porch and made it halfway across the lawn before he stopped, taking a few shaky breaths.

“Jacob, are you all right?”

He didn’t answer, and then, in one horrifying heartbeat, he crumpled.

“Jacob!” Horror paralyzed me as I saw him tumble to the ground.

I sprinted down the steps, my screams ripping through the night as I fell beside him. His body was limp, his skin pale, his lips tinged blue. I cradled his head in my lap, tears careening down my face.

“Daddy, Mama! Help! Help!” I cried, voice raw with horror.

Apparently, my cries of anguish echoed down throughout the neighborhood.

Everything that followed was chaos—our parents running, neighbors flooding the street, sirens blaring somewhere in the distance.

His mother dropped to her knees, trying CPR as my father called for help.

My mother held me back when the paramedics arrived, my body shaking with sobs I couldn’t contain.

“Amariah, what happened?” Jacob’s mother asked.

“I don’t know. He was leaving to go home, and he just…just fell.”

Sniffles and prayers filled the crowd, serving as the soundtrack to this nightmarish event.

The paramedics worked on Jacob, stabilizing him enough to lift him on to a gurney and placing him in the back of the ambulance.

Just minutes ago, he had been vibrant and full of life.

Now, his ashen face and bluish lips made him seem fragile and barely existent.

It was too much to bear, and I turned away from him, burying my face in my father’s shoulder.

His mother climbed into the ambulance. His father ran for their car to follow. And I stood there, stuck in time—my body numb, my emotions hollow, as my tears froze on my cheeks. The sirens wailed down the street until they were nothing but an echo.

When my parents finally coaxed me back inside, all I could whisper was, “He signs with Virginia Tech tomorrow.”