Chapter Twelve
CLARA
The early Monday streets were deserted. Clara stepped outside her townhouse into the frigid morning air.
Cranberry Pines was not a place that changed much from year to year, especially at Christmas—to her relief.
After the chaos of yesterday’s events, she craved consistency.
At least she could count on her town for that, even a year in the future.
Yes, a walk down Main Street was exactly what she needed to clear her head.
The early-morning hours had always been her favorite time for wandering around.
The streets had just been plowed, and the sidewalks were freshly shoveled after the most recent batch of snow.
The sun was beginning to rise over the powdery ground.
The smoky aroma of a wood-burning fire drifted from a nearby house.
Clara took a deep breath and savored the feeling of comfort.
She had always appreciated the beauty of her town in the winter, especially after a fresh snowfall. It made everything revert to a state of simplicity. It erased the ugliness of everyday life and covered it with a fresh blanket. Clean and simple. That was exactly what she needed.
Clara shuffled along the quiet street in her fur-lined snow boots and heavy down coat.
Her favorite coffee tumbler was filled with steaming-hot gingerbread tea.
She took her first sip and felt the warmth travel throughout her entire body.
The soothing smell of gingerbread made her eyelids soften.
The heat of the mug against her chilled lips felt just right underneath her favorite scarf.
She took in her surroundings and admired the delightfulness of her little town.
She appreciated all the familiar decorations, looking exactly as she had seen them yesterday—just as she had seen them for years.
The stores were still closed at this early hour, but the storefronts were as inviting as ever.
A bright electric candle sat in each shop window.
The standard-issue town garland surrounded each door frame.
With their polished version of quaint village life, the Cranberry Pines downtown association made sure each business on Main Street was not only uniform in their holiday decorations but also utterly charming.
The cranberry-filled wreath on every lamppost was the signature touch that made sure the town lived up to its name.
Clara walked past the historic town hall, the anchor of the downtown area.
It looked like a small castle lit up from within.
In front stood a giant Christmas tree with white lights and thick strands of cranberry garlands.
The snow-covered mountains looming in the background only added to the picturesque sight.
She looked around and let out a contented sigh.
The vapor from her warm breath rose like smoke before her.
Clara had always thought her town looked like a jigsaw-puzzle image of an idyllic Christmas village.
Yes, even a year in the future, everything looked exactly as it should—just right.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t say the same for anything else in her life.
The quiet of the usually bustling downtown gave her a chance to gather her thoughts.
This morning, they were all over the place.
She still couldn’t believe Brent had proposed.
How could he possibly think they were ready for this?
Well, maybe it was because she’d wished him into thinking they’d been together for a year.
She clenched her fists, annoyed with herself for her short-sighted stupidity.
As much as she had wanted to go home with him yesterday, Clara knew she needed to get a handle on everything before she could talk to him about it.
Every time she glanced down at the diamond on her hand, another round of nausea would sweep over her at the reminder of what she’d done.
She had no idea what to say to him about any of it.
She still couldn’t believe this was really happening—that her wish had come true.
When she woke up that morning, she had expected everything to go back to normal.
That it all would have been a crazy dream.
But when an early-morning text came in from Brent—wanting to see how his fiancée was doing—Clara knew she hadn’t imagined it at all.
Unless she was still in some sort of dream.
No, everything seemed far too real. A check of her phone let her know that it was December 6. It was the day after Brent had been scheduled to leave—instead, the day he had returned. Other than the incorrect year still staring back at her from her calendar app, everything seemed just as it should.
Clara walked past the Darlington Hotel, grateful she wouldn’t be going to work today.
She’d sent a quick text to the front desk as soon as she’d woken up, letting them know she was sick.
It wasn’t a lie, exactly. She was sick over this whole thing, and the last thing she needed after the weekend she’d had was to think about work.
She had no idea what the situation would even be like at the hotel one year in the future.
Was the hotel in the future, or did this absurd situation apply only to her relationship?
She wasn’t sure. All she knew was that, in the real world, she only had a few days before her big meeting with Mr. Spencer.
She needed to get things sorted out and under control before then.
She had bigger things to worry about than the hotel, though.
Clara cringed at the reminder that Brent would expect her to spend any time she wasn’t at work with him.
As excited about that as she’d been mere days ago, she now had no idea how to celebrate Christmas with him.
Fake engagements may be cute and romantic in the movies, but pretending to be engaged to someone who thought it was real did not sound like her idea of holiday fun. It sounded mean.
What she really needed was to get them both out of this mess. As much as she liked Brent, marriage was a huge step and a commitment they certainly weren’t ready for. It was her fault they were in this situation. She needed to get them out of it.
Clara looked off in the distance toward the mountains.
The tops were covered by a white, hazy fog.
As she scanned the horizon, her eye caught an unfamiliar shape a few blocks over.
It appeared to be a new building—one she had never seen before.
She squinted, trying to identify it in the faint dawn light.
The building appeared to be tall and modern, unlike anything else in town.
She walked toward it. Her boots trudged through a heavy slush along the wet sidewalks.
As she got closer to the mysterious building, she suddenly realized what she was looking at: the new hotel on Fifth Street.
Of course. It had been a year since her last walk through town.
At that time—two days ago to her—it had been a large construction zone.
Now, here it stood—shiny, new, and fully built.
It didn’t look quite right with the rest of the architecture in the downtown area.
Maybe she just needed some time to get used to something new in town.
Perhaps she just needed some time to get used to everything.
She continued with her walk and tried to untangle things in her mind. So, Brent hadn’t skipped the year as she had. He had gone through it all. And he was ready to get married?
Clara shook her head, closing her eyes in frustration.
She still couldn’t comprehend how Brent got from where they were in their relationship the other day to being ready for marriage—in an instant.
Even if he had known her for a year now, they hadn’t actually been together.
How well could he really know her when they’d spent the past twelve months thousands of miles apart?
Clara crossed the street. The Cranberry Pines Elementary School sat on the other side. She sped up her walk, eager to get to one of her favorite places in town.
She sat on a swing and cast an eye over the deserted school playground.
The morning sun illuminated the snowcapped scenery.
Clara couldn’t help but smile as she glanced over at the school.
The handmade paper snowflakes hanging from the windows inside flooded her with a wave of nostalgia.
They were the same ones she had made when she was a kid going to school there.
She stared down at her feet, planted firmly on the ground beneath the swing. She suddenly felt overwhelmed by how fast her life seemed to be moving. She rubbed at her forehead. Clara still couldn’t believe she had agreed to marry someone she’d only known for two months.
She remembered the simple decision she had made at Buddy’s the other night—that Christmas with Brent was all she needed to know if he was the one.
She had just told Lily that three days ago, with all the confidence in the world.
That plan, that simple plan, seemed so stupid to her now.
Had she really thought that she could make such a huge decision by spending one holiday with him?
She felt more distant from Brent than ever. She needed to talk to him about this. She needed to explain what had happened. She needed to set things right and tell him that she wasn’t ready to be engaged.
Clara pulled her phone from her pocket to call him, then immediately reconsidered.
She stared at the phone instead. How could she possibly explain any of this to him?
What was she supposed to say—that she had made a wish on a magical ornament and then traveled a year into the future?
She was still having a hard time believing it herself.
No, she couldn’t tell him that. He would think she was crazy. Was she crazy?