She smiled and tugged her white beanie a little further over her ears. The sudden flurry of fat snowflakes couldn’t dampen the festive atmosphere pulsing from Marietta’s Main Street. The Christmas Stroll was well and truly underway. She locked her car and waited for a couple to stroll past hand-in-hand. She waited for loneliness to kick in but instead she felt an unexpected relief. She might no longer have James’ hand to hold but she also no longer had unspoken rules and expectations to adhere to. She hadn’t realized how much the disapproving lift of James’ brow had dictated what she did, and didn’t do. She checked her phone for any further texts from Rhett. He’d come to town earlier to meet his sisters and father so they could find a good spot along Main Street to watch Santa lead the lighting ceremony to the courthouse in Crawford Park. Rhett had invited her to join them but she’d declined, knowing they needed time together as a family. Rhett had later sent through a photograph of his father sitting in a camp chair, a Santa hat on his head and Kendall’s arm around his shoulders.
