December 17, Stillwater, Minnesota

Broker was looking at women’s long underwear in the J. P. Asch Outfitters store in downtown Stillwater when he got the call.

Outside, at the curb, a seven-foot spruce was encased in plastic netting in the bed of his Toyota Tundra. Last night Nina and their daughter, Kit, had raided the local Target store for a cart full of lights to string on the house and the tree. The boxes of decorations had been dusted off, opened, and laid out in the living room. It was going to be the first real Christmas together in four years that didn’t involve Nina or Nina and Kit flying in from Europe.

He was debating which color lightweight Capilene to buy; the Red Chili Heather or the Purple Sage Heather. Either color would complement Nina’s ruddy freckled complexion, her green eyes and amber-red hair. She had been making steady progress with the rehabilitation on her shoulder, and he had purchased new cross-country ski gear for the family. Nina thought her shoulder might be good enough to lightly hit the trails up north by the middle of January. His eyes drifted out the window at the black iron girders of the old railroad lift bridge that spanned the St. Croix River. The top of the structure feathered off in the haze of an unseasonably warm drizzle.

Hopefully the snow would hold up north, he was thinking.

Then the phone rang. He flipped it open and hit answer.

“Mr. Broker. This is Brenda from the office at Stonebridge Elementary. Your daughter has been waiting for someone to pick her up for over forty minutes…”

Huh? “I’m on my way. Be right there.”

What the hell? Rain, shine, or snow, Nina walked Kit to school and then ran five miles every morning. Every afternoon she trekked the six blocks to the school and walked Kit back home. Hadn’t missed a day since they’d enrolled her in September.