A novella. Three years after their blazing reunion, Donovan and Kyra are still riding an enchanted high. When the couple travels to Little Rock for a family emergency, Kyra is forced to face the demons of her past. The trip threatens to ruin the holidays, but this may turn out to be the realest Christmas ever. ●●●●● (Excerpt provided by author) ●●●●● The moment Deidra saw that she and Donovan were back, she turned in her seat and watched them as they drew nearer. She looked Donovan up and down and smiled. She didn’t have the best grin in the world, but only one of her front teeth was fully missing, which was better than Kyra expected. “You that boy who used to come over all the time, when y’all was kids,” she said to Kyra’s husband. “Your name’s Donovan.” He nodded. He returned her smile half-heartedly. “Y’all done grew up and got married,” Deidra said, her smile brightening. Donovan couldn’t help but express delight at that. “I knew y’all was gon’ get married one day,” Deidra continued. “Y’all always said you were just friends, but I knew better.” Unlike her husband, Kyra didn’t like to see Deidra smile and dote on them, like she’d been a loving mother all these years. There were things that needed to be said. She wasn’t willing to play get-along-gang until her dear, old ma answered a few poignant questions. “Can I talk to you?” The warm, fuzzy mood vanished when everyone saw Kyra’s expression. She was a beautiful woman, with innocent features. The anguish behind her big, brown eyes broke her relatives’ hearts. “Yes, we can talk,” Deidra said, pushing herself up from her seat. She looked around the waiting room, which was large, but too small for the talk they needed to have. “You wanna go over…” “Yeah,” Kyra said. She turned and headed for the elevators. “We should go…” ●●●●● © Keith Thomas Walker ●●●●●