Everyone had already dispersed by the time Marley made it downstairs the next morning. Despite the late-night they had all partaken in, Marley was the last to breakfast.

Gabbie gave her a half-yelled explanation of where she was accompanying Thea to that morning. All Marley caught was something about a neighbor with daughters Gabbie's age but that was more of a guess than anything else as Gabbie hadn't even hesitated while running out the door and Marley was hardly awake to fully understand what her sister was yelling at her.

It was only their second morning at Thea's but Marley was starting to see a trend when she entered the dining room and found a buffet of food rivaling the spread that had been waiting for them the morning before on Christmas day. Stella was finishing her food and heading off to make friends with Thea's kitchen staff. Or so Marley guessed when she cleared her own dishes and exited the dining room through the swinging doors that led into the kitchen.

Both her parents, too, were getting up to leave. Apparently, Marley had been the only one affected by the late night.

"I've got a box of things Mom wants me to look through in the attic. She's finally gotten around to organizing Dad's things and what's to know what I want to take," Avery answered to Marley's yawned "What are you doing this morning?"

Marley didn't have to ask her dad where he was headed. He had that focused look in his eyes that he only got when faced with a deadline. Considering that the only freelance job he still had going on was a script for a New Year's Eve program, Marley merely said good morning and took his distracted to kiss to the forehead.

She was left alone in the dining room. But not for long.

Halfway through her plate of bacon and eggs, footsteps echoed through the entryway following the sound of the large front door opening and then swinging shut.

"Anyone home?"

"In here!" Marley called before putting another forkful of food into her mouth. It was as if she lived there. There was no one else to answer Christian's call and so the responsibility had fallen to her.

Marley was grateful it wasn't Thea and Gabbie back from whatever adventure they had embarked upon. Marley hadn't missed the look on her grandmother's face when Marley had finally stopped dancing with Felix the night before and because of said look, had purposefully made a point to avoid his side of the ballroom all night. She had been expecting a talk of some sort from Thea but had yet to see her. Christian's sudden appearance meant she now had something else with which to occupy her thoughts.

Christian didn't bother sitting down at the table after making his way to the dining room and came to rest right, leaning against the table, by Marley's plate.

"Good morning, Cousin. Don't you look fresh as a daisy?"

Aware of her current state of being, Marley shot her cousin a glare but smiled when he did.

"Fancy an excursion this morning?" Christian asked, making idle chit-chat until Marley was finished eating before asking his question.

"Where to, oh cousin of mine?"

"There's a little carnival downtown. And an ice-skating rink, if you're into that sort of thing. Basically, anything that's going to keep me out of my mother's house for the morning."

"Sure. I've got nothing better to do. Wait for me by the door, I've just got to get changed."

Christian nodded and Marley left her breakfast plate to hurry up the stairs. Christian was right by the front door when Marley raced down the staircase in her wool-socked feet and hopped across the foyer while pulling on her snow boots.

A rush of bitter wind hit them as they left the house behind and made their way down the long driveway. It eased when they hit the street and the walls of hedges kept the winds from off the ocean only a few yards away from bowling them over.

A light snow had refreshed the already white piles during the night but it would have impossible for Marley to know if she hadn't driven home in it late last night. The streets were clear as though no snow had even dared to fall on the perfectly paved roads.

Marley had to walk along the side of the road if she wanted to hear that familiar crunch of snow under her boots. Christian kept to the street, his shoes keeping him protected from the cold but not from the snow. He hadn't even bothered with snow boots.

"This is my place, in case your curious."

Christian slowed as they passed the black gated entrance next to Thea's. Marley tried looking down the long drive and just barely caught sight of the house beyond.

"The one next one down is our Aunt Ginger's."

"How long has our family had homes out here?"

Marley had to keep her gloved hands deep in the pockets of her down jacket to keep her hands from making quotation marks around the word 'family'.

"Grandpa Franklin built Thea's place before they were married, a little wedding present, he called it. He built Ginger's place when she was married, another wedding present, and my mother's when she was married. Again-"

"Another wedding present," Marley finished.

Christian nodded.

"A bit of a tradition. At least it would have been. Grandpa never got to build one for Aunt Avery. But you know why."

A secret elopement to a man her parents didn't approve of instead of marrying someone they would have chosen for her, thus resulting in three daughters who hadn't met their mother's side of the family until recently? Marley was aware.

"What kind of business was our grandfather in that he could afford such houses?"

"Real estate development coupled with construction. His firm designed and built all three."

Marley whistled in amazement and a cloud of steam rose into the air in front of her face.

"That was Grandpa. Why hire someone to do it when you can do it yourself? Or at least, he used to say something like that."

"I'd like to have known him."

"He was a good grandfather and an even better businessman. I admired him a lot."

From what she had experienced of her cousin, Christian had so far stayed upbeat and smiley. For a second Marley saw the still very raw grief of a boy who had lost his grandfather. A second later he was smiling again, extending his arms to present the sight that greeted them around the corner.

"Marley Harkin, I present to you, Hampstead Heath!"

It was a winter wonderland come to life and a firm reminder that in Hampstead Heath, the holiday festivities didn't end on Christmas Day.

The one-lane downtown was blocked off from traffic and stalls were lining both sides of the lane, with ample walking room in between down the middle of the street. The stores on both sides of the lane were lit from within, a constant flow of people going in and out of their establishments with bundles in hand.

Christian followed Marley's pace as they walked slowly down the way, her eyes widening with each sight. There were carnival games and face-painting and high-end concessions stands, the luxury version of any street fair Marley had ever been to back in the city.

Overhead, strands of lights hung from one side of the lane to the other, crisscrossing overhead to make a web of lights that were sure to amaze when the sun went down.

At the end of it all, the lane dead-ended in a park that the street split to avoid. In the middle of the large lawn and under the watch of a ring of trees, an ice-skating rink had been set up where a pond was sure to occupy during the summertime.

Kids of all ages, three years old to eighteen, grandparents and adults, everyone was out on the ice, going round and round. Marley's favorite part of the holidays in New York had always been the ice rink in Central Park and here she found a small replica.

They came to rest against the edge to watch the skaters. Neither her nor Christian spoke as they let the merriment of others fill the air.

Marley only finally spoke when she saw Felix across the way, accompanied by the same girl from the night before. When she looked up at her cousin, she found him staring in the same direction.

Only Marley's nudge finally got Christian to tear his eyes away.

"Who are they?" Marley asked.

Christian looked from her back to Felix and the girl but right back to Marley again, as if afraid his eyes would get stuck there if he looked too long.

"Who?" Christian, replied, his mind still reeling, floating back to earth.

"Him. Them."

Marley nodded in their direction to keep from being obvious.

"I know his name, Felix, and the fact that he thinks anyone dressed in white and black at a Christmas party must be a server. But who is he? And the girl. Who's the girl?"

Christian let out a huff of air that Marley could see. He sunk lower against the railing and looked over again where Felix and his sister were slowly wandering through the park, headed into town.

"Her name's Winter. She's Felix's twin sister and the Ice Queen of Hampstead Heath."

Christian smiled at this last bit as if referring to an inside joke that Marley didn't understand.

"What? Did she win a pageant or something?"

"Ironically, she did. But when we were like five."

"So you've known them for a long time."

"Our families have been less than friendly for as long as I can remember."

"Less than friendly? What's that supposed to mean?"

Christian finally tore his eyes from Winter but only because she slipped out of sight, along with her brother, when they entered the first boutique across the way.

"Our grandfathers were business partners back in the day. Sons of immigrants, they grew together in the Bronx. They wanted to make their own way, make a better life for their families. And they were going to do it together. They started a construction business together. Unfortunately, Matthew Reigns made one bad investment and had to sell his share of the company to our grandfather to deal with it. This did not go over well with Grandpa Frank, especially as he had advised Matthew not to take the deal. Things have been, at best, cool between our families ever since."

"And what about Winter?"

"What about her?"

Suddenly, Christian looked uncomfortable. For someone who seemed so self-assured, it was a shocking look on him. His eyes refused to meet Marley's and he started to move back towards the center of town. Marley had to hurry to catch up with his long strides.

"The two of you. Obviously, there's something there. Am I wrong?"

Christian waited a long moment before finally answering, his hand running over his face, his eye darting in multiple directions as if looking for a distraction from this conversation.

"No," he finally sighed out. "You're not. There was... something... at one point. But there's not now. Not anymore."

Marley caught that look of grief again but this time mingled with pain. She dropped the subject and let them walk back to Thea's in silence.

She looked over her shoulder one last time before leaving downtown Hampstead Heath behind and met the bright gray eyes of first Felix and then his sister, both of them watching as Marley and Christian walked away.