Santa Fe Fortune & How to Marry a Matador

she took in the Christmas decorations around them. Perhaps getting away would be good for her and Tyler, both.
    “Mommy?” Tyler said.
    “Yes, baby?”
    “You’re holding me so tight I can’t breathe.”
    Christine released him and thumbed his nose.
    “You really are the best little boy a mom could hope for. You know that?”
    “And you’re the best mom,” he said with deeply sincere eyes.
    Children can be so wonderfully forgiving, Christine thought with a tender sigh.
    “It’s snowing awfully hard out there,” she said, her voice brightening.
    Tyler raised his brow. “Yeah?”
    “Yeah.” Christine shot him an impish smile. “So, how’s about you and me taking a little detour on our way into town?”
    Tyler bounced on his heels. “Oh boy! You mean—?”
    “I don’t think Auntie Ellen would fault me too much for running an hour behind on such a snowy day.”
    “Can I get the Happy Stack?”
    Christine ruffled her fingers through his hair, her heart brimming with affection. “You, little man, may order anything that you want.”
    He beamed from ear to ear, a pint-size image of his dad.
    “And while we’re there,” Christine continued. “I’ll tell you all about our upcoming trip to Vermont.”
    Tyler scrunched up his face. “Vermont? What’s that?”
    “It’s a state, sweetheart. Just a little ways away.”
    He paused, considering this, then held his teddy up to his ear. “Jasper wants to know if there’ll be snow there.”
    “At least as much as we’ve got here.”
    Tyler listened to his teddy again. “Will we be there for Christmas?”
    “You bet!”
    Tyler hung his head, drawing Jasper into his chest.
    Christine reached out a hand and gently raised his chin. “What’s wrong, honey?”
    Tyler glanced at his Christmas stocking, then swallowed hard.
    “Jasper doesn’t think Santa will be able to find us.”
    “Trust me on this,” Christine said with a knowing air. “Santa will always be able to find us. Don’t you know he has his magical ways?”
    Tyler twisted his lips in thought. “You mean like a GPS?”
    A chuckle escaped her, in spite of herself.
    “Something like that,” she said, steering Tyler toward the door. “Come on, let’s grab our coats. The Pancake Palace awaits!”

    Christine sat in Ellen’s office in a glitzy skyscraper, a hazy view of the river just visible through the pounding snow.
    “I’m glad you’re taking me up on this,” Ellen said, handing the plane tickets and a house key across her desk.
    “It’s not exactly like I had a choice,” Christine said, accepting them.
    Ellen shifted in her expensive leather chair. She was good at what she did and ran this department without a hitch. Christine only wished Ellen would give her a chance to prove herself as something more than a copywriter. Apart from having a knack for turning a phrase, Christine had artistic talent, too. She was certain she could put her own line together, given the opportunity. She’d fleshed out several concepts already, but Ellen wouldn’t even take a look. Ellen said she was burning out, that she needed to get away and recharge her batteries. No sense branching off into something new when Christine could barely keep up with the day-to-day, as it was.
    Ellen centered her snazzy red frames on her nose, then said with assurance, “You’ll love it up there. Nice and peaceful, the perfect getaway for you and your boy. Give you two a chance to reconnect.”
    “Plus, I’m doing you a favor,” Christine reminded her.
    Ellen laughed heartily, tossing her chin-length auburn hair. “All right, already. You’re doing me a favor.”
    Ellen’s book editor cousin was vacationing in Europe and needed a house sitter. Ellen, who generally accepted the holiday task, was jetting down to Mexico with some hot new number. Christine admired Ellen’s chutzpah in sticking with the dating scene year after year. Disappointments never seemed to faze her, and she remained hopeful—one boyfriend after the next—that this guy was finally the one.
    “So, when do you go on vacation?” Christine asked.
    “Day after tomorrow. Same day as you.”
    “Guess you’ll be packing more lightly.”
    “If you’re asking whether I’m taking the string bikini, the answer is yes.”
    Christine was impressed with her older friend. Ellen was fifty but still had the figure of a woman in her thirties. Of course, Ellen and her Stairmaster worked at it. Christine got her workouts chasing after