Chapter 10
Belle stepped out of the bedroom into the hall to find it transformed. The space glowed with the touch of multicolored lights on the railing, the rest of the staircase decorated with the aged nutcrackers. As Belle made her way down, she marveled at what Julie and Hector had done while she slept. They’d dug all the boxes marked Christmas out of the attic and dressed up the house. Everything from the little village on the living room coffee table to the snow globes lining the fireplace mantel.
She turned to Julie, who stood with hands clasped under her chin, eyes sparkling, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “What do you think? I tried to remember where everything was placed when I came last year. Did we do okay?”
“Okay?” It was clearly Belle’s turn to cry happy tears. She look
