Dan woke early that afternoon, unable to sleep. He took a shower and dressed in a blue sweater, jeans, and boots. Then he stood outside and helped customers with their Christmas trees, fighting the urge to rush across the street to Santa’s Café every few seconds to see Angela.

No woman had this kind of effect on him for a very long time. In fact, he had thought that part of him was dead. Long gone. It had been ripped out when he came home from deployment and found Sharon and Phil together. Even though it had been devastating at the time, now it seemed that Dan was finally starting...