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She turned to the door where Al, one of the joiners, was standing His tool chest was in his hand and he was already wearing his jacket She looked at her watch

“Seven o’clock? Really? I had no idea Al, I’one hoo”

Al shrugged “I was in theto head off now Fa worse Where do you live? I’m in Hoboken Can I drop you somewhere?”

Phoebe shook her head swiftly “No, of course not I’m fine I have my car”

Al raised his eyebrows “Be careful out there I’ned for roads covered in snow And it already looks as if some of the New Year revelers are out”

She gave a smile and nodded “No problems”

Al disappeared and thirty minutes later Phoebe had finally decided on a plan for the library She’d never been a fan of New Years Her lass of ith a neighbor, then going home to bed Phoebe had no reason to rush back into the city and experience the Tih to the kitchen with her sketch pad in her hands Theledge of the kitchen was stacked with snow Phoebe wrinkled her brow and sat the pad down on the large kitchen table Maybe she should head home—that snoas deeper than she’d expected

She grabbed her bag and jacket and headed to the front door The sky was already black and the snoirling around Her Mini was coated in a thick layer of it She smiled Most New Yorkers saw no need for a car Transport in the city was good But Phoebe’s interior design job meant she frequently needed to travel further afield

She’d watched a o that featured three of these cars and had dreamed of one ever since When she’d found a second-hand one—that cao, she’d had to buy it

The driveas thick with ice and Phoebe practically skidded as she headed to the car She juine The car was always reliable and turned over first tiot used to the stick shift—the wheels spun in the snow She tried again, and again, but the car didn’t move

Somewhere in the distance fireworks exploded in the dark sky It seemed that the Ha for the stroke of ine the chaos around Ti to see the famous ball drop Did she really want to head back there?

She sighed and leaned back in her seat as the thick flakes of snow continued to fall She stared back at the house Just as well she loved the place—looked as if she’d have to stay

Phoebe scrambled back out of the car and into the house Now the work crew had all left it was ah the house She pulled out her phone and searched for the nearest pizza place—thank goodness it was still open Twotheir delivery driver about the driveway

She glanced at her phone and sent a quick text to her ht on social media, but it wasn’t really what she wanted to do None of the TVs in the house was currently working The satellite company wasn’t scheduled to arrive until next week

She smiled Of course The library The perfect place to spend a snow-filled evening It was stacked with multiple shelves of books, accessible by an old-style set ofsteps In a way, it was the perfect place for her to see in the New Year

She grabbed the bag she carried with her Unlike soe of clothes so she could do as much physical work as possible It only took ten ray sweatpants and long-sleeved pink top she had with her Coood Only thing was, the roo she’d have to look at the next day Ithere wouldn’t be such a hardship

She headed back down the stairs and spent fifteen ht the fire in the library Eventually she conceded defeat and did an Internet search and watched a video that showed her how to do it Five minutes later she finally had the flicker of flaave her a wry smile “Just as e have a four-by-four Your driveway doesn’t take any prisoners And I’ home now”

Phoebe nodded and s tip “Thanks so much for this Happy New Year Drive safely”