About an hour and a half later, they arrived at the road to Maggie’s house. Set back in the woods, the nearest neighbor was a mile away. As they emerged from the trees, they pulled up to the house, which looked more like a mansion than the ranch house they were expecting. It was a three-story Victorian complete with a wrap-around porch with a swing hanging off to the right side of the front door.

Maggie parked in front of the house and a young boy came out. He looked about sixteen with black hair cut short. He had on a sweatshirt and jeans.

The boy came down the steps. They got out and the boy introduced himself. "Hi, I’m Jeremy."

"Hi. I’m your cousin Joe and your cousin Frank is the one with the bandage on his forehead," Joe said. "And these are our friends. Bess Marvin and George Fayne. And Nancy Drew and Ned Nickerson."

"It’s nice to meet all of you," Jeremy said moving toward the van. "Let me help with the bags."

"That would be great," Ned said, tossing him a bag.

Jeremy moved to the back of the van and helped pull the rest of the bags out. Everybody took some and followed Jeremy into the house.

Maggie escorted Frank up to one of the rooms on the second floor and made his comfortable since his head was throbbing a bit while Jeremy took the others on a tour of the house before showing them to their rooms on the second floor. The girls were on one side of the hallway and the guys on the other. Once everyone was settled and had freshened up, they came down and joined Jeremy in the living room.

Jeremy had cups of hot chocolate sitting on the coffee table. As they came in, they each took one. Jeremy poked at the fire in the fireplace trying to get the wood to burn even more.

The fireplace was made of brick and was across from the room’s entrance. There were two couches running vertical to the fireplace with a coffee table between the couches.

There was a table with two straight back chairs by the window overlooking the porch with a computer on it."

"I’m so glad you were able to join us for the holidays," Jeremy began. "According to the weather man, it even looks like we’ll be able to get in some skiing."

"I can’t wait," George said, enthusiastically as she sat down on the couch beside Bess.

"Do we really have to go skiing?" Bess asked. "I just bought a new pale blue ski outfit and I don’t want to ruin it."

"You won’t ruin it," George said with an evil grin. "You barely stay on the slopes. You spend most of your time in the ski lodge."

"Bess will ski," Joe said sitting on the arm of the couch beside Bess. "She always does."

"I have even better news," Jeremy said turning away from the fireplace. "On Friday, there will be a concert at the arena by Melissa Raye."

"Melissa Raye is the hottest country singer," Bess said excitedly.

"She’s had her last six songs hit the top of the music charts in record time," George added.

"She sure has," Jeremy said. "It’s a big accomplishment for being sixteen."

"It sure is," Joe agreed.

"She’ll be arriving here tomorrow morning," Jeremy said.

"She’s staying here?" Bess asked, surprised.

"She’s a friend of the family," Jeremy said, smiling. "She grew up here and was discovered at our school talent show when she was twelve. After that, she became real famous."

"I can’t believe we’ll be hanging out with a superstar," Bess said, beaming. "I can’t wait."

"She’s really down to earth," Jeremy said. "She probably wants to join us on the slopes when we go tomorrow."

"Speaking of the slopes, how are the conditions?" Nancy asked.

"Excellent," Jeremy answered. "It’s been snowing on and off since Halloween. The slopes are just waiting for us."

"Which will have to wait until tomorrow," Maggie said sternly from the doorway. They turned and saw her standing with an apron around her waist. "Dinner is ready."

* * * * *

That evening, Nancy and Ned slipped their ski jackets on and went out on the porch to sit on the swing while Joe, Bess and George went to bed early. Ned sat down on the swing and pulled Nancy down beside him. Ned placed a kiss on Nancy’s neck and she sighed. "It is so beautiful here."

"It sure is," Ned said. "It’s beautiful, but not as beautiful as you are though."

"You’re sweet." Nancy snuggled closer to Ned. "The stars are so bright. It’s as if we could reach out and grab them."

"I know."

Nancy sighed. "I can’t believe in just over six months, you and I will be married."

"It seems to be coming so fast. Have you found a dress yet?"

"Yes, it’s beautiful. It looks like something a princess would wear, but that’s all I’m going to tell you."

"You are a princess. My princess."

"There’s just so much that still needs to be done for the wedding."

"What did we decide on?"

"We both agreed on the date and the church and that’s set for the wedding. Other than that, we still have a lot of decisions to make."

"Do you want the reception at the country club?" Ned asked pulling Nancy closer. "That would probably be ideal."

"I like that idea." Nancy put her head against Ned’s chest. "When we get home, we’ll have to make sure they’re available for the reception."

"I assume Bess and George will be in the wedding party?"

"They’ll both be my maids of honor," Nancy said closing her eyes. "I always pictured them standing beside me as I marry the guy of my dreams."

"They should be part of the wedding. They are such goods friends to both of us."

"Have you given any thought to who your best man will be?"

"I was thinking about one of my fraternity brothers, but I really haven’t decided yet."

Ned sneezed.

"Bless you."

"Thanks."

Before anything else could be said, a scream pierced the air. Nancy opened her eyes wide and they both jumped to their feet.