A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews/follows! I am so glad to see a large portion of you have seen The Christmas Card! BTW - I know as of last week it was on Netflix if anyone wants to check it out!

Chapter One

2009

For as long as Kate Beckett could remember, Thanksgiving never meant turkey, stuffing, or football. Kate could not recall a holiday during which she and her family sat down to an oven-roasted bird with all the trimmings. In fact, most times they only thing remotely Thanksgiving-like they received that day was a turkey sandwich made with the sliced kind one could pick up at a deli.

Neither she nor her parents had any particular grievances against the November holiday. It simply fell during a time of year they did not have a chance to breathe let alone stop and make a large meal. For the Beckett family, the last two weeks in November revolved exclusively around one thing: Christmas trees.

Promptly on December first of every year Beckett's Trees opened for business. The Beckett family was infamous for their robust, lovely scented tree. Fir, pine, and spruce—they were all exquisite and perfectly suited for adorning households with Christmas joy. Loyal customers often drove over an hour to visit the Beckett lot and the family patriarch, Jim, refused to disappoint any of them so come hell, high water, or several feet of snow, they opened December first like clockwork.

Granted, in a year like that one, when December first fell on a Tuesday, the volume of traffic on the first sales day was minimal at best. However, that did not deter Jim Beckett. He insisted that the tree lot be fully stocked just in case they had a rush of families ready to pick out the best early season tree. Meaning the Beckett family devoted the last two weeks in November—Thanksgiving included—to cutting, prepping and setting up the trees on their lot.

To thirty-year-old Kate Beckett, her father's insistence on tradition merely made her smile and roll her eyes. Though she tried to talk some sense into him, it never worked, which meant she spent the last few days of the eleventh month hauling Christmas trees into the lot along with her father, aunt, uncle and the two part-time teenaged helpers they'd hired for the season. And, just like every year, on the evening of November thirtieth when all the trees were set up and waiting, she thought to herself come December twenty-sixth if I ever see another fir it'll be too soon. Twenty-six days and counting.

As expected, the first Saturday of the month of December was the most exciting, busiest day. Every family wanting to kick off the month with a proper level of holiday spirit rushed out to get their tree generally in the late morning or around lunch time. Parents with excitable children running around. Older couples occasionally with a dog on a lead. Couples hoping to pick out their first tree together.

Though her patience would wear very thin by the end of the day, Kate managed to smile genuinely at these early patrons. Their excitement and cheer rubbed off on her…that was until she was doused in her first cup of coffee and nearly tripped by a runaway dog. Then, the job went back to its regular drudgery which had her counting down the hours until the lot closed at four.

Shortly after one p.m., Kate strolled around the lot taking advantage of the brief lull to check up on stock and organize anything put out of place by the lunchtime rush. She picked up two empty take-away cups of coffee someone had left by the Noble firs and set a plastic Santa statue upright again before circling around towards the front of the lot making sure each tree was displayed to convey maximum attractiveness.

As she surveyed the area, Kate took note of a couple she suspected to be around her aunt and uncle's age, perhaps a little older, observing the selection of Eastern White pines. As she believed them to be the only people in the lot, she decided to cut down a row of Douglas firs to reach them more directly when she almost bumped into a man she hadn't notice before. It appeared he had also been intent on taking a shortcut through the rows.

"Oh! Excuse me, sir." She took a step back quickly and, for the first time, looked up at his face. He was taller than her by more than a few inches, putting him right around six feet, possibly a little taller. His skin was pale in contrast to his dark brown hair, which was cut very short in a style she typically associated with men attempting to hide a receding hairline, though on this man she didn't see one. With his sky blue eyes and square jaw he was handsome for sure, though was struck her the most was his leather jacket, which was not at all appropriate for the weather. True, as it had rained the night before, it was rather warm for that time of year. Still, a balmy thirty-six only meant she wasn't wearing an extra fleece under her winter coat; a leather jacket—not to mention a lack of gloves—was hardly appropriate.

"No, it's my fault; I ran into you."

His tone was smooth and it made her smile involuntarily. Kate cleared her throat and adjusted the red apron she wore over her coat. While not flattering, it was the only way to distinguish her as an employee and not a patron when outdoor winter wear was required. "Can I help you with something?"

"I'm just browsing for now, thanks."

"Sure! If you see anything you're interested in, come find me." Then, with another smile, she slipped past him and made her way towards the couple who appeared to have decided on a pine.

Fifteen minutes later as Kate's father was helping the couple—Mary and Joe—load their pine onto the top of their sedan, Kate's eyes turned back to the man she'd bumped into earlier. He had left the rows of evergreens and was now standing by the hut which served as their makeshift on-site office. Adorning the outside walls were dozens of handmade Christmas ornaments and he examined each as though they had a story to tell.

Kate snagged her bottom lip with her teeth as she looked at him. His presence struck her as odd. Though it was not entirely unheard of for a single man to be picking out a Christmas tree or other related decorations, it was unusual. Generally, men came with their wives or significant others of the female persuasion. It was possible that this man was picking out a tree for his family, but it seemed more likely to her that if he was picking out a tree, it was one for himself. Therein, the story became stranger.

Hinsdale was certainly far from the largest city in New Hampshire. Kate hesitated to think that it classified as a city at all. At most, it was probably a town—a decent sized one, but one that was small enough for her to be familiar with many of the residents. In particular: the single male residents. The reason for this was simple; her aunt apparently had taken it on as her life's mission to introduce Kate to each and every one of them. Kate did not recognize the man leafing through her aunt's ornaments, which piqued her curiosity for him even further.

"Katie?"

Her father's voice pulled her from her thoughts. She turned towards the man equal to her in height and hummed with a smile.

Her father's head tilted to the side and he looked at her with the same half amused, half proud expression he used on her since she was very little. "Would you mind checking the row of pines? I knocked a few when I pulled that last tree and I want to make sure I didn't make them all fall like dominos."

Kate let out a light chuckle; it certainly wouldn't be the first time. "Of course, Dad." She went to turn away then paused, observing the dark circles under his eyes and the creases in his forehead. "You feeling okay, Dad?"

He smiled at her, though wearily. "Of course. It's just been a long morning. I might be getting to old for this, Katie."

"Never." She promised him before pressing a quick kiss on his cheek. "The first busy day is always the hardest."

Slipping her hands down into her coat pocket, Kate walked towards the row of pines and found that, thankfully, other than the first two none of the other trees had been knocked over. Kate ducked inside their wooden barrier and began righting the trees so that they were displayed in a more visually attractive manner. As her father always said no one would buy a tree they couldn't picture looking perfect in their living room.

Several minutes later, her task complete, Kate stepped out of the barrier and caught the edge of her boot heel on the wooden slats, causing her to stumble forward a few steps. Just as she was about to grumble at her own clumsiness the sound of screeching tires pulled her attention away. An engine roared, tires wailed against the payment and she heard a man's yelp before a catastrophically loud crash.

Kate's blood immediately froze in her veins and her heart was shocked to a stop. "Dad!" She called out, running full speed towards the front of the lot. Just a she reached the end of the final row of trees, carnage came into view.

A rust colored sedan was parked with the front corner of its hood jammed into their nearly dilapidated on-site office. Beside it, Jason, the teenaged boy who had been inside, stood shell shocked. Kate continued to rush forward and stopped just short of the car, her hands shooting to her mouth with a gasp.

Lying on the street just a few feet from the car was her father. He was sprawled out just below the handsome, leather-coat wearing stranger. Kate shrieked. "Dad! Oh god Dad! What happened?"

Kate rushed around the back of the vehicle just as the driver, a frazzled elderly woman Kate recognized as the wife of the town's bookstore owner, stepped out. "Oh oh! I'm so sorry! I couldn't stop! Is he…is he all right?"

Kate dropped to her knees on the street beside her father's head. She skimmed her fingertips over his hair and he moaned. This sound both brought her relief, as it signaled he was alive, and terror, for it sounded as though he was injured. Wide-eyed, she looked up at the stranger, who gazed back at her and said, "I think you should probably call 911."

A/N: I bet you can't guess who the handsome stranger turns out to be :P

A programming note: the "live" posting portion of this story will begin Saturday and continue from that point forward. Also, how convenient is it that the 2009 calendar and the 2015 calendar are the same - insofar as which dates fall on which days of the week!? So convenient! :)