From the New York Times bestselling author of The Gift, Finding Noel, and The Christmas Box comes a heartwarming come-of-age Christmas novel about friendship, first love, and hope.

If only I could stay with you forever. I would.

Eric is having a hard time adjusting to his family’s move from California to Utah. Then he meets Grace—his classmate and a runaway—dumpster diving behind the burger joint where he works. Eric decides the only thing to do is hide Grace in the clubhouse in his backyard.

With the adults concerned about the looming Cuban Missile Crisis and his father recovering from an immune disorder, Eric grows closer to Grace—but can their new relationship survive the harsh realities of life?

In this poignant, sensitive, and realistic narrative, Richard Paul Evans shares Grace’s heartbreaking predicament and Eric’s realization that everything is not as simple as it might appear.