44. PRESENT

~ Zoie’s POV ~ Zoie tiptoed across the floor of the living room. It was quiet in the Van Zandt estate as it was still very early. The sun was just barely rising and no one was up yet, except for Zoie of course. With a big smile hanging on her face, she made her way to the corner of the room where the Christmas tree was put up. The tree was huge and grandiosely decorated. There were maybe a hundred wrapped gifts underneath the big tree, and there were stockings hanging by the fireplace, stuffed with more presents. Zoie went over to the tree first and inspected the presents underneath it. She moved around the boxes labeled for her brothers or parents. She picked out the ones that were addressed to her and her shoulders slumped with disappointment every time she read the label. None of them were from Asher. Unsatisfied, Zoie went over to the stockings next. The stockings had all their names embroidered, starting from Damon to Violet, Talia, Liam, her brothers Zach, Zander, and Zane, her o