Page 145 of Holiday Hire

Carrie smiles. "I'll leave you two to it, then. I'll be back later."

I nod. "Thanks, Carrie."

She leaves, and Peter, a guy I know from town, booms into the microphone, "It's that time of year again. Who's ready for Christmas trivia?"

The room erupts into cheers.

A Christmas song starts to play. He asks, "Which popular Christmas beverage is also called milk punch?"

"That's easy," Phoebe says, writing down her answer.

I write down mine, claiming, "Agreed. If you get that one wrong, you know nothing about Christmas."

"Totally," Phoebe agrees.

Peter asks, "What did the other reindeer not let Rudolph do because of his shiny red nose?"

Phoebe states, "I feel like the kids would do really well at this."

"Yeah. They usually ace it," I admit, and we write down our answers.

She frets, "Aww. I feel bad they're going to miss out this year."

I grunt. "Don't be. There's a family night we can bring them to."

She beams. "That's awesome."

I hold up my beer, feeling a surge of giddiness. I declare, "Tonight, I get you all to myself. To date night."

A tiny flush creeps into Phoebe's face. "To date night." She clinks her glass to mine, and we each take a drink of beer.

Peter's voice calls out, "How many ghosts show up inA Christmas Carol?"

I groan.

"Oh, do you not know the answer to this one?" Phoebe taunts, tapping the pencil against her jawbone.

"This one always stumps me," I confess. "I want to say four, but it's three. Past, present, and future."

"Oh, you know the tenses. Great job," she teases.

"I may not have liked school, but my English teacher in third grade was hard not to pay attention to."

Amusement fills her expression. "Oh? You had a crush in third grade?"

I shrug, revealing, "She was fresh out of college and smelled good."

Phoebe laughs.

I debate, then write down three, cross it off and write four, then return to three.

Peter's voice blares across the bar. "The movieMiracle on 34th Streetis based on a real-life department store. What is it?"

"This is easy," Phoebe says, and we write down our answers.

Peter states, "Elvis isn't going to have a white Christmas. He's going to have a what?"

The crowd shouts, "Blue," and the song starts playing.

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