Page 65 of The Christmas Romance Wish

Emmie has four so I’m on my best behavior, not that it would be any different.

Gram and my grandfather were happily married so I trust her suggestion.

Emmie browses the menu and we both order cranberry coolers and skip an appetizer, going straight for the main course.

Emmie says, “You go first, I’m still debating.”

I get the blue moose burger—a regular hamburger patty topped with bacon, caramelized onions, and blue cheese.

“And I’ll get the tomahawk steak. Rare. Potatoes and blue cheese on the salad.” With a smile, she adds, “Please.”

Both the server’s eyebrows and mine lift slightly because that’s typically a man’s meal—on the menu, it’s under a section called, “For the Bucks.”

Emmie shrugs and says, “What? I’m hungry.” Then she leans in and adds, “You can tell a lot about a restaurant by the quality of their steak.”

And you can tell a lot about a woman by the way she takes hersteak. Yep. There’s no doubt, Emmanuella McGregor is my dream girl.

We chat about the afternoon and evening in Holidayle. Emmie interrupts herself. “Hold on. Back up. Can you believe we jumped out of a helicopter this morning?”

“Just a day in the life.”

She lets out a long sigh as if thinking about just that—what makes up her days. I’d like for her to be part of mine.

“There's something I want to show you before our food comes.”

Emmie and I leave the table, heading along a wooded path draped with white lights and bordered by snow.

“Not everyone knows this, but there’s a special reason this restaurant is called Antlers and Iron.” We arrive at the clearing and I hold still, standing behind Emmie, listening and watching.

Through the stands of aspen, maple, and pinyon pine trees, there’s a snort and a cloudy little puff of air at about chest level.

Emmie stiffens. I plant my hand on her shoulder and give a reassuring squeeze before pointing.

With sure steps, a reindeer appears in the near darkness. Its antlers are about forty inches wide and he nudges his head toward us. The sound he makes as his breath puffs in the cold night air reminds me of Ginny’s greeting.

Emmie peers over her shoulder at me as if to ask,Is that what I think it is?

I give her shoulder another squeeze in response. We watch quietly as a second reindeer appears, a female. She rubs her head on a pine tree.

After a few more minutes, we move off so our food isn’t waiting and cold. After all, Emmie ordered a steak.

She devours it, saying it’s the best she’s had in a long time. To my surprise, she can’t stop gushing about Holidayle and how enchanting it was to see the reindeer. I explain that they started visiting the owners when this place was just a fishing camp.

“That path we took leadsto the lake.”

“I take it you have to be an insider to know they’re back there. What does the iron in the name stand for?”

“The owner’s last name. Well, it’s Irons, but I suppose that still works.”

We enjoy the rest of the meal and carry on conversation until we get back home, both of us as energized as two kids who can’t wait for Christmas morning. With the tree up, we string it with lights and decorate it with all Gram’s angels along with some balls we picked up at the market.

“Should we do a tree lighting countdown?” I ask.

Emmie starts and I join her, pleased she’s taking part, which means today might have chipped away at her Grinchy heart.

“It looks beautiful, but there’s still one thing missing,” Emmie says.

“The angel on top?”

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