Page 111 of The Mistletoe Makeover

As the boys argue about who’s carving the bird, Jace enters, dusted with snow and bundled in a scarf and winter cap. I’m still wearing myElfhot pad mittens when I give him a hug.

“Nice mittens,” he says, kissing my forehead as I wrap Will Ferrell’s face around his neck. “How much time do we have before dinner?” The anticipation in his expression makes him look like a kid on Christmas. But the heat in his eyes tells me he wants to be alone.

Mom peeks around the corner. “Oh, good. Jace arrived, just in time for dinner.”

When I glance back at Jace, disappointment etches his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m just excited to give you your gift,” he says. “I’m not good at waiting.”

“Later,” I promise, dragging him to the table.

The dining room table is overflowing with steaming piles of mashed potatoes, stuffing, and a decadent apple pie.

After Brax and Vale argue about how to carve the bird, they divide up the slices and we stuff ourselves with food. The conversation flows as fast as Mom’s famous Christmas cranberry punch. Brax recounts the Christmas he and Vale found their gifts hidden in the basement, and unwrapped them all, only to discover they’d need to rewrap them in order to hide what they’d done. Their poor wrapping job didn’t fool Mom, and she made them do morning chores before opening Christmas gifts as punishment.

As we all laugh at the memory, I feel joy split me wide open, like it’s bubbling out of me.Is this what I’ve been missing all these years?

Even before I look up, I feel his warm gaze on me. Jace is staring at me from across the table, a lopsided grin on his face. He’s enjoying having a family to spend Christmas with, but even happier to see me with my family, laughing again.

As we’re cleaning up, he comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. “Come outside,” he whispers in my ear, the sharp scent of pine and musk overwhelming me. It’s enough to make me immediately stop what I’m doing and follow him to the porch, like my body can’t help but follow him. Vale and Brax are still in high spirits recounting their childhood high jinks, and no one says a word about our absence.

Under a single strand of lights dangling from the porch roof, Jace looks at me with a smirk and finds the curve of my waist with his hands.

“You look happy,” I murmur.

“I am, especially seeing you so happy. I forgot how much I loved being with family on the holidays.”

I’ve finally won him over to the dark side of hanging out with my crazy family, but that can’t be the only reason he wanted to bring me out here. “What are you hiding?”

Jace rubs his hand over his jaw. “Am I that bad at keeping things from you?”

“Only since we started dating.”

“When it comes to you, I can’t keep secrets.” He kisses the top of my head, then levels his gaze. “One of the record company executives called today and said the concert was a massive success. Your new song is skyrocketing up the charts.”

“It’s not my song,” I remind him, even though he refuses to call it anything else—something that makes me secretly happy. “I knew your fans would like it.”

“You were the only one,” he says with a laugh. “But there’s more. Since the song is doing well, he wants me to go back on the road after the New Year.”

I try to hide my shock. “Wow. That soon?” We hadn’t talked about the future in definite terms yet. Jace was planning on writing and recording more music in January at his home studio. Since I’m back to being unemployed, I didn’t have a plan, other than staying here until I figured out my next gig.

“He said we should ride this wave as long as we can,” he adds. “Now everyone wants my band in town, which is a total switch from a few months ago.”

I smile, the elation bubbling up beside another emotion...missinghim. This news is a blow. I don’t want to be left behind in Maplewood, pining for Jace while trying to figure out what I should do next.

“Congratulations,” I say, wrapping my arms around him, trying to hide the mixed emotions under my smile. Ireallyam happy for him. He deserves this. But I wonder what will happen to our relationship when he’s gone. Will he miss me as much as I’m going to miss him? After he leaves, will there still be anus?

He pulls away and takes my hands. “I won’t give them an answer until I know one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Will you be my assistant on the road? Because I’m not leaving you behind.”

I hesitate, unsure if Jace is doing this because he really wants me as his assistant or feels bad about me not having a job. “Jace, you don’t have to hire me. I know you were desperate for someone before and I was available.”

He shakes his head. “Maybe at first... but you blew me away with how determined you were to get everything right. You’re way overqualified for this job. Incredibly smart and talented. I don’t want to leave Maplewood without you by my side. I’ll even make sure you have your own space on the tour bus.”

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