Page 27 of Under the Mistletoe

“Thank you. I love this shirt on you.” I whispered, fixing the collar as I met his eyes.

“You ready to go?”

I nodded.

We pulled into a parking lot, parked the car and Bentley cut the engine.

“I didn’t think it was this far from the bed-and-breakfast.” He said, undoing his seatbelt.

“Oh well, it was a pleasant drive.” I said, grabbing my clutch and getting out of the car.

He walked around, took my hand in his, and then gently guided me away from the building.

“Aren’t we eating?” I questioned, looking over my shoulder as we walked away from the sign that read Lumina Trattoria.

“We are, but we enter this way.” Bentley said, still guiding me to the opposite side of the lot.

“This is just a path?” I said, shaking my head and shivering as we continued down a snow blown path through the woods.

“It is, but this is where the entrance is. Trust me.” He added.

The moment we stepped off the path, I sucked in a breath at the sight before me. Scattered throughout the field were all these glass dome igloos. Each one of them had decorated Christmas trees in them, lit with white twinkling lights and a table and chairs in each one. Servers carried food out on covered plates, taking them into the glass domes that were full. I couldn’t help but smile. It was beautiful here.

“Are we eating in these?” I asked, still looking at each of the domes.

“We are.” He answered, guiding me over to one of the domes on the far side.

“Mr. Gray, it’s nice to see you.” The server said, taking lead and directing us to one dome where two people were already seated inside.

“Bentley, he has the wrong one.” I said, pulling at his arm, only to have him ignore me as he stepped into the dome.

I came around him and was shocked to see Kelsey sitting there with Trent. Kelsey had moved away with Trent at the beginning of the year while he finished his residency. The last time I’d seen her was in the spring, when she’d come back to town to pick up the rest of her things from her parents.

“Oh, my god!” I gasped, bringing my hand to my chest, as tears sprung to my eyes.

Kelsey stood up and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me close. “Look at you.” She whispered, “It’s so good to see you.”

“You too. What an amazing surprise.” I cried, still hugging her tight.

As we parted, I looked over at Trent, who stood up and gave me a hug as well.

“Noelle, so good to see you.” He whispered, before placing a kiss on my cheek. He then shook hands with Bentley.

“You did all this?” I questioned, still smiling, as Bentley pulled a chair out for me to sit down.

“Happy Anniversary Darlin.” He whispered, as he kissed my cheek.

We shared appetizers and then moved onto main courses while the conversation between the four of us flowed. Kelsey talked about her new job and Trent filled us in on how his residency was going to the local hospital in their area. I shared pictures of the new place with them both and told them all about the new upgrades we’d done to the bar.

Shortly after, the server appeared and took our dessert order. Bentley then got up and excused himself for a moment. I glanced over my shoulder to see him stop and speak with the man who’d been serving us. They exchanged words, but then Kelsey tore me away, wanting to show me pictures of her new cat.

We were deep into the picture when Bentley returned and sat down, diving into another discussion with Trent. We were both in our conversations when the door to the glass dome opened.

“Ah perfect.” Bentley said, looking up at the server.

He passed out our desert and then gave Trent, Kelsey and Bentley a glass of wine. I was about to say something when he asked me to close my eyes.

I looked at Bentley and shook my head no. Only Bentley nodded. “It’s alright Noelle, go ahead.”

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