Page 12 of Dancing in Lake Mistletoe

As the group begins to tidy up, I linger for a moment, looking around the room. The Gingerbread Inn feels like a little haven today—a place where everything is warm and light, where people laugh and share and just …betogether.

“Thanks for inviting me,” I say quietly to Willa as I help her gather stray candy wrappers.

She smiles. “Of course. You’re a part of this place now. Every guest who stays at the inn is a member of our family.”

I think she actually means that.

I feel a small knot in my chest loosen at her words. I’d love to belong here, with these women, in this little pocket of community they’ve built. Eden is the only person I’ve everhad a connection with—other than my mother and, for a while, Michael.

I’ve only been here a couple of days, but there’s just something about this place. Something magical.

The room glows with soft, flickering light from candles scattered across the mantel and coffee table, their tiny flames making shadows dance along the walls, and the scent of spiced cider and clove lingers in the air. Willa had Keller and her father-in-law, Bob, come in to carry the large table to the courtyard to make room, and she and Trixie set up the screen against the far wall and made blanket pallets on the floor for the kids. The adults pile onto the soft leather couch and chairs.

Norah leans over from the armchair. “All right, who’s ready for some Witches Brew?” she asks, grinning as she carefully ladles a mixture into black ceramic mugs, steam curling in lazy tendrils from the surface.

“I do!” Cobie and Josie shout as they shuffle on their knees over to the coffee table.

“Sorry, ladies, but this is for the adults. Trixie has a thermos for you two,” she informs them.

“But we want Witches Brew,” Josie says.

Norah leans down and whispers to them, “The thermos is filled with Butterbeer.”

Their eyes go wide.

“Like Harry Potter?” Cobie asks.

“Yep. I heard that Trixie called Hogwarts and got the recipe directly from Hagrid,” Norah tells them.

“My daddy is readingHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secretsto me at night!” Josie squeals.

“Hmm, aren’t you a little young for that book?” Hannah asks.

Josie gives her an offended look. “No, I’m not a baby. We readHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and I didn’t get scared or anything.”

“Oh, pardon me. I must be thinking of a less mature seven-year-old I know,” Hannah says.

Trixie arrives with thermal cups and bowls of homemade Chex Mix for the girls, and Norah turns back to us and raises one of the black mugs.

“I’ll take a Witches Brew!” I raise my hand from the couch, wiggling my fingers.

The others—Willa, Hannah, Trixie, and Trudy—chime in too, each reaching for a cup. Cobie and Josie settle off to the side with their treats, tucking themselves under fuzzy blankets, ready for the movie to start.

I bring the warm cup to my nose, seeing an orange peel and star anise swimming on the surface, and inhale deeply. It smells delicious, like autumn in a cup.

“What is this?” I ask.

“It’s my own concoction of apple cider and apple pie moonshine with some added mulling spices and a hint of citrus. It will warm you up from the top of your head to the tips of your toes,” Norah says as she brings her mug up to clink with mine. “Happy almost Halloween. Nothing beats this. Except maybe my Mistletoe Martinis. I’ll make that for you on one of our Christmas movie nights.”

Warmth spreads through my chest—and not just from the sweet, spicy liquid.

Willa kicks her feet up onto the ottoman and pulls a blanket over her lap. “Okay, everyone, get ready. It’sHocus Pocustime.”

The movie’s opening music fills the room, and I sink deeper into the couch, tucking my feet beneath me and pulling a throw over my legs.

Dutch

Ifind Keller and his dad sitting at the firepit in the atrium with beers in hand.

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