Page 19 of Dancing in Lake Mistletoe

As I pack up my tools, I glance at Keller. “Y’all ready for the festival tonight?”

He smirks. “As ready as we can be. Dad and I have been sawing cedar for days.”

The town’s fall festival doesn’t come close to the Christmas festivities, but Willa has made it her mission to make Lake Mistletoe a place that draws visitors year-round.

This year’s Pumpkin Piddle Paddle is something Josie has been going on about for weeks. Everyone gets to carve a soccer ball–sized pumpkin that will float out into the lake.

“We’d better get out of here and get some rest. It’s going to be a long night,” I say.

“Yeah, it’s little man’s first time dressing up,” Keller says.

I laugh. “You just wait. I swear Josie needs a secretary of her own. She’s not even eight yet, and her social calendar rivals mine. Scratch that. She has a social calendar, and I have a work calendar. The end.”

Keller glances up at me. “Whose fault is that?”

“Life’s?”

He shakes his head. “I saw the way you were looking at a certain ballerina the other night.”

“I wasn’t looking at her any kinda way.”

“Bullshit. I could see it from the truck when I pulled up,” Bran adds. “She’s a pretty one.”

“She’s a visitor,” I say.

“Yeah, but she’ll be here for a couple of months,” Bran points out.

I give him a look that says,Exactly.

He smirks. “Take it from me. You never know what will happen. Sometimes, fate brings something special right to your door and hits you upside the head with it.”

“In your case, literally,” Keller agrees.

We laugh. The story of how Hannah and Bran met is one for the ages. She literally hurled a lamp through a window and knocked him out.

Bran nods. “Yep, and as I recall, Hannah was just visiting as well. But she couldn’t resist all this.” He stands and flexes for us.

I roll my eyes. “She probably felt sorry for your ass.”

He shrugs. “Whatever. It still worked, and I have a ring in my desk drawer to prove it.”

“A ring, huh?”

“Yep. I’m planning to give it to her on Christmas Eve,” he says.

“Congratulations,” I say, clasping his shoulder.

“I’m a lucky man for sure. And you never know; that Lake Mistletoe magic could work for you too.”

Mindi

Istretch my aching muscles as I step out onto the inn’s front porch. It’s been a long week of rehearsals. Soma has been kicking our butts. But the production is already coming together.

As I make my way down the steps, following the sound of the crowd, the air is thick with the smell of caramel apples, cinnamon, and the smoke drifting from the roasting pit across the street.

The Lake Mistletoe fall festival is magical, and everywhere I look, there are orange and yellow lights twinkling, tables overflowing with warm beverages and baked goods, and kids in costumes darting around, laughing as they chase each other. I make my way to the lakefront, where the carved pumpkins aregetting set up along the shoreline. In about an hour, they’ll float them out onto the water, and their candlelit faces will bob along the surface like little glowing ghouls.

Ellen and I spent our evenings helping Trixie and Alice prepare their goodies for tonight. It was so much fun. I hate that Ellen is going to miss the festivities, but she left a couple of hours ago to pick up Kit from the airport.

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