Page 51 of Dancing in Lake Mistletoe

“Very cool.”

“When I get big, Daddy said I can dance inThe Nutcracker, just like you. And I’m going to be a prima ballerina, and I’ll have a tiara and tutus in every color, and my boyfriend will be my prince.”

“Whoa, wait a minute. You never said anything about a boyfriend. I didn’t agree to that,” Dutch says.

And she covers her mouth and giggles.

We make it to Isaac, and he envelops me in a hug. “Good job, Mindi.”

Cobie wraps her arms around my legs.

“Come on, girls. Let’s get you two buckled in,” Isaac says.

The girls tell me good-bye, and he leads them out the glass doors.

Dutch stands in front of me, and I step into his arms.

“Thank you for the flowers.”

He drops his head and kisses the top of mine. “You’re welcome.” He rubs his hands up and down my arms. “I bet you’re tired.”

I plant my face into his chest. “Exhausted.”

“Ellen’s taking you home, right?”

I nod into his shirt. Inhaling deeply.

“Get some rest. You have to do this all again tomorrow.”

I groan, and he chuckles.

I glance up. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Probably. I’ll be on tech duty.”

“Okay.”

He feeds a finger under my chin and lifts my face to his. He brings his mouth to mine for a brief kiss.

“Sweet dreams, baby.”

Ellen and Benny find us, and Dutch waits as I follow them out the back door to the staff parking. If I wasn’t so tired, I’d turn back around and throw myself into his arms.

God, I really, really like him.

Dutch

“Is everything a go?” Keller asks as we stare up at the tree.

The thirty-foot-high Norway spruce stands atop the ornate base. We’ve spent the last few days wrapping it with forty-five thousand colored LED lights, which consist of about four and a half miles of wire. It’s topped with a three-hundred-pound, three-dimensional Moravian star.

“I sure hope so,” I say. “I guess we’ll find out in about an hour.”

I follow him down to the lakeshore, where Bob and Norah’s husband, Sammy, are unloading their entry for this year’s boat parade. It’s a snow globe with a rotating base and blowing flakes.

“That’s impressive,” I say as they attach the plastic dome to the base.

“It was inspired by your tree base,” Bob says. “Here’s to hoping they both work tonight.”

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