Page 15 of Dancing in Lake Mistletoe

“Thank you. Good night, Dutch,” she says.

She grabs Norah’s shoulders, turns her toward the inn, and pushes her forward. Bob and Trixie follow them, leaving me and Mindi alone with the girls.

“I can get them in the truck myself,” I say, amused by the women’s antics.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind helping,” she says as she takes Cobie’s hand.

I heft Josie back up onto my hip and follow as she and Cobie skip out to my truck in the driveway.

Mindi

“Ellen,” I chime as I skip down the stairs to where she stands in front of Annette.

“Mindi, hi.” She turns to envelop me in a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you. I was excited when I got the final cast list and saw your name.”

As welcoming as everyone here has been, I have to admit, it is nice to see a familiar face. We were inseparable at SAB. She’s a third-year corps de ballet dancer as well, but she’ll be dancing the solo part of the Dewdrop Fairy.

“I put you two girls side by side,” Annette says as she hands Ellen a key and starts to stand.

“I’ll show her to her room,” I offer.

“Are you sure?” Annette asks just as the front door opens and another guest walks inside.

“Absolutely. You stay and help them. I’ll give her the full Gingerbread Inn spiel,” I promise.

She gives me an appreciative smile as she sits back down and greets the newcomer.

I grab one of Ellen’s bags and lead her up to the second floor. Her room is the Candy Cane Suite, and inside is a red-and-white-colored dream, straight from the sunny beach of Peppermint Bay.

Ellen oohs and aahs over the decor as I point out all the amenities and tell her about the breakfast and dinner schedule. She explains that she will be sharing the suite with her boyfriend, Benny, who is in the corps of dancers, and he will be joining her in a few days, as he is finishing up a run inTheMusic Manat a theater in Washington state.

“You’ll still be able to take me back and forth to the resort?” I ask.

She told me in an email that she had a small standard-cab Toyota Tacoma that would handle great in the snow.

“Of course. Benny doesn’t take up much room, so the three of us can fit in my truck. It has a bench seat.”

“The artistic director and coryphée invited us to lunch at the resort this afternoon. They’re going to give us a tour of the theater.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see it. The pictures I’ve seen on the website are something else,” she notes.

After she unpacks, we head down to the kitchen so I can introduce her to Hal, Alice, and Trixie.

“Have you met any more of the cast?” she asks as we make our descent.

“Not yet. The girl playing Clara is staying at the resort with her parents. They flew in from Seattle. And I know that mycavalier is Stuart Wellman, a soloist from Joffrey. He should be here soon.”

“Joffrey?” she gasps.

The Joffrey Ballet is an internationally renowned dance company and school based in Chicago. Like ABT, it’s on the short list of the most-sought-after placements in the country.

“I can’t believe this production was able to pull this kind of talent,” she murmurs to herself.

“What are you talking about? Who wouldn’t want us?”

She laughs. “Damn straight.”

We walk into the inn’s kitchen to find Hal and Alice hard at work, preparing this evening’s dinner of lamb chops with rosemary gravy, as Trixie plans the items they’ll be preparing for the fall festival this weekend.

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