Page 26 of Meet Me on Christmas Eve

My jaw dropped, but before I could respond, he added, “You can deny it if you’d like, but it’ll just give me more to laugh about.”

My brows furrowed, and then I looked over at him. “I won’t deny it then.”

He didn’t quite smile, but he wasn’t frowning either. OK, I could work with that.

“Do you—”

“I wondered—”

We both stopped.

“You first,” he said.

“Uh, I …” What was I going to say? I was blanking. Completely blank. Hurry, think of something. “Do you like winter?”

Well, that’s going to move him to change his mind. Pathetic. I used to be good at conversation, when I had to be. I tried not to cringe visibly.

He stole a quick glance at me before looking around. “I do. I find the cold invigorating. Winter sports are fun.” He looked at me again. “How about you? I got the sense at that party that you like Christmas but definitely not Halloween, so at least you like winter holidays.”

He remembered that detail from the party. But did he not remember all those years ago, when we were supposed to meet at Christmas? I tried not to show the anguish on my face and looked away for a moment. “I do like winter holidays, but I’m more of a spring and summer person.”

We made eye contact for a bit longer than was comfortable, and I had to look away. “So, uh, it’s not too cold today.”

“Nah, it’s just right,” he said. Was that boredom in his tone? Probably. It’s like all my conversation skills abandoned me today.

“Chilly enough so the snow sculptures aren’t melting, but not so cold that we’re all miserable, you know?” I heard myself saying.

“Yeah.” After a beat, he looked at me. “We don’t have to talk, you know. We can just walk. I know it’s a slow walk with two old ladies in the snow, but we’re almost there.”

I scoffed. “I know we don’thaveto talk.” I swallowed a huge helping of pride again. “I just … just wanted to.”

His expression was curious as he opened his mouth to reply, but Jane’s commanding voice cut through our bubble. “Where’s that boy? Terry, can you hold this purse? It weighs more than I do, and I need my hands free.”

He stepped forward, taking the purse, and within a minute we’d reached the line for hot drinks. I groaned when I saw how long it was, but Jane simply walked up to the front, waving to the barista. Hazel and I looked at each other in confusion but followed them.

Jane turned back to look at us approaching. “Well, hurry up. We don’t have all day to wait for the young folks. Tell Eleanor what you want.”

I looked at Nina and then at Terry, who nodded slightly. OK, I guess Jane was special and got to skip the line. We quickly gave our drink orders, and Terry ushered the ladies over to a table to wait.

“How do you think it’s going, Mari?” she asked. “You and Terry didn’t look like you were fighting, at least.”

I chuckled. “No, not fighting. But I wouldn’t say it’s gone great. I’m just not good at this. I don’t know what I’m doing. Let’s try to stay together so I’m not responsible for making awkward conversation, OK? You have a million times more charm than I do.”

Hazel laughed. “I’ll do my best. You sell yourself short. You’re probably just nervous. This wouldn’t be easy for anyone, you know. If it’s easy for me, that’s because he’s not my ex.”

I nodded slowly. She had a point. Still, I had higher expectations for myself.

Once the drinks were made, we brought them over to the table and sat down. Conversation was easy for a while, with Hazel and Nina keeping things light and even funny. The moody Jane even chuckled a couple times, and I also saw Terry crack a smile, which then vanished when he caught me watching him. Sigh.

After a while, I asked the group, “So, what should we do next? Should we go look at the ice sculptures, explore the ice cave, watch the children’s skit, or—”

“They’re snow sculptures, not ice sculptures, my dear,” Jane corrected me.

“Oh, sorry.” I was always getting things wrong. I wanted to cry, but instead I pasted an excited smile on my face. “Even better! Should we go do that now?”

“I was thinking I’d love to go watch the ice skaters. I heard the local skating club is out there today. They’re actually pretty good. Have you girls seen them perform?” Nina asked us.

Wow, I really hadn’t done anything in this town. Before I could own up to my shame though, Hazel jumped in. “Not yet, but I’ve been dying to! I love watching ice skating. Mariana, you’re actually pretty good on skates yourself, aren’t you? I remember you skated in college.”

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