Page 109 of Mistletoe Season
I can feel both sisters staring at my green hair as I settle in at the table. Still green after eight washings. Not quite as bright as it was at first, but it would still be hard to lose me in a crowd.
“Is this a new look?” asks Billie.
I scowl. “Gwendolyn did it.”
“Gwendolyn!” exclaims Scarlet.
“She’s with Sam now,” Billie says. “I forgot to tell you.”
“Everyone forgot to tell me,” I say and take a sip of my drink. “But thank heaven, they just broke up.”
“Good. I’d hate to see Sam stuck with the likes of her,” Scarlet says, then moves on to new conversational territory. “I’m sorry we missed the book party. My plane was delayed.”
“And I was stuck waiting at the airport forever,” adds Billie, rolling her eyes.
“But I hear you packed the place,” Scarlet continues. “I’m so proud of you, girl. I read your last book. It was epic.”
“Your wholelifeis epic,” puts in Billie. “A famous writer living in New York, so glamorous.” She sighs.
I think of my mistletoe fails and my writer’s block, neither of which I’ve shared with Scarlet. Yep. So glamorous.
“It must be pretty boring here compared to that,” Billie says.
I think of Carwyn and smile. “You’d be surprised.”
“Scarlet told me about David, but I bet you’ve already replaced him. So, who are you with now, some big mover and shaker back there?” Billie asks as I cut into my gingerbread.
It almost feels too good to share, but I have to. “Actually, someone here. Early stages, though.”
“Here!” both sisters exclaim in unison.
“Who?” Scarlet demands.
“Carwyn,” I say, and her eyes about pop out of her head.
“Carwyn,” she repeats. “TheCarwyn?”
I nod. Simply thinking about him makes my heart start dancing around like those eleven lords a-leaping in the old song.
“How did this happen?” Billie asks.
“We ran into each other, and things took off from there,” I say.
“We need deets,” Scarlet says, leaning forward, her flat white long forgotten.
I fill them in. They giggle and sigh in all the right places.
“A real-life happy ending,” says Scarlet. “Now you’ve come full circle from that first mistletoe kiss.”
“Well, we haven’t kissed under the mistletoe,” I confess.
“What? It’s Christmas!” protests Billie.
“Trust me, it’s my kryptonite. If we kiss under the mistletoe, it will ruin everything,” I say.
“Don’t be so superstitious,” scolds Scarlet. “It’s Christmas. Youhaveto kiss under the mistletoe.”
“No, I don’t,” I insist.
