Page 50 of Take Me Home for Christmas

She set down a mug she was holding. “None of your—no, wait.” She closed her eyes. “I see what you’re doing. I’m not going tonight. She paused. “But to answer your question, we grew up together. He was…familiar.”

Whew. “I love that word.”

She shot me a puzzled look. “Why?”

“Because it’s nothot,sexy, orfabulous in bed.”

“I’m not even a little in love with him, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Thank God. “It sounds like he wasn’t The One.”

“He wasn’t The One,” she quietly agreed.

She pressed her lips together as we assessed each other across all the red-ribboned, copper cookie-cutter gifts. She worried at her bottom lip. “So you think I should go?”

I narrowed my eyes. “That’s for you to decide,” I said carefully. “I mean, you’re not really angry anymore, are you?”

“I’m more embarrassed.” She fiddled with the red ribbons, smoothing them, straightening them out.

I could tell from her stoic expression that maybe it was time for some humor. I held out my arms. “If you decide to go, you’d have a hunk by your side. All you’d need is that red dress your teacher mentioned.”

“I’m an accomplished woman who doesn’t need anyone on my arm.” She hesitated. “But maybe it can’t hurt. The dress, I mean. Seriously, I’ll think about it.”

She was wavering, so I made my case. “If you go, I’d be happy to stay next to you the entire time and even flex my musclesif you want me to. I mean, might as well use a not-so-fake boyfriend when you’ve got one.”

“Not so fake?” Her eyes told me everything. That she wanted the truth.

All right, then. Here I went. “Not fake.” I met her gaze with what I hoped was a dead-serious one of my own. “Not fake at all.”

“So, you’re taking the leap?”

“Yeah.” Once I’d finally said it out loud, I felt strangely okay. “Yeah, I am.”

“Hmmm. Okay, then, not-fake boyfriend, if you can take the leap, maybe I can too.” She blew out a deep breath. “But what would it take to have you do that muscle flexing in private? You know, as a reward. If I survive this.”

I grinned. “Not much.”

She burst out laughing, which was cute. I was glad I could lighten up her decision. Then I let settle what I’d just said.Boyfriend.It was a big step for me, but it felt right.

She pointed to the cashier desk. “I’m going to see if they can embroider my mom’s name on this apron.” She held up a pretty Christmas-red one. “She really needs to get rid of that elfed-up one.”

“I kind of liked it.” I tipped my head toward the ornament section to throw her off. “I’m going to look around a little,” I said as casually as possible.

As soon as she was out of sight, I bolted in the opposite direction to the snow globe display I’d seen on the way in. I quickly scanned all the shelves. And suddenly, I spotted one containing a tiny house, all lit up for Christmas. It looked similar to Mia’s house, all charm, wreaths on every window, a turret. There was a dog, a retriever, not a wiener dog, and with the dog were two little girls, holding hands, playing in the snow. It was exactly like Beth’s description. Except, standing behind the twogirls was a third girl, her hands on each of their shoulders. It was hard to say if she was an older sister or a mother. But I knew exactly what she was. A guardian. The symbolism struck me as perfect.

An older woman wearing an elf hat and a green apron walked up to me. “My son hand-makes those,” she said. “In case you’re wondering if they’re imported, they’re not. All local. The wood base is cherry or oak. Each one takes him about a week to make.”

“Cool.” All right, then. “This is for my girlfriend, who’s over there.” I hiked a thumb toward the front of the store. Just then, Mia turned around in line and waved. I stepped away from the display and gave a quick wave back. “I don’t want her to see it. Can you help?”

“Of course. Hand your gifts to me—plus your credit card. Would you like these wrapped?”

As I surrendered the globe, the spoons, and the wooden board, I happened to spot a pair of fleece reindeer slippers with red noses that lit up that I thought would be perfect for Mia. I eyeballed her size and impulsively added them to the pile as the woman whisked everything off.

That was kind of…fun, knowing I’d surprise Mia with these little, unexpected things.

Ten minutes later, she was waiting for me by the door, her bag in hand. “Next stop, the bookstore.”

“For Emma?”

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