Page 41 of Meet Me on Mistletoe Lane

Maybe if I back away really slowly, they won’t notice…

“Ah! Ciao, bellezza!” Nona called.

Dang it.

“Sleeping Beauty has finally decided to join us,” Aunt Helen said as she rested against the counter near my mom, and whispered, “Red is definitely her color, no?”

I glanced at the clock and rubbed my eyes. It was barely seven a.m. “Why are you all here so early?”

“Nice to see you, too,” Marco said, standing and pulling out his chair for me to take.

I plopped down and grabbed a banana from the fruit basket on the table. “No, seriously. What’s up?”

Nico leaned forward across the table from me and wiggled his eyebrows. “We’re strategizing.”

I groaned. “Oh God, please don’t tell me you’re going to go streaking through the town square at the Tree-Lighting again. ‘Holly Jolly Christmas’ is forever ruined because that image is burned into my corneas.” I peeled the banana and went to take a bite, but the sight of the bare fruit brought back other…unwelcome images, so I put it down.

Aunt Helen snorted into her coffee as Nona set a heaping plate of pancakes in front of me. “Not that kind of strategizing, cara,” she said, kissing the top of my head. “The kind where we convince that Scrooge to sell The Market back to us.”

Sell it back to us?

Was that even possible?

I smeared some butter on the pancakes before drizzling them with syrup. “What have you come up with so far?”

Everyone’s gazes darted around the room, but no one spoke up until Aunt Sofia stood, flicking her wavy hair over her shoulder. “Well, I had some ideas, but no one ever wants to do what I say.” She muttered other inaudible words in Italian as she opened the door to the fridge before pulling out the creamer, closing the door with her foot. I smiled at her mismatched reindeer socks.

“That’s not true, Mom,” Bianca replied gently. “But doing a Christmas play and forcing both of them to be in it as shepherds would be a bit difficult—”

“We have a writer in the family!” Aunt Sofia pointed to me, and a piece of pancake caught in my throat.

I forced the piece of food down. “Uh, no. Sorry. I have finals coming up, and besides, I write articles, you know, the nonfiction type. I’m not a playwright.”

Aunt Sofia deflated a bit. “Well, at least my idea was better than Mom’s.”

“What was wrong with mine?” Nona asked, turning around with the pancake flipper in hand.

“I can’t pretend the B&B lost electricity for twentysomething days, Mom.” Aunt Sofia threw her hands into the air before pouring cream into her coffee.

“Yeah, and I am not okay playing house with Mr. Bailey and his son either,” my mom added, raising an eyebrow.

Oh dear God, no.

I already saw James shirtless once.

Having him living under the same roof as me for weeks? I’d never sleep.

“Uh, yeah, I’m with them,” I added.

“Well, it was worth a shot.” Nona smirked and went back to another batch of pancakes.

I ate a few bites of my stack before noticing that the room had gone quiet once again, and when I lifted my head, I realized why. Everyone stared at me, waiting for me to say something.

Why does it always have to be me?

But true to Steadfast G form, I swallowed and forced a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll think of something.”

Everyone smiled and immediately relaxed as Nona looked over her shoulder and winked. “Of course you will, bellezza.”