Page 91 of Meet Me on Mistletoe Lane

I peered over the lid expectantly.

James cleared his throat and opened the lid. “I have an assortment of snacks for us this evening, Ms. Mancini. Crackers, cheese, dark chocolate, pretzels, and strawberries.” His eyes lifted to meet mine. “I wasn’t sure what kind of movie food you liked, but everything in here is nut-free, and I was really careful when preparing it, too.”

He remembered. “Thank you, James. That’s really sweet. Can I treat us to the cocoa, then?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t allow that.” He stood. “Be right back!”

I laid out the food onto a large plate packed inside and shot Jo a quick message.

Me: He packed us nut-free snacks!

Her response was immediate and all emojis.

Jo:

I tucked my phone away as James returned with two steaming cups of cocoa.

“Peppermint and cinnamon added, courtesy of Eve,” he said, handing me mine.

“Thank you.” I blew across it before taking a cautious sip and sighing contentedly. As usual, Eve knew the exact proportion of peppermint to cinnamon I liked.

The lights dimmed, and everyone clapped and cheered with the familiar opening credits and the instrumental score that came with it. We snacked for a bit and finished our cocoa before lying on our stomachs and propping ourselves up with our elbows. James laughed along like the rest of us when George and Mary accidentally danced themselves into the gym pool.

And I couldn’t help but think how natural this all felt—hanging out with him while surrounded by the people who had known me my whole life.

Maybe…maybe this was something.

“I love this part,” I whispered to him a few minutes later as George spoke to Mary about throwing a lasso around the moon for her.

He nodded. “Yeah, this is iconic—and that part at the end about angels getting wings.”

“Totally.”

He popped a pretzel in his mouth and angled his head toward me. “Okay, so time for me to ask my three questions.”

“Two,” I corrected, bumping his shoulder.

“Fine.” He made a face. “First question: Why do you want to be a journalist when you grow up?”

“How did you know that?” I turned my head to the side.

“Your aunt has one of your articles taped to her refrigerator. I asked her about it, and she mentioned it.”

She still has that one?

“I guess I’ve always liked writing and telling stories,” I said, grabbing a piece of dark chocolate. “But I really like focusing on people and places that might get overlooked or forgotten.”

James nodded. “I like that. You can help a lot of people that way.”

That’s the idea.

“Favorite dessert?” he asked.

I laughed. “That’s your final question?”

He put a hand on his chest. “I take dessert very seriously, Gianna.”

“Fair.” I bit my lip and smiled at the current scene on the projector, George talking excitedly about his favorite sounds at the train station. “Cheesecake. I love the cookies and cannoli my Nona bakes, but my dad once brought me back a slice of cheesecake from a teacher’s conference, and I still dream about it on a nightly basis.”