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He was watching her, his gaze was friendly and their warm breath was visible in the cold air.
“Haven’t you seen snow before?”
She gave his arm a swat. “Of course I’ve seen snow. I’m from Scotland. We practically created it. But this”—she waved out her arm—“this is just beautiful. It’s like the first act in one of those Christmas movies. I almost don’t want to step down and spoil it.”
“You think we’ll spoil it?” He was looking at her a little differently now. A little more intensely. Or maybe it was just her imagination.
She gave her head a little shake. “Of course not.” She gestured for him to move forward and they took a few steps down the stairs onto the snow covered street. “Will the snow plows come out tonight?”
He nodded. “Sure, they will.”
She gave a little laugh. “This will play havoc with your football field.”
“No football right now. It’s winter conditioning. Next few days we’ll just practice inside. I need to keep them moving. Anything to try and release some of those pent up teenage hormones.”
She shuddered. “I can’t imagine how you deal with all that. I didn’t love school at all.” She shot him a glance. “But, then again, we didn’t have a school teacher like you at Ravenspark Royal. Mr. Burton was big and scary with milk-bottle bottom style glasses and terrible BO. I ran the tuck shop for four years to get out of PE.”
“What’s a tuck shop?”
She laughed. “You know, the place you go at break to buy all the sweeties. I think they’ve outlawed them now.”
He nodded his head in acknowledgement and wagged his finger at her. “Then you, Emma McGregor, were one of the students I would have come and hunted down to make sure they got enough exercise.”
“Promises, promises.” She looked around. “So, where are you taking me? Eliza said the skating would likely be closed.”
He nodded. “I checked earlier. It is. I thought we might try and get into the Christmas spirit.”
“What does that mean?”
“Let’s leave it as a surprise.”
He led her up First Street, past the Italian restaurant with its delicious smells and past the noise coming out of Grey’s Saloon. The two places Eliza had suggested. As they walked further on, they reached the pizza parlour. Her heart gave a little lurch. Was this where they were going? But, no. Mitch steered her to the right and past the Graff Hotel.
He stopped dead on the other side of the street. Right underneath a movie poster. She looked up and let out a little gasp. The black and white poster for It’s a Wonderful Life was above her. Jimmy Stewart surrounded by his family in one of the most iconic scenes from the movie.
“It’s on? Here?” She couldn’t believe it. One of her favorite films of all time. This was perfect. A real feel-good movie that truly embraced the real notion of Christmas. Just what she needed right now.
He gave a nod. “In the weeks before Christmas, one night a week the movie theater here always shows some of the old films. We just got lucky.”
Lucky. She turned to meet his gaze. He’d moved right up behind her and, in the light spilling out from the movie theater, she could see his green eyes were focused on her. Why did people keep mentioning that word to her?
But this time it didn’t make her feel tense. This time, it didn’t feel ironic. This time it might actually be true.
“So, Ms. McGregor, does our alternative venue meet your approval? Can I interest you in some popcorn and a movie?”
Her stomach gave an unexpected grumble. “I think you can interest me in both. And maybe I’ll buy us both pizza on the way back.”
He rolled his eyes. “I can buy us pizza.”
“But it’s not a date. It’s a friend thing. You buy the movie tickets and popcorn and I buy the pizza.”
She could see him biting his tongue. Mitch was obviously a traditional kind of guy, but she didn’t want to give him the wrong impression – she was already getting it herself.
He gave a grudging nod and they walked into the cinema. It was old-fashioned with a traditional ticket booth with a young girl behind the desk. She smiled as they entered and automatically printed off two tickets. There was a huge popcorn machine and drink fountain behind her. She obviously did everything in here.
“Hi, Marlie,” Mitch said. “Two tickets and some soda and popcorn please.”
The girl handed over the tickets but paused when he held out the money. She couldn’t take her eyes off Emma. After a few seconds Emma pulled off her hat, shaking off the snow and unbuttoned her red coat.
Marlie held her hand out towards her. “Hi, I’m Marlie, a friend of Mitch’s. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Are you new in town? Are you Mitch’s sister?”
Emma could feel her lips twitch upwards.
Mitch looked embarrassed. “Emma McGregor, this is Marlie Reynolds, one of my students”—he emphasised the word—“at Marietta High School. And no, Marlie, she’s not my sister.”
Emma smiled and took Marlie’s hand. “It’s lovely to meet you, Marlie. And Mr. Holden is definitely not my brother.”
She could almost see the adjustment in Marlie’s brain. She was used to it. When most Americans heard her strong accent it took them a few seconds to process it.
“You’re the runaway bride.” Marlie’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
Emma was taken aback. She wasn’t quite sure whether to be offended or amused. In a town as small as Marietta, it was obvious people would talk about her and gossip would spread fast.
“I guess I am,” she said as she stepped forward. “Can I have a diet soda and the sweet popcorn please?”
There was the briefest pause. She’d made it clear the conversation was over but it took Marlie a few seconds to move. She didn’t even ask Mitch what he wanted – was that because she already knew? But less than a minute later, two popcorns and two sodas appeared on the counter.
Mitch picked up the drinks and nodded at Marlie as they walked towards the main doors. “Sorry about that,” he murmured. “Any second now Facebook will go into meltdown.”
Emma followed him up the stairs into the cinema. “I guess your students are interested in you.” She nudged his arm. “You should have told her this wasn’t a date.”
“That’s the last thing I’m going to tell her. I don’t discuss anything personal with my students. Thankfully, for me, there’s also a female counselor at school – she mainly deals with the female students.”
They walked midway up the aisle and along to the middle of a row. The theater wasn’t too busy, but there were a number of other people who nodded and smiled at Mitch. She shrugged off her coat as they sat down.
“It suits you,” he said.
“The coat or the wellies?” She held up her foot in the red boot. “I’ve got to be honest. These are snuggly warm. I love them. Think Eliza will notice if I steal them when I leave?”
She must have said something wrong, because Mitch momentarily blanched. “I think Eliza would chase after you screaming and shouting if you stole her boots,” he said quickly. But the answer seemed forced.
The lights started to dim and she settled down in her seat next to him. It was odd. Last time she’d been in a cinema like this she’d been a teenager in Scotland. It seemed as though years ago theaters had been the same the world over. Maybe this one had an intermission where Marlie would come out with a tray of ice cream?
For the first few minutes, Emma tried to concentrate on the movie. But even though this was her favorite film, she was more conscious of the rise and fall of the chest of the guy next to her than the picture playing out on the screen. Mitch seemed perfectly relaxed. His eyes were fixed on the screen and he let out a little chuckle when Clarence appeared.
She tried to stop her mind racing. She loved this film. She’d spent many an afternoon curled up on the sofa watching it. Mitch’s arm brushed against hers.
He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Sorry.”
; She twitched. That was a definite tingle and it had just shot straight down her spine. She wasn’t sure whether it was the dark cinema or the close proximity, but something about being in here with him felt strangely intimate.
He reached over. “Can I snag some of your popcorn? Mine is kind of lame.”
She handed over the paper tub. She’d hardly touched it.
“You okay?” This time when he lowered his head, his lips brushed against her ear.
She froze. Her brain had just gone into auto spin.
A waft of his aftershave drifted around her. Subtle, slightly spicy, and definitely masculine. All of a sudden she wasn’t sure she was going to get through a whole movie. She made a grab for her soda and took a big drink.
On screen, George’s life was falling apart around him. Something twisted in her stomach. Only a few days ago she would have entirely related. In fact, six weeks ago she would have been weeping alongside George. She’d always loved the film, but she’d never put herself in George’s shoes.
Clarence started to show him how life would be if he never lived. This was the part she loved best. But instead of thinking about herself, she was thinking about the guy sitting next to her. Did Mitch have what ifs? How did he really feel about going from being a professional football player who probably earned megabucks to a high school football coach?
How did a guy’s self-esteem handle that?
It made her like him all the more. From what she’d seen, Mitch Holden wasn’t a guy with a chip on his shoulder. He seemed to love his job and Marietta. He’d already told her he felt lucky ending up here.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about Marietta. She wasn’t really sure how she felt about anything. What ifs were beyond confusing. If she hadn’t had surgery a few weeks ago, and the bad news, then she would have gotten married on Saturday the way it was planned. She would now officially be Mrs. Bryce Allardyce and be on honeymoon somewhere.
A tiny little part of her twisted again. There was no use pretending it didn’t hurt. Not being able to have kids hurt. Not being able to have the life she’d thought she would hurt.
