Page 122 of Meet Me on Mistletoe Lane

I leaned into her hand, breathing in the lingering scent of eucalyptus. “I didn’t mean what I said about you not taking chances. I was angry with myself. You take lots of chances, Mom.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” She took her hand back and stared at her mug as a light breeze blew snow off our roof, sending glittery sparkles over the front yard. “I used to be much braver.” She chuckled. “Heck, I literally left a life that would’ve been pretty darn successful in the city to move to a small town for the man I fell in love with, and now…”

“Now,” I said, putting my arm around her shoulder, “you have a very successful small business in that small town, and you’ve raised two kids mostly by yourself. It takes a brave person to do all that.”

“Maybe.” She lifted her head and stared off into the trees that lined our property. “But I could be braver…with my art and with…dating. You know, putting myself out there.” She whipped her attention back to me. “But don’t tell Nona I said that.”

I made a zipper motion across my lips and smiled. “I get it. Letting yourself feel things, dating—even fake dating—is exhausting, Mom.”

“Tell me about it.”

We both laughed as the clock tower chimed, and then a new thought sparked inside of me.

“Hey, do you want to be a part of my Christmas wish?” I asked her. “You know how I always make one of those instead of a New Year’s resolution—”

“Because ‘Christmas wishes involve faith and goodwill’?” Mom added, smiling. “Sure, I’d love to. What’s your wish this year?”

I turned toward her, tucking one of my legs under the other. “To be hopeful and open for love,” I said. “For both of us.”

She tucked the blanket a bit tighter around us and then raised her mug. “For love.”

I gently clinked my mug against hers. “For love.”

The front door opened, and Leo popped his head out, his bed hair sticking up in eighty different directions. “You guys good now? Do I need to set off the smoke alarm?”

“No,” we both said before our laughter filled the quiet morning.

Mom stayed home and made sugar cookies with Leo and me while helping do an inventory of everything I had bought so far for Italy. We all ate far too much cookie dough while downing gallons (probably) of hot chocolate, and even though I knew we’d crash hard later, it was still one of the best mornings we’d had in a long time.

After stuffing our faces with a pizza covered in artichokes and meatballs for lunch—a family favorite inspired by Dad—the three of us snuggled under blankets in the den and put on Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town. Leo fell asleep within minutes, and Mom followed suit after taking a phone call from Travis Bailey. But as I was enjoying the wedding between Kris and Jessica, a knock sounded from our front door.

I hit pause and carefully peeled back the blanket, sliding my feet into slippers and heading toward the front of the house. A second later, I opened the door and took a sharp inhale.

For one, because despite the partly cloudy sky, the air outside had turned frigid.

And two, because of the person standing in front of me.

“James,” I said, blinking a few times to make sure my eyes weren’t lying. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh, currently?” He shifted his weight back and forth on his feet. “Freezing, but—”

“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry.” I stepped to the side and opened the door wider. “Come in.”

“Thanks.” He stomped his feet on the mat and stepped inside, taking off his hat. “No offense, but your weather here kinda sucks. I feel like I’ve seen a few seasons in one day.”

I chuckled as I closed the door. “Yeah, that’s common.”

James pursed his lips as he nodded. “Oh, um, the real reason I came by was to give you something…” He unzipped his coat and reached into an inside pocket.

“James, you didn’t have to—”

“I know, but I came across it in DC and…” He pulled out a snow globe and handed it to me. “It had your name written all over it.”

I blinked back tears and slowly twirled the globe around.

Inside was the final scene from It’s a Wonderful Life of the Bailey family in front of their Christmas tree, and the inscription on its base was the quote from Clarence: “No man is a failure who has friends.”

“Turn the key on the back,” James said.