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“Thanks.”
I scanned the counter—it was missing something. Coffee. Reluctantly, I let go of her and headed to the pantry. The coffee was on, the pot full but untouched. I grabbed two mugs and filled them before heading back to her.
“What can I do to help?”
“Stay out of my way.” She laughed softly. “Everything’s basically on timers now. And…” She blushed slightly, reaching for the coffee in my hand. “The cookies are refrigerating before I put them in the oven.”
“You made me cookies?”
“Correction, I madeuscookies. But you’re right, it’s not Christmas without them.”
“And mistletoe. Not Christmas without that either.”
She rolled her eyes with a laugh and took her first sip of coffee.
I leaned against the counter. “You sit and relax. I’ll whip us up some breakfast then we can watch some movies, what do you say?”
“I thought you didn’t like to cook.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “Depends on who I’m cooking for.”
We spent the day watching Christmas movies in the theater room, going through half the shortbread cookies she’d made fresh from the oven and a couple bowls of popcorn. She lounged against me, her phone in her lap.
I checked the time on her phone—the food would be ready soon. We’d set the table between movies, finding some festive plates tucked away high in one of the cupboards. There’d been placemats and a metallic table runner, too. It was going to be a quiet peaceful evening and shaping up to be the nicest Christmas I’d had in years.
The movie over, we headed back upstairs. I helped her put everything onto plates and headed into the dining room to eat.
The pulled back curtains showed snow yet again falling peacefully.
She sighed as she lit the candles on the table. “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow?”
I chuckled. “It’ll pass.”
She crossed her fingers, and we dug in. I leaned over and picked up my phone, bringing up a playlist. She smiled as the music started up, coming through the speakers overhead.
We ate slowly, talking and drinking the wine I’d brought up from the wine room earlier.
Jenna looked relaxed when we’d finished. She looked at me with a slow smile. “Can you handle clean-up? I gotta put my phone on the charger.”
“Sure. Happy to.” I stood up and picked up the plates, stopping to kiss her cheek. “Pour me a wine when I get back?”
“Absolutely.”
Twenty minutes later, everything was either in the dishwasher ready to go or wrapped in plastic and in the fridge for leftovers later. I grabbed a box of chocolates from the pantry and headed back into the empty dining room.
I frowned. The wine glasses were refilled, the empty wine bottle in the middle of the table. I opened the chocolates, popped one in my mouth, and went in search of her. I’d barely made it out of the living room when the front door opened.
Jenna came back in, stomping her boots at the front door. I could tell by the way she peeled her gloves off she was upset.
“What’s up?”
“It’s sputtering…”
“Okay…”
“Not okay. That means I’m stuck here…” She blinked rapidly, clearly trying to hold her tears.
“The roads aren’t exactly—”
