“Oh.” Her face dropped in disappointment. “Well, is it any good?”
“Delicious,” she enthused.
“I’ll take a cup.”
Tiana prepared her drink and rang her up, checking the time once again, counting the minutes until she was off duty. Four more to go. Her replacement should be arriving any…
“Hey, sorry I’m late!” Ramona Benson, the director of Haven House, rushed into the booth with several totes, her ponytailslipping from her head, two scarves, one glove, and mismatched shoes.
“Are you okay?” Tiana asked, she’d never seen the woman look anything but put together.
“I overslept. I meant to shut my eyes for a power nap. I set my alarm for twenty minutes, but I ended up sleeping for four hours. I just got here as soon as I could.”
“If you want me to stay, I can,” Tiana offered. She’d promised Karina that she’d go watch her perform for the tree lighting ceremony, but she could let her know she’d had to stay.
“No! No, you go,” Ramona insisted, practically pushing her out of the tent. “You’ve done more than enough. Go. Have fun!”
Tiana grabbed her bag and jacket before leaving and headed down to the main stage. The way Ramona said ‘have fun’ told Tiana that Ramona must have heard the rumors that she was dating Niko Costas. If she had, then she was not alone. Nine out of ten people who came to the cider stand had asked her about Niko. She said as little as possible and usually just changed the subject. She worried if she talked about him, everything she was feeling and thinking about him would be broadcast on her face.
Speaking of the man who had hijacked her brain with that kiss, he was holding court at the pop-up batting cages. He was working with a charity called Fostering the Future that helped foster kids still in the system and those who had aged out, a cause that was obviously very close to Tiana’s heart. He brought the kids down to get cider and introduced her as his girlfriend. One of the kids, who wasn’t so sporty, had come back to get another cup, and she suspected he was there to vet Tiana to see if she was good enough for Niko. His name was Manuel, he was twelve. He told her he met Niko when he was four when Niko came to volunteer at a foster home. He told her since that meeting, Niko checked in on him once a month to make sure he was okay and that he had everything he needed. He told Tianathat he wasn’t the only one that Niko kept tabs on, he said that there were at least a dozen other kids he made sure were okay too. He said his best friend was a girl named Miranda, who was put in a bad situation in a foster home, and Niko found out about it when he was playing in Seattle. The second his game was over, he got on a plane and flew to Sacramento and had an emergency order put in for not only her removal but also every child in that home. He followed up and made sure that charges were pressed against the responsible adults in the home, and he still pays for all the kids who were affected to have counseling. He made sure another one of Manuel’s friends, Marvin, had extra tutoring because he was dyslexic, and he discovered Rita was on the spectrum and had an insane IQ, but no one knew that because they’d labelled her as special needs and put her in remedial classes. The more Tiana learned about Niko, the more she wondered if he was actually an angel on the earth.
Tiana made her way down Main Street, following the pull of holiday music and the scent of woodsmoke and roasted chestnuts toward the grass area near the riverside rec area where the tree lighting service was being held. For a moment, she let herself be swept into the tide of festival-goers, families with toddlers bundled like starfish, teens loitering in giggling packs, and elderly couples arm-in-arm with the shuffling patience of oak trees. She navigated past a herd of mom groups in matching beanies, and a dad orchestrating a stroller, toddler, and dog with equal authority.
The entire downtown and river area were strung with garlands and fairy lights, the trees twinkling like cities on a nighttime flight, the pop-up booths clustered like gingerbread houses around a bare-bough pine that reached four stories into the thinning clouds.
The town’s Christmas tree was enormous, decorated by communal effort, each layer of ornaments reflecting a differenttaste or tradition such as hand-cut snowflakes, glass baubles, and makeshift angels assembled from pipe cleaners and coffee filters. Tiana spotted Karina off to the side of the stage, standing by her husband. She began to raise her hand in silent greeting, but before she could, her pocket buzzed with a text.
The preview alone was enough to send a current through her, and it was only five words.
Niko: Meet me under the mistletoe.
She felt her face go hot, brighter than the holiday lights, heat racing in a line from jaw to collarbone. The reaction was involuntary, flashing and swift, like the muscle memory of how his hand had guided her, the hunger in his voice, the taste of him still lingering in her mouth. She told herself it was ridiculous, that she was a grown woman who should not be so susceptible to a little flirtation, but her mind was helpless against the way he invaded her thoughts.
She had intended to play it cool, to leave him on read for at least a minute, maybe two. Instead, she found herself grinning at the screen, thumbs already in motion, heart thudding with anticipation.
Tiana: Sorry, I have other plans.
He responded with a sad crying face, and she couldn’t help but smile. When she saw the bubbles of him typing again, her breath caught in her throat, and she bit her bottom lip in anticipation.
When she saw another message come through, she gasped before she even read what it said.
Niko: I think you put something in that cider because I can’t stop thinking about you.
She messaged back.
Tiana: You think I have to drug you to make you think of me?
She wasn’t sure where this boldness was coming from. She wasn’t a flirty texter, or flirty at all really, but Niko was bringing out a different side of her.
Niko: Fair point. All you have to do is exist for me to think of you.
Her smile spread from ear to ear as tingles spread from head to toe. She knew it wasn’t real, in her mind, but her body was responding as if it was.
Niko: It’s always been that way.
“What?!” she said out loud to herself.
What did that mean?
