“Lauren Hall, get in here.” Mom’s voice rang shrill from the kitchen.
Lauren pushed off the door and practically skipped into the room. “What’s up?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” Mom shook her finger. “You pull in here with a boyfriend, kick him out first thing in the morning and then go out to make a snowman?”
“Snow-mouse,” she corrected.
Mom’s eyes widened. “Honey! What is going on with you?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Lauren snarked.
“Try me,” Mom practically growled.
Lauren drew in a breath. “Christmas has brought things into perspective. I realized Foster wasn’t the type of man I wanted and that I miss Jacob.”
Mom softened. Jacob was like another son to her. She’d been to all his football games and cheered louder than the pom-pom shakers. “He missed you too, you know.”
Lauren brightened and leaned close. “Tell me more.”
Mom laughed. “When you left for school, he moped around his front yard like a lost puppy. I’d catch him staring at our house with this look in his eye that tore my heart out. He lost weight too.”
Lauren frowned as she pictured the hurt Jacob must have gone through. “I feel bad about what happened. I mean, he started it, but I didn’t handle the situation with the finesse I hope I’ve gained since then.”
Mom nodded once as if that was all she needed to hear. Lauren hugged her. “Thanks for having my back–always. Even when I’m acting like a crazy teenager.”
Mom patted her. “That’s when you need it most. I love you.”
“Love you too.” She stepped back and noted the stack of Christmas plates at the end of the counter. “Oh, I hope it’s okay that I invited Mrs. Morris and Jacob for dinner tonight. I’ll do whatever I need to help.”
Mom brightened. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. I’ve been worried about Michelle with her kids all on that cruise.”
Lauren tapped her chin. “Maybe we should all take a cruise next year. What do you think?”
“I think I like my Christmases right here in Moose Hollow,” she paused while giving Lauren a side-eye, “but I wouldn’t mind getting out of the cold in January.”
Lauren clapped her hands. “I’ll look into it.”
Mom spontaneously hugged her. “Thanks for coming home. Jacob wasn’t the only one who missed you.”
Lauren settled into the hug. The feeling that she’d found more than her old friend in Moose Hollow enveloped her. In order to wall off the part of her heart that belonged to Jacob, she’d had to include Moose Hollow and even her relationship with her family to an extent, because he was in all of it. Little fibers of Jacob wove through her history with her parents and the town. Even Christmas itself.
That all changed today as she’d opened herself up to Jacob once again.
It was scary, but thrilling.
The day flew by and before she knew it, Jacob and Michelle were at the dinner table, laughing as Collin told them mistletoe was gross. “And if you accidentally fall under it–you have to kiss a girl.” He looked equal parts disgusted and horrified.
“Some day, you might think differently.” Ethan rubbed Collin’s head. “And I’ll crawl under a rock when you do,” he mumbled to Lauren.
She snickered into her sparkling cider before taking a sip.
Collin heard her and leaned around Ethan to ask her, “Did you ever trap a boy under the mistletoe?”
Shocked, Lauren snorted, making the sparkling cider shoot into her sinuses where it burned. She coughed and sputtered behind her napkin. The grown-ups laughed, exchanging looks and enjoying the view from Collin’s world.
Jacob leaned forward. “I think what Lauren is trying to say is that she was a champion mistletoe trapper.”
Lauren grabbed his knee, right on the sensitive spot, and squeezed. He yelped and jumped in his seat, putting his hand over the top of hers. She moved to pull it out, but he held tight and then relaxed, giving her the option of going or staying. Her body warmed, and the most pleasant zings shot up her arm.
