Jordy turns away quickly, but not fast enough for me to miss the mix of surprise and pleasure that flash across her face. She strides over to the jukebox, running her hands across its shiny surface. “I can’t believe we’ve known each other for almost a year and I haven’t met them.”
“We’ll have to rectify that,” I say. “They’d love to meet you.”
She doesn’t respond, but I can see her reflection in the glass of the jukebox, and she’s smiling. She presses a few buttons and the machine whirs to life. I recognize the song immediately, of course: “Dancing Queen” by ABBA.
“Well, dancing queen?” she says. “You up for a dance party?”
“Always.”
Dance parties have become one of the greatest unexpected pleasures of living with Jordy. The second night of her stay, I turned on music while we were tidying up after dinner. Before I knew it, we were both bopping around the kitchen island, singing loudly, knocking hips, twirling each other, and seeing who could outdo the other with ridiculous moves. In the week since, it’s become a regular occurrence. Jordy is content with my playlists—an eclectic mix of pop, rock, and alternative that spans decades of music—and she occasionally takes over and introduces me to newer music, most of which I’ve liked enough to add to my own lists.
“I always think of you now when I hear this song,” she says, dancing in a circle around me. “But maybe it should bemytheme song since the lyrics are ‘young and sweet, only seventeen’.”
“I’ll share my dancing queen crown with you.” I grab her hand and spin her. Her delighted giggles make me laugh, so I keep spinning her. When she loses her balance on the third spin and tumbles against me, we laugh uncontrollably as we hold each other up.
We’re both still breathless and giggly when Jordy straightens suddenly, letting out a little shriek, then clapping a hand over her mouth. I whip around and let out a yelp of my own when I see someone standing in the doorway.
“Spencer!” Jordy cries. I have a second to see the amusement on his face before Jordy flies forward and throws herself into his arms. I’m not sure which of us is more surprised.
“Well, hello.” He returns Jordy’s hug with a gentle pat on her back. “It’s nice to see you too.” He meets my eyes over Jordy’s shoulder as he releases her. “Do I get an equally enthusiastic greeting from you, Hollie?”
The way he’s grinning at me makes my brain misfire, so it takes a minute for my legs to propel me forward. Jordy scurries away to where our hot chocolate and pie sit, temporarily forgotten.
“Enthusiastic in principle rather than practice,” I say, stopping a few feet in front of him. “Don’t want to knock into you and make you fall.”
He murmurs something that sounds suspiciously like ‘too late’ as he wraps his arms around me. I rest my head on his shoulder and close my eyes, breathing him in. We’ve only hung out a handful of times and it’s been less than a week since I last saw him, but I missed him. I try to tell myself it’s no different than the way I miss the girls when I don’t see them for a while, but itisdifferent. It’s longing mixed with relief and excitement and something deeper. Something wonderful and terrifying I’m too afraid to name.
That fear has me releasing Spencer quickly and stepping back. “This is a nice surprise. What are you doing here?”
“I was on my way home from work and decided to stop in for a slice of pie to have later tonight. Bea informed me she just gave away the last two slices and there won’t be more until closer to dinnertime. She told me there was a consolation prize in the office. I had a feeling it might be you, but I wasn’t expecting the free dance show.”
“You’re welcome,” Jordy says from behind me, and Spencer laughs. “I think we’re the ones who took the last two slices of pie. We haven’t touched them yet, so you can share with us if you want.”
“I don’t want to intrude on your time together.” Spencer’s gaze shifts from Jordy’s face to mine and back again.
Jordy waves him off. “You’re not. Hollie and I are togetherallthe time these days. Besides, if you join us for pie, dessert could be our thing. I’ve never really had ‘things’ with people.”
Ohh, she’s good. I’ve been watching Spencer’s face as Jordy speaks, and I can see the moment she wins him over. I offer to go get an extra fork and Spencer nods, amusement dancing in his eyes as he steps further into the office and takes off his coat.
Bea is busy taking orders, so I duck behind the counter to grab a fork and some napkins. On the shelf next to the bin of clean cutlery sits the covered glass dish that normally sits on the counter with the daily pie special. I chuckle to myself, shaking my head when I see there are three slices of pie inside. And if I’m not mistaken, Horatio keeps an assortment of pie in the back since there are different kinds of pie on the menu other than the daily special.
I catch Bea’s eye across the room as I head back to the office. Her self-satisfied grin-and-shrug combo tells me her plan worked. Between her and Jordy, I feel like I’m being tag teamed…and I’m not mad about it.
Back in the office, Jordy and Spencer are sitting at the bistro table beside the jukebox, which is now playing “Mysterious Ways” by U2. Jordy is eating her slice of pie with gusto while talking a mile a minute to Spencer, who’s nodding along. Jordy’s eyes widen when she sees me, and her mouth snaps shut. This day continues to get weirder.
“You could have started without me,” I tell Spencer, taking the seat beside him and laying the fork and napkins on the table.
“Oh, that’s quite all right, I didn’t mind waiting. I insisted Jordy go ahead if she wanted to, though.” Jordy’s slice of pie is nearly gone, so it looks like Spencer and I will be sharing.
“Did I miss anything?” I ask.
“We were just talking about Chris—”
“—mas decorations,” Jordy interrupts. “Christmas decorations. Bea has gone all out in the diner. I’ve only ever seen that many decorations on TV. It looks great.”
“It does,” I agree slowly. Jordy bobs her head enthusiastically while Spencer concentrates on cutting a precise bit of pie with his fork. When neither of them says anything else, I add, “Some of that stuff has been around for as long as I’ve been coming here. Bea adds to it every year.”
“What about you?” Jordy asks. “Christmas is in less than two weeks and you don’t have any decorations up at the house.”
