Catch Yourself a Snowmance (Have Yourself a Merry Little #2)

1. Alyssa

Chapter 1

Alyssa

Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind.

~ Kris Kringle, Miracle on 34th Street

“ I t will be fun!” Noelle, one of my closest friends, says in her second-grade-teacher voice.

We’re sitting in my living room while I wrap the presents I just bought for my family and a few friends at work. Noelle is sipping some of the hot cider I warmed on the stove while she picks out ribbons and trimmings for the packages I’m wrapping. We’re like an assembly line of two.

“Don’t pull the fun card on me,” I say. “I know fun. I’m the queen of fun. The ambassador of fun. The emissary … the concierge … the curator. You know I’m right. Who’s the most fun out of the five of us?” I pause and look up at Noelle from my seat on the floor. “Me. It’s me. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t know anything about fun outside of the annual J.Q. Adams Elementary School Christmas play. ”

“Alyssa.” Noelle crosses her arms sweetly, raises one brow, and smiles a soft smile at me.

“Look. I’d come if it were just you Jennifer, Tori and Stephanie,” I say. “That’s a no-brainer. Girls’ week away in the cabin, sign me up! But Liam and his friends? No. That’s a hard pass.”

“You haven’t given them a chance.”

I stare at Noelle. Trust me when I say telling her no is a feat of monumental proportions. She’s one of the sweetest people I know. I live to make her smile. But the idea of a week in a remote cabin with Liam’s friends is not my idea of how to spend my winter vacation.

“The fact that I’m going to be alone over the holidays didn’t feel pathetic until this moment,” I say on a sigh.

“What does me inviting you to spend a week with your best friends and Liam and his group of friends have to do with being pathetic? You have people who want you to spend the holidays with them. That’s completely un-pathetic.” Noelle bobs her head once as if the movement is some form of punctuation.

“I always thought I’d have a man of my own to spend the holidays with by now.” I glance up from my spot on the floor to where Noelle is sitting on my couch curling a ribbon with a pair of scissors.

“I can’t believe I’m twenty-eight years old and still single.” I confess. “Not that I hate being single.”

Noelle’s face looks like she’s comforting one of her second graders after no one picked her for a team during recess.

“Don’t get that pitying face. I’m good. I love my life.”

I do. I love my life.

“I know you do. You’re always gathering people and coming up with adventures and memorable things for us to do. You work at a job you love as your own boss. You’re close with your family. It’s a good life. ”

“A wonderful life.” I wag my eyebrows at Noelle and she giggles.

“That’s the spirit. Quote Christmas movies all day long. And say yes.”

I feel my mouth tug into a lopsided smile. She’s not going to give up easily.

“Anyway, I was saying, I don’t need a man. A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.” I pause. “I read that on a poster somewhere.”

“I don’t need a man either,” Noelle says in her typically cheerful voice. “But I sure am glad I have one. With the right one, you discover something deeper than needing someone. Like, your life was good, but suddenly it’s infinitely more, all because of this man who fits you and your life just right. It’s worth waiting for the right one.”

“Says the woman who had the right one literally show up on her doorstep.”

Noelle beams. “Only because you ordered him to show up there. Maybe I ought to order you a man.”

I lift my head to meet her gaze, fully intent on dissuading her, and she winks.

“Oh, no. No. You do not need to order me a man. And please, tell me you aren’t trying to fix me up with one of those cretins Liam calls friends. He’s definitely the cream of that crop. The rest of them seem like oversized frat boys.”

“They’re not that bad.”

“Uh huh. Yeah. Remember the time I stopped by with you on a Sunday afternoon so you could drop off your Mother’s Day gift for Liam to give to his mom for you? He was at that one guy, Carson’s, house. They were all sprawled on couches with pizza rolls, Doritos and Lit’l Smokies on platters on the coffee table, whooping and shouting at the TV. Not one of them blinked when we walked in. No one offered us a drink or a place to sit. That guy, Carson, actually had Dorito dust on his T-shirt.”

I shake my head at the memory.

“You caught them on an off moment,” Noelle pleads like a kid asking her mom to keep a stray puppy who already peed on the carpet and chewed a shoe. “People get Dorito dust on their shirts. It’s not a reflection of their character.”

“So you are trying to fix me up?”

“No. I’m definitely not. Liam and I just want our two friend groups to get to know one another better before the wedding. It would be so fun if all of us could hang out occasionally.

“And the cabin is resort luxury at its finest,” Noelle says with the tone of a seasoned real estate agent. “It’s the place we always went as a family. You know my daddy. He spares no expense and needs everything to reflect his standards. The bathrooms even have heated floors. And the views are exquisite. We’re only five minutes from the slopes.”

“If teaching ever ceases to be your passion, I’m pretty sure you have a future in timeshare sales.”

“Stop it. I’m just trying to convince you how awesome this week will be.”

“Do you remember that time we took your dad up on his offer to stay in his friend’s luxury camper outside Chattanooga?”

“Not the same. At all.” Noelle has her serious face on. She’s got all these expressions dialed in as a teacher.

“That thing was the motorhome of my nightmares.” I stare at Noelle. She looks appropriately and adorably remorseful. “I still shudder thinking about the sleeping arrangements. And that mattress! I couldn’t even roll over. It was a coffin! Who designs these things? Dracula? Plus, there was that smell in the shower. Just ewww. ”

We laugh now, but no one was laughing that weekend.

“The RV was a bust. No doubt.” Noelle agrees. “This isn’t that. I’ve actually stayed in this cabin many times with my family. Calling it a cabin doesn’t even do it justice. This place is bigger than my house. It’s got six bedrooms, three upstairs bathrooms and a bath and a half downstairs. You’d share a bedroom with me—we each get our own queen bed. Everything is top of the line. ”

“Your dad said that RV was going to be top of the line. He used that exact phrase. ‘You girls are going to love Stuart’s camper. It’s top of the line.’” I add air quotes for emphasis.

Noelle ignores me. I think we’re at a standstill, but then she throws out her last ditch effort to win me over.

“Also—and I saved this part for last on purpose—Stephanie, Tori and Jennifer already said yes.”

“They did?”

“They did. You’re the last one. It won’t be the same without you, Alyssa.”

I make the mistake of glancing up and looking Noelle in the eyes. She’s got this sweet, pleading expression on her face.

“Okay. Okay. Consider me on board. But I get to pick what we do over your Spring Break. And it’s going to be girls only.”

“Deal!” Noelle squeals and does a little happy shimmy.

“I’d do anything for you,” I admit, even though she already knows it. “Just don’t take advantage of that fact, okay?”

“Never. You won’t regret this. I promise.”

“Mm hmm.” I smile at Noelle, despite the fact that I think she’s being optimistic.

She’s nearly giddy when she says, “If everything goes well, we’ll be hanging out as a group for years to come.”

Now I know she’s being optimistic.