If This Was a Movie (Evergreen Park #2)

Chapter 29 – Jules

TWENTY-NINE

JULES

When we pull into a parking garage in downtown Evergreen Park, the butterflies start, which is silly because we’re just getting coffee. Plus, this is Nate, we’re talking about, the man I’ve had coffee with almost every morning this month. The one I’ve spent more time with in the past month than I have with any of the people who matter most in my life.

Still, he smiles at me, and my stomach flips as if he’s some stranger I have a crush on.

It’s a reminder of just how fucked I am.

When we step out of the car, Nate gives me a goofy grin, and I can’t help but return it as he grabs a plaid and fur trapper hat. He slides it on his head before he grabs my hand and starts leading me toward the exit.

“What’s with the hat?”

“I’m getting into character.”

“Into character?” I ask, confused.

“We don’t have time to go on a full-out movie date, but this will do.” I feel it then, my heart skipping a beat, yet another part of me falling for him despite the risks.

This was a bad idea , the cautious voice inside my head that sounds a lot like my mother says.

“How much time did you guys have to plan this?”

He smiles wide.

“Fifteen minutes, maybe. She approached me about my slacking while eating breakfast. I think she’d been planning to ambush me about my lack of effort when you weren’t around.”

“Hmm,” I say. “Sounds very Sophie.” So what’s this grand plan you got together?”

“Buddy took Jovie on a date through New York based on what he thought was the best date ever.”

Another skipped beat of my heart as I stare at him, my books clicking on the concrete as we walk out of the garage and into downtown. Everyone is preparing for the town lighting and every surface is wrapped in garland and lights, making it look like a winter wonderland. The only thing missing is a dusting of snow.

“We’re not in New York,”he continues, “but I have to say I think most people would agree Evergreen Park at Christmas time is even better than the city.”

I don’t disagree: While I made the trek to Rockefeller Center in December, the bustling crowds and utter chaos of New York weren’t for me.

I prefer our cozy small town.

“So we’re…” I start.

“First, we’re going to get the best cup of coffee,” he says as we turn a block and see my favorite coffee shop glowing brightly.

In the front is a chalkboard bistro sign that reads Best coffee in the world, as proclaimed by Jules Everett! Come in and get the Jules Latte, one pump vanilla, one pump almond!

My heart stops beating, I think.

“When did you do this?” I ask, but he ignores me, continuing to explain our upcoming date.

“Then we’re going to go look at the windows on Main Street and come to a consensus on who decorated theirs best. We’ll go through the revolving doors at Evergreen Department Store, but only once, twice max.” He smiles at me, and I give him a shaky one back because I feel the wave of uncontrollable emotion coming. “It would be a bummer for our date to be cut short because I got arrested.”

“Yeah, probably. I don’t think your sisters would like me anymore if I got you arrested,” I say breathlessly.

“Not true, they’d definitely blame me. But then we’re going to lunch at the diner. I thought about taking you to a steakhouse or something fancy, but it didn’t feel very Elf. So we’re getting pasta, though the maple syrup on top is optional.”

“Thank god for that,” I say with a smile as we stop outside the coffee shop. “So you’re taking me on the Elf date?”

“I know you like Love Actually, but I think Elf is much more of a romantic comedy.”

“You said it was stupid.”

“And then I watched it with you, and it wasn’t,” he says, his voice low, his eyes sincere. I bite the inside of my cheek to fight another wave of emotion but clearly fail. “Hey, hey, I’m sorry. Fuck. I’m fucking this up.” He pulls me in close. “I think Love Actually is great! Really! If you want, we can skip all of this and go back home and watch it. Three times if you want! This was silly, I–”

I push on his chest and glare up at him.

“Absolutely not, Nathan Donovan. I’m not upset, I’m… overwhelmed.”

He raises an eyebrow at me.

“Overwhelmed?”

“Yeah, I mean, this…” I wave. My hand at the coffee shop. “You didn’t have to do this. It’s too much.”

He looks at me, confused, before shaking his head.

“It’s a sign at a coffee shop, Jules. It’s not too much.”

“Nate, it?—”

“It’s not too much. Nothing is too much for you, Jules. You deserve the world. You deserve your life to be the most romantic, cinematic masterpiece that was ever created, and I’m making it my mission to help you see that.”

“Nate,” I start, but he shakes his head,

“You deserve magic,” he says low.

“Magic?”

“You said you’ll make Christmas magic for Sophie, but not for you. So I’m making it for you because that’s what you deserve, Jules. The fantasy of your favorite movies but in your real life. Every day. The second you give me the go-ahead, dollface, I’ll make every day a movie for you. Until then, I’m taking you on this date. “ Then he presses his lips to mine, silencing me before he grabs my hand and tugs me into the coffee shop.

As always, the coffee is spectacular, but we get it to go with a not-so-hidden wink from my favorite barista before we wander mainstream to check out the storefronts.

I’ve passed them a dozen times since Thanksgiving, but I haven’t had a chance to meander and check out all of the cute, intricate details the shops always make sure to include. After perusing all the shops, we decided that the flower shop, Evergreen Grows, has the best display.

“They’re so pretty!” I say, gawking over the blooms and leaves, both real and artificial, mixed with fake snow and painted cardboard to make the most magical storefront. “Look! Those peonies are gorgeous, even if they’re fake. They’re my favorite,” I say with a smile.

When he’s quiet, I look over to see he’s taking his phone out and opening a screen, looking like he has a mission.

“What are you doing?” I ask with a smile, watching him diligently tap on his phone with determination. “Is everything okay?” Maybe he got a text about Sophie or?—

“Just making a note,” he says.

“What?”

“A note. I don’t want to forget what kind of flowers you like.”

“You don’t…” I start, confused. He turns his phone to face me, and I see my name on the top of a notes app. My hand reaches out to grab it. “What is that?” He tries to pull it away, but I’ve already got it, pulling it from his reach and looking at the list.

Jules Likes is the title of the note, and below are various items.

Coffee: milk, one pump vanilla, one pump almond.

Snack: snowcaps with popcorn

Movie: romantic comedies

Christmas movie: Love Actually or Serendipity

Color: Pink or purple

It continues, a dozen or so minute things I’ve probably mentioned in passing, ending in Flowers: peonies.

“When did you start this?” I ask, but I’m already tapping at the top to see the creation date when my hand stills, my breath caught in my lungs.

January 1 of this year.

The morning after we met.

That’s why coffee is the first one: I mentioned it first thing that morning. His hand gently reaches out, grabbing his phone from my still hands. My eyes move to him, a sheepish smile on his lips.

“I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget anything important.”

“How I take my coffee isn’t important, Nate,” I tell him, but my voice doesn’t sound like it belongs to me. Instead, it’s breathier and shocked.

“It is to me. Everything about you is important to me, Jules.” He keeps staring at me, and I wonder if he knows how much he’s impacting me, how he’s changing me and making me shift how I view things and how I believe I should be treated and valued.

“Come on. Let’s go get lunch.”

We go to the diner, where he clearly has connections there as well too, since the table in the back corner had a white tablecloth instead of the normal laminate, and we were served pasta, complete with M&Ms and maple syrup on the side. He gave me the cutest, goofiest smile.

The next stop is ice skating, where I quickly learn that I don’t know how to skate, but I get to have Nate’s hands on my hips the entire time, which is a win all around. I giggle as he effortlessly glides me around, telling me how he played hockey in high school just to try and get girls, an effort that backfired when he realized between his job at the grocery store, practice, and homework, he had no time for girls, so it only lasted a year. But, it taught him how to skate, “which, right about now, is serving me really well.”

When I shiver one too many times, we step off the ice, and he insists on unlacing my boots for me before finally and slightly begrudgingly, we make our way to my place so I can check things out before I have to head over to the community center for the cast party.