Stuck in Christmas (Holiday Magic #1)

Chapter 16

Sixteen

Bonnie’s greeting drowned out the ridiculous bells as Eli and I entered the diner, thank goodness, because I was one ring away from tearing those suckers down.

“There are my two favorite bakers. How’s the carnival?” Bonnie called from the counter.

Eli crossed the room and kissed her on the cheek. “Wonderful. Pie?”

Bonnie and I nodded enthusiastically as if he needed to ask before heading toward the kitchen to prepare a few slices.

The kind, older woman motioned toward a table at the back of the diner, and we both sat. “He’s in a great mood. I haven’t seen him smile that much in a long time. I think you must have something to do with that,” Bonnie chuckled.

“Maybe,” I admitted. “But I need to ask you about something else. The carnival. Do you know Kris?”

“Kris?”

I rolled my eyes. “Um. Santa?”

“Oh yes, indeed. He’s been coming to the carnival, well - for as long as I can remember,” Bonnie said.

I looked again at Bonnie’s Christmas pin. “Ten lords a’ leaping.”

Bonnie touched the enamel and metal pin. “Isn’t it sweet? Joe got it for me on…”

“Your tenth Christmas together,” I finished.

She smiled. “What a great guess.”

“I’m also guessing you have twelve of them,” I added.

“Well, the song is The Twelve Days of Christmas ,” Bonnie laughed.

A cold chill reached my spine. “What happens when you run out of pins?”

“That’s a strange question.”

I sighed. “Never mind. I think that means I only have two do-overs left.”

“I was following along until you got to do-overs. What kind of do-overs are you talking about?” Bonnie asked.

“Tries to get this romance thing right,” I explained. “I only have two left.”

“Why do you need do-overs?” Bonnie swatted my arm playfully. “I’ve seen the way Eli looks at you.”

I nodded. “I know, right? So what am I doing wrong?”

A serene calm fell over the woman. “There’s only one wrong way to fall in love.”

Here we go . “What’s that?”

“The wrong way to fall in love is to not fall in love at all, but that’s a danger I don’t think you’re facing right now.” Bonnie busied herself by straightening the centerpiece on the table. Her movement caused the pin to glint in the overhead lights.

“How did you and Joe meet? He told me it was a chance encounter at Christmas.”

She stopped straightening the table and sighed dreamily. “He’s right, and we have Santa… er… Kris to thank for it.”

“I’d love to hear that story.”

She folded her hands on the table. “Well, many moons ago, back before there was a word for fire.”

I laughed. “Oh, Bonnie, you’re not that old.”

She waved me off. “Hush, child, I’m spinning a yarn.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Many moons ago, there was this beautiful young woman who had the world figured out,” Bonnie began. “She was going to be a world-famous chef and travel the world. In those days, there weren’t many chefs of color and fewer women chefs, but she didn’t care - she would be one of the first and pave the way for others to come behind her.

“One Christmas, a friend was having a holiday party and hired this young woman to cater it. It was the first time this young woman had catered anything, but she knew it would be her big break - since the movers and shakers in town would be at this party. She prepared her best appetizers, put together a sparkling punch, and set up the buffet piled high with roast meats and vegetables and the piece de resistance - a three-tier Christmas cake. There was only one problem.”

“No peach pie?” I helpfully added.

“I save that for special people.” She winked at me. “No, the problem was - this fabulous young woman had forgotten to hire people to help her serve the dishes and pass the appetizers. With hours to go before the party, she was desperate. She called everyone she knew and begged them for help - offering to pay them, somehow . Her last call was to an almost stranger, someone she had met at the Christmas carnival a few times.”

Understanding dawned. “Kris.”

Bonnie nodded. “He knew many people, and maybe he knew someone who could help. And he did. He told this young woman he was sending her the perfect person.”

“This is going to be an awkward story if that wasn’t Joe,” I teased.

“Right? Joe did show up. I thought he was a waiter. Boy, was I wrong. He messed up so many things I thought Kris was crazy for sending this terrible waiter to me. How could he be the perfect person? But the more the party went on, the more I realized he was perfect. He thankfully didn’t drop any food or punch on the movers and shakers. And they didn’t seem to mind his mess-ups because he was so charming. He told stories that made them laugh and enjoy my food much more.

“Later, when it was all said and done, I was called out of the kitchen. The host applauded my catering and told everyone he discovered me, and if they were smart, they’d start booking me now for their spring and summer gatherings because I was going to be too busy to take last-minute reservations.”

My heart swelled for her. “And Joe?”

Bonnie’s grin was infectious. “While I was out in the main room collecting reservations for the next year, Joe cleaned up every dish and glass in the kitchen. Every. Single. One.”

“That would be enough for me to fall in love with someone,” I agreed. “I hate washing dishes.”

“Definitely enough for me. I didn’t mind doing the dishes. It’s part of being a chef. The important part about this was how Joe was there to back me up. He came to the rescue to be a waiter - for the first time in his life. My guests applauded me for hiring someone with such charm to dole out my amazing cooking. And while I was getting applause and pats on the back, he was backing me up again, cleaning up all of the catering pans and dishes so my day didn’t have to be any longer than it was. He was the perfect person for me . I knew then that I would marry that man, and I did.”

My eyes stung, and my nose itched. I coughed a few times to clear the lump in my throat. “And you both knew right away that you were in love?”

“Yes.”

I thought about that for a moment. “It must be nice being married so long to your first love.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Who said we were each others’ first loves?”

My brain hurt from the math of it.

“We both had our hearts broken before,” Bonnie admitted.

“After all that, you were willing to fall in love with someone new? Take a chance?” I asked.

“That’s what love is.” Bonnie clasped my hand. “Handing over your heart to someone who could completely crush it and doing it anyway, hoping that person won’t. ”

I loved this woman but wasn’t sure I was buying what she was selling. “That’s easy for you to say after decades of marriage.”

“Maybe, but I’ve always been so thankful for my broken heart before I met Joe.”

Now I knew she was full of dookie. Dang it. I’d be glad to get out of this non-cursing hell. “You were thankful for a broken heart?”

“If it weren’t for the broken heart from the guys before Joe, I wouldn’t have appreciated him as much as I did,” Bonnie said. “Let’s put it this way. Do you like movies?”

I shrugged. “Of course.”

“And when you go to the theater, do you get there in time to watch the coming attractions?”

“That’s part of the fun for me,” I said.

“Right. Well, I always think of those first relationships as the ‘coming attractions’ to the love of my life. I had several close calls with love - two almost right men, but they weren’t quite right for me. We broke it off, and although it hurt for a while, I realized I didn’t love them the way I wanted to love my soulmate. And quite frankly, those other guys didn’t love me how I wanted to be loved. When I realized that, it made it easier to let them go - because someone better was on the way.” Bonnie stared at the photographs on the wall of the diner.

I followed her gaze to see a faded photo of young Bonnie and Joe holding each other in a tight embrace outside the Inn. “Joe.”

“Yes. And he was even better than I ever could have dreamed. He was the perfect person for me,” Bonnie said.

“And you knew all of that in an evening? ”

Bonnie grinned at me. “Well, no. I just had a feeling about him.

He felt like coming home. We didn’t know everything about each other, but we knew enough. And over the years, the more we got to know one another, the deeper we fell in love. It feels like falling in love with him fresh - every day.”

“You fall in love with him all over again - every day?” A strange sensation tickled the back of my mind.

“That’s the secret to a long and happy marriage.” Bonnie stood from the table and reached for her cane. “Well, I’ve been jaw-jackin’ way too long, and here comes Eli.”

The man in question smoothly entered the dining room with pie and hot chocolate placed precisely on a tray. When he clocked the cane in Bonnie’s hand, he frowned. “No pie and hot chocolate for you?”

“I have something to do in the other room,” she said before kissing him on the cheek and leaving Eli and me alone in the dining room.

I took a whiff of the pie on his tray and salivated. I was like Pavlov’s dog with peach pie. “That smells so good.”

“Fresh out of the oven.” Eli set the pie and mugs on the table, then pulled a chair to my side and sat down. “You and Bonnie were having an intense conversation.”

I took my first bite of pie and fell in love with this place all over again. “She was telling me the story about how she met Joe.”

Eli smiled. “How the worst waiter become her best man? ”

I snickered. “I take it you’ve heard that story before.”

“Many times. It’s probably why I never married.”

“Afraid to get stuck?” I challenged.

“No. I would love to be stuck in a romance with my perfect person.”

“Bonnie says she gets to fall in love with Joe all over again each day.” I watched his reaction.

“It’s true,” Eli said without a flinch or wince. “And watching that sets a pretty high bar.”

“Impossibly high standards?”

Eli sipped his hot chocolate. “Not impossibly high - more like worth waiting for.”

“You’re willing to wait for it?”

Eli gazed over the rim of his mug and said, “As many times as it takes.”

I shivered. “What did you say?”

“As long as it takes.”

I shook my head and pushed back in the chair. “That’s not what you said… wait a minute, are you…” I stood up suddenly and accidentally knocked over my hot chocolate mug, spilling it all over Eli. “Dang it. Let me go get a towel.”

I turned toward the kitchen and barely heard Eli shout a warning about the spilled hot chocolate before I slipped in the liquid and landed…

…in a snowbank.

“Garrrr-denia,” I swore.