Gina smiled. “You’re not keeping me from anything. I actually really like working Christmas Eve. It’s not a late night. We close at eight, so I’ll still be able to make it to the Christmas Eve service, and I hear we might get a little snow, which makes me very happy.”
“Oh good. I heard that about the snow too. I think it’s just supposed to be a dusting, which is perfect. Just enough for a white Christmas but not so much that it slows anything down.”
“And hopefully no shoveling needed,” George added.
Gina was steadily busy until they closed. She was feeling tired and happy as her customers, especially her regulars, had been very generous with their tips. The restaurant had emptied out as their last reservations were at seven. Most of their employees quickly left to get home to their families, but Emma, Paul and Jared gathered in the bar for an after-work drink, and they all wanted to try a glass of Gina’s Holiday Cocktail which was a mix of spices, fruit, champagne and a splash of the orange liqueur, Grand Marnier. Gina poured one for herself, too, and sat next to Jared. She had just about enough time to enjoy one drink before walking a few streets over for the Christmas Eve church service.
“Gina, are you going to the nine o’clock service too?” Emma asked.
“Yes, I was planning on it.”
“Good, we’ll walk over with you. Mandy and the others will probably be there too.”
“Maybe I’ll join you all too. I was just going to go home, but it’s still early and I haven’t been to a church service in too long.”
“It’s hard when we usually work doubles on Sunday,” Gina agreed.
Jared grinned. “That’s one reason. I do well to get there on Christmas and Easter. Christmas is my favorite one.”
“Me, too,” Gina agreed as she looked out the window and smiled. As she’d hoped, it was starting to flurry a bit.
“I’ll tell you one thing I’m grateful for,” Paul looked at Jared. “It’s been great having you in the kitchen. I think we make a good team and I hope you’re liking it here. Because you can’t leave.” They all laughed. Jared looked pleased to hear it.
“Thanks. And I do like it here. It’s a good fit for me and I really like the people.” He glanced at Gina and smiled.
They finished their drinks, and Gina put the empty glasses in the dishwasher before they headed out. The air temperature had dropped a lot since Gina was last out and she shivered and pulled her scarf more snugly around her neck. The snow swirled around them as they walked. It was coming down harder and looked so pretty.
When they reached the church less than ten minutes later, there was a crowd gathered outside waiting to go in.
“Emma!” Gina heard a familiar voice call. It was Jill. She, Billy, Mandy and the kids were standing by the door waving. They made their way over to them and went inside together and took up a whole row. The service was lovely and the Christmas carols had everyone smiling.
When the service ended, it was still snowing but not as heavily as it was earlier. There was about a half inch or so of snow on the ground. Just enough so that they could officially call it a white Christmas. Gina and Jared chatted briefly with Mandy and others, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas before heading back to the restaurant and their cars. They said goodbye to Emma and Paul before Jared walked Gina to her car.
It was dark out, but in the glow of the outside lights, she could see an impish look on Jared’s face as he reached in his pocket and held something up.
“Look what I found. Mistletoe. You know what that means…” He smiled as he leaned toward her and gently touched his lips to hers. It was a sweet kiss and she felt a thrill rush through her, unlike with Alex. But it was over too quickly.
“Merry Christmas, Gina.”
She smiled, feeling nothing but joy. “Merry Christmas, Jared. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
“Me, too. See you around noon.”
Gina wasn’t sure how dressy to go and changed outfits from jeans to slightly more dressy black pants, a pretty red cashmere sweater and a delicate pearl necklace her mother gave her when Gina graduated from college. The day before, she’d picked up a bouquet of flowers for Jared’s mother and a bottle of Bread and Butter cabernet. She also had Jared’s gift and had wrapped it that morning in green paper and a shimmering red ribbon.
She gave Boots some attention before she left and made sure she had plenty of food. Once she was in the car, she punched Jared’s address into her GPS, and it wasn’t long before she pulled onto his street and then at the end of the road, almost at the ocean’s edge, she saw his driveway and turned onto it. It was long and winding and she passed a small cottage first, and guessed that was where Jared lived as he’d said it was on his mother’s property. When she came around a corner and saw the main house ahead, her jaw dropped. It was one of the nicest homes she’d seen on the island, and Nantucket had plenty of beautiful homes. This one was on a large lot and was a big, all-white house, with light blue shutters and a farmer’s porch that wrapped around to the front of the house.