Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances

this time? A state of being that isn’t tight and tangled and full of me me me? Because damn it felt good.
And damn it felt pure. And maybe I could be full of light, like Nathan said, and maybe I could just . . . let
that  light  be,  and  let  it  shine,  and  say  screw  it  to  being  pinchy-squinchy-life-sucks-I  suck-guess-I’ll-go-
eat-worms. Was that possible in this existence of mine? Could I, Adeline Lindsey . . . could I evolve?
Mayzie escorted me to the door. “I think it’s time for you to get going,” she said.
“Uh, okay,” I said. But I dragged my feet, because I no longer felt bitter toward her—and, in fact, I felt
bad that I was about to be leaving her all alone. I wanted her to feel as expansive inside as I did, and I
worried that might be hard in her single-person, soon-to-be-pigless apartment.
“Hey!” I said. “Can I, um, come visit you sometimes? I promise I won’t be boring.”
“I don’t think you could possibly be boring, even if you tried,” Mayzie said. “And I would absolutely
love it if you came to see me sometimes.” To Gabriel, she said, “See what a good heart she has?”
Something else clicked in. “And I’ll get your money back from Pet World. I’ll explain the whole crazy
mess to Nathan.”

---

She chuckled. “If anyone can, you can.”
“So . . . yeah,” I said, feeling pretty good about things. “I’ll bring you your refund, and I’ll bring those
chocolate-covered  graham  crackers  you  like,  too.  And  we’ll  have  tea,  ’kay?  We’ll  have  a  ladies’  tea
every week. Or coffee. What do you think?”
“I  think  that’s  a  splendid  idea,”  Mayzie  said.  She  handed  Gabriel  to  me,  and  he  paddled  his  legs,
searching for purchase. I breathed in the heavenly scent of him. He smelled like whipped cream.

---

Chapter Sixteen
G
abriel  pressed  his  snout  against  my  coat  as  I  tromped  through  the  alley  snow.  I  wished  the  Silver
Sneaker van would miraculously appear and pick me up, even though I was sixteen instead of seventy-six.
Although, at least I could muscle through these drifts. If I were seventy-six? No way.
Gabriel squirmed, and I said, “Hold on, little guy. It won’t be long now.”
Halfway  to  Starbucks,  I  saw  Tegan’s  Civic  pull  to  a  stop  at  the  traffic  light  two  blocks  down.  Eek,
she’d  be  here  in,  like,  two  minutes!  I  picked  up  my  pace,  because  I  wanted  to  get  inside  before  Tegan
arrived.  I  wanted  to  settle  Gabriel  into  an  actual  teacup—or  coffee  mug—because  wouldn’t  that  be  the
cutest thing in the world?
I used my hip to push through the door, and Christina looked up from the espresso machine. The other
barista, Joyce, wasn’t in sight.
“At last!” Christina called. “Can you take these guys’ or-ders?”
She gestured at the guy and the girl standing at the counter, and I did a double take.
“Stuart!” I said, because it was Stuart Weintraub of the Stuart-and-Chloe-heartbreak-forever duo. Only,
the girl he was with wasn’t Chloe; in fact, she was pretty much the opposite of Chloe with her short bob
and cute little cat-eye glasses. She smiled at me kind of shyly, and my heart went awwwww, because  she
looked nice, and she was holding Stuart’s hand, and she wasn’t wearing bright red lipstick. She did not
look like the kind of girl to have skanky bathroom make-out sessions on guys who weren’t her boyfriend.
“Hey, Addie,” Stuart said. “You cut your hair.”
One hand went to my head; the other kept a firm hold on Gabriel, who was trying to snuffle his way out
of  my  coat.  “Uh,  yeah.”  I  jerked  my  chin  at  the  girl  he  was  with.  “Who’s  this?”  It  probably  came  out
abrupt, but good heavens! Stuart Weintraub was not only without Chloe, but also without sad Stuart eyes! I
mean, he still had eyes, but they were happy eyes now. His happiness made him look super-cute, too.