Page 18

I huddled deeper in my robe and wished I’d splurged on the soft pair of matching slippers. “OK, spill. How many people voted for the web series dates in total, and what are the pairings for the first date?”

He opened his laptop and cleared his throat. “We had forty-five people vote in total.” I nodded, unsurprised. A pretty tiny number, and certainly all from our town. But that’s what we expected for the first vote, prior to most things being filmed and with our tiny amount of PR. I expected (hoped) that number to grow exponentially as we posted more and more.

“Our first pairing…” He cleared his throat dramatically, clearly enjoying himself so much that I found my own mouth curving behind my coffee mug. “Bella and Michael.”

My mouth went flat, even though I’d been expecting this. This town had a sentimental streak a mile wide, and they obviously remembered the senior prom king and queen through some very rose-colored glasses. “Next.”

He angled his head toward the screen. “The guy that came home with Bella—Nate? He’s paired with Jim’s ex. Nicole.”

Nate and Nicole? I smiled. I could guess exactly where that came from. Nicole had a tight squad of close girlfriends. Her girls obviously were rallying behind her during her separation.They’d taken one look at the list of eligible men and chose the hot British stranger from the city for her. Well done, ladies.

Sean looked up, mischief in his gaze. “Fourth pairing is you and Brian.”

I nodded and bit my lip, trying not to groan. There was nothing wrong with Brian. He was Carol’s son, after all, and she’d raised a decent human being. But Jesus, I’d known the guy my whole life, and he barely ever spoke. If he did talk, it was about fishing. Or hunting. Or the latest problem with his boat engine. “OK,” I sighed. “Go on.”

“Jim is paired with Diane.” I giggled, picturing Jim’s glowering face as he was forced to go on a date with Diane, at least twenty years his senior. That was the doing of Nicole’s girlfriends again, no doubt.

I scrunched my nose. “Which means that Tripp is with Mabel the librarian.” I felt a little bad for her. I was unsure of her motives for doing the series, but it probably wasn’t her goal to go out with a dude who spent his entire life in three places: the gym, the pub, and Vienna’s spray-tan facility. He was harmless, but he was a meathead. I did appreciate all the money he spent buying Busch Light in Greta’s store though.

I gulped down some coffee and got up to pace, thinking it all through. “We’ve got to make the most of what we’ve got for the first episode. There has to be enough drama to get people invested, to get them voting and watching.”

I met Sean’s eyes. “Obviously, you guys will film as much as you can of everyone’s dates, but my advice is to get the most footage of Bella and Michael, Nate and Nicole, and Jim and Diane.” These were our best stories right now…the high school lovers reunited, and the separated couple on dates with other people.

*

Tuesday passed inanother blur of work: three Geek Squad appointments, updating the Christmas Village website as more and more details came in, and decorating the wine shop so that it was camera-ready.

When I woke on Wednesday morning, I let myself laze in bed. I had no waitressing shifts today, and my only Geek Squad appointment was after noon. I could actually relax this morning, for once.

But then my damn phone rang. Carol, naturally. “What?” I moaned into the receiver.

“Good morning, Jane dear.” She sighed. “We have a problem.”

Chapter Six

Idrove toWontana, muttering and swearing under my breath. What did Carol honestly think I could do about this problem?

Yes, the newly created ice-skating rink in our Christmas Village was one of its largest attractions. And yes, having it populated with skaters would be an important background visual for our first set of web series dates tonight. Because of its center positioning in the square, it would look odd and sad if it was completely empty.

“The Wontana rink advertisement was just in the paper this morning,” Carol fumed. “Free admission tonight! It’s never been free before! This is an obvious attempt to steal business from our grand opening.”

I’d yawned into the receiver. “Yeah, maybe.”

“It’s cruel and unnecessary,” she’d snapped in a very un-Carol-like manner. “Wontana has more money in its coffers than ever before. Real estate there is through the roof, and their entire downtown got a huge remodel last summer. They don’t need one night of our revenue! Where the hell is the small-town solidarity?”

“Carol!” I’d pushed myself up on my elbows. “Did you just say H-E-double hockey sticks?”

“Go over there this morning, Jane,” she’d pleaded. “Before it opens. See if you can reason with them. Originally, I’d been hopeful they might even close for the night to encourage people to come celebrate with us, but that was obviously a pipe dream. Now, I would just settle for them charging their normal admission price.”

“You want me to try to convince Terry Oakley to change his mind?” Terry owned the rink, along with a half dozen other businesses. He’d been in my high school graduating class, but we didn’t have much to do with each other back then or now. His family was one of the few wealthy year-round residents in the area, and smugness was his defining feature.

“Just try, Jane. What do we have to lose?” Carol asked.

“My one free morning,” I grumbled under my breath. But I sighed sharply into the phone and got out of bed anyway. I was trying to become a pillar of the community, after all.

The Wontana rink was so bright against the morning sun that I winced and shaded my eyes. The fact that there were manmade ice rinks in multiple towns in the area kind of made me sad. When I was a kid, we’d skate in a cleared area right on the lake. But global warming being what it was, the lake didn’t fully freeze over anymore, and skating on it was unsafe.

Terry’s office was in an adjacent building, and his red Porsche was the only other car in the lot at this hour. Just as I was preparing to march in and call him out for being a greedy jerk, another car pulled into the lot. I didn’t recognize it, but the moment the door opened, I recognized the thick blond hair and light blue peacoat. Bella.