Molly“I saw you two in the town square earlier,” Hannah said innocently as she slid a hot chocolate into her best friend’s hands. “We all saw you in the town square.”“You know how it is, Hannah. You win some, you lose some...” Molly sighed, surprised that her friend knew about the snowball fight loss. “It’s a hard thing being the queen.”“No, I’m not talking about your crushing defeat at the hands of King Liam,” Hannah replied, giving Molly's shoulder a gentle push. “I’m talking about you and Nicholas.”“Me and Nicholas?” Molly asked, feeling heat rise in her cheeks.“Yup. From what I saw, things look good.” Hannah leaned her elbows onto the counter of Sweetness & Light, giving Molly an amused look. “So, are you going to spill the beans or what? Has he asked you out?”Molly scoffed as she looked back at her friend. “Nicholas Kerstman? You think Nicholas Kerstman is going to ask me out?”“Why wouldn’t he?” Hannah asked with a shrug.“Because he’s from New York, which means that he pr

NicholasNicholas still wore the ridiculous Santa hat and the equally ridiculous Christmas lights necklace as he lounged on his living room couch with a book pressed close to his face. The fireplace in his rented lodge cabin crackled with fake gas flames, but the effect was still soothing. He'd rented the small cabin instead of staying at his parents overly Christmas decorated house.Reading had always been one of his favorite pastimes, but with the nature of his work, he never had any time to ever get around to it. Today, for the first time in what felt like forever, he didn't have anything pressing to do. He didn't have really anything to do until he received word from Luke about a potential offer for Christmas Wishes.He’d already faxed and scanned and emailed all of the relevant financial documents back to his office in Manhattan, and Luke had confirmed receipt of them within seconds of Nicholas sending them off.So now, all Nicholas had to do was wait.He turned another page in t

MollyHow to get kids to like math: Make it seem worthwhile.“Sing out, Liam. From the diaphragm,” Molly reminded the boy as she played rising notes on the piano in the elementary school’s rehearsal room. She stopped playing and looked at him. “I feel like we’re losing you in the third verse.”“Sorry, sorry,” Liam apologized with a groan. He brought the music sheet closer to him. “I just forgot what comes next after ‘truly He taught us to love one another...’”“It’s okay, Liam. Take your time with it. You can even bring the music sheet up with you, if you want,” Molly said with a smile. “And if anyone says anything about it, you tell them that Ms. Carmichael said it was okay.”“Okay.” Liam nodded, still unsure. “Can we do it again?”Molly nodded and began to play the notes once more. All of her concentration remained on the keys in front of her. She was trying very hard not to think about Nicholas sitting next to her on the bench.Liam sang through the first chorus with confidence, bu

NicholasNicholas's ego was bruised.Usually, women were excited to go out with him. Usually, they smiled and giggled when he asked them to dinner. Usually, he didn't feel like a complete idiot.But not Molly. She made him feel like an idiot. She even turned him down wearing a elf costume.It grated on Nicholas’ nerves and made him second-guess himself.Maybe he was being a fool.Maybe the foolish spirit of Christmas had somehow gotten under his skin.Maybe it was all the snow, all the Christmas lights, all the cakes, and all the snowballs.Maybe he was falling hard for her.Nicholas sank into the living room couch and sighed. He was already wearing one of his best suits for the concert tonight. He'd brought it for a potential client meeting, but was wearing it now. He wanted to look nice for Molly on her big night.He then groaned, knowing that he really was being an idiot.He looked down at his watch and tried not to panic. It was 6:15.Almost time to leave.Except, he felt like he

Molly“Sounds like a date.”“It wasn’t a date.” Molly crossed her arms, looking grouchy.“Okay, but it totally was a date,” Hannah informed her. She shrugged over at Molly while seated on Molly’s living room couch. “So, was I right or was I right?”“Hannah, it wasn’t a date,” Molly repeated. She pouted as she plopped down beside Hannah on the couch. “We just got some food and went ice skating. And I was the one who invited him.”“Please don’t tell me you’re saying that it doesn’t count as a date because you invited him out,” Hannah scoffed, while taking a sip of her coffee. “Hello, Molly! It’s the 21st century. Women are allowed to make the first move. And congrats to you for your bravery.”Molly rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t not a date because just I invited him out! It wasn’t a date because it wasn’t a date!” Molly threw up her arms in frustration. “It was just two co-workers hanging out. That’s it.”“Right.” Hannah’s tone indicated that she didn’t believe a word of what Molly had jus