Anna gasped. “The candlelight, for one thing! Also, eight days rather than just one—that’s a lot of time for a romantic slow burn, right?”
He grinned at her. “Exactly. You’re Jewish, too?”
“No, but the stepmother I grew up with was, so we celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah.” She paused. “I miss it.” What was it about this guy that always made her tell him exactly what she was thinking and feeling—even now?
“It’s hard being stuck away from home over the holidays, isn’t it?” he said. “Especially since we have no idea when we’re going to be able to travel out of here. And Katrina, our director, wants to take advantage of the cast and crew being marooned here—not to mention all the snow—to shoot what she says is going to be the most authentic Christmas movie ever. Tenisha had me practicing lines all night for some extra scenes. I didn’t get the chance to eat—so here I am, sneaking leftovers.”
Tenisha. His rumored girlfriend, and the most beautiful woman Anna had ever seen. Anna felt her naive heart plummet all the way down to her fuzzy-socked feet. “Maryam and Saif ordered enough food for about a hundred people,” she managed. “We barely made a dent. You’re welcome to it.”
“Want some?”
“We-ell, I couldn’t sleep and was looking for some tea—but maybe what I need is a midnight snack.”
They chatted easily as Anna grabbed a plate and filled it with leftovers. If she didn’t look at him and focused instead on her food, she found she could get back to feeling almost as relaxed around him as she had when she thought he was just a regular, sweet guy named Josh Tannenbaum. It helped toknow that was his real name—madehimseem more real again, somehow.
“That must be hard for your friends, stuck in an unfamiliar place while trying to celebrate such an important holiday,” Josh was saying. “Actually, there are a few Muslims on crew and I heard them talking about a Turkish coffee shop in town that doubles as a mosque. You could try to find that tomorrow.”
“That’s a good idea. I’m sure Maryam and her family would really appreciate that.”
“They’re saying the snow is going to slow down around noon tomorrow—so we might all get to go home eventually. I think most of the crew are starting to worry they won’t be home in time for the holidays at all.” He paused and put down his fork, while Anna tried to hide her involuntary grimace at the idea of leaving Snow Falls—a grimace that surprised even her. “Hey, did I say something wrong?”
“I just... really love snow,” Anna said. She put down her fork, too, then carried her plate to the sink so he wouldn’t see the disappointment on her face any longer. The blizzard was going to end, they were going to clear the snow, flights would start up again, and it was possible she’d be out of Snow Falls and on her way to Toronto by tomorrow. But... was she still welcome in Toronto? And if she wasn’t, where else was she supposed to go? She had an honorary aunt—she had been her mother’s best friend, and had kept in touch with Anna all these years—who lived in Kansas City, but Anna hadn’t seen her for a while. Her father had some close friends she knew she could call. But could you just contact people you hadn’t seen in ages and say you were coming to stay for the holidays? She had college friends and work friends—but admitting she was alonefor the holidays felt like yet another embarrassment. So much of the past few years, Anna had felt alone. But somehow, in Snow Falls, she didn’t feel that way. She felt part of something. She didn’t want to consider how fast it was all going to end.
“Hey, let me wash these.” Josh gently took the plate from her hands and began to wash the dishes himself. When he was done, he stepped close. Anna felt her heart begin to flutter under the cupcake-festooned flannel. That was just the effect he had on people, she reminded herself. He was an actor. It was his job to be charming. He was being friendly with her, that was all. He liked her as a friend because she, regular old Anna, made him feel like a regular guy. Plus, she was wearing flannel pajamas printed all over with giant cupcakes, and he had just spent his night practice-kissing the beautiful Tenisha Barlowe. She looked away from him, back out the window at the snow—but her gaze returned to his face, as if pulled there by a magnet. He was watching her, wearing a half smile that reminded her of the way he looked in almost every scene inOne Night at Christmasin which he was about to profess his love to his costar, but then ended up losing his nerve.
“I’m really enjoying getting to know you, Anna,” he said.
She couldn’t help but be honest in return. “I’m enjoying it, too.”
“It’s nice to know someone here knows my real name. That someone around here is a friend. And I’d really love to see you on set tomorrow. I think you’ll have fun. I can get you a plum role. Festive Townsperson number 6?”
“I accept the role,” Anna said—and for the first time in a long while, she didn’t feel like she was pretending.
TEN
Maryam
December 22
3 days until Christmas
Hanukkah begins
The 27th day of Ramadan
The next day, the wedding party rose early forsuhoorand worked together to prepare eggs, toast, and fresh fruit in the inn’s ample kitchen. Everyone helped, though Maryam, Farah, and Saif took the lead. Afterward, they prayedfajrtogether, before Saima turned on the Weather Network on the large television in the foyer. Incredibly, the forecast called for even more snow today. “I’m going to call the airline and see what I can find out,” Saima said, her smile strained. Maryam thought about offering to take this on—but then she saw Anna enter the foyer with dark circles under her eyes as if she’d hardly slept, but also a big smile on her face. She waved Maryam over.
“So, I ran into Josh—Chase... well, you know who I mean—again last night, after that awkward meeting here—”
“Last night? When? Last I saw you, you were heading offto bed.” Maryam couldn’t help it; even though the last thing she needed was someone else to feel responsible for, she was starting to feel protective of Anna.
“I couldn’t sleep. So, I came down looking for tea—and Josh was in the kitchen, and...” Anna trailed off and smiled somewhat dreamily. Maryam could swear she saw little cartoon hearts dancing around her friend’s head. “He convinced me to join you when you visit the set. I said yes. It’ll be fun, right?”
“Actually, I was thinking about not going,” Maryam started, nervous. “There’s a lot to do, and I should keep my parents company.” Plus, despite her bravado about Saif from last night, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be around the full force of his charm.
“Look outside, Maryam. We’re not going anywhere today. This is a free day, a gift. You said you feel as if you never have time for yourself—and now you have this precious day to do what you like. Maybe there’s a reason all of this is happening.” Anna shot her another starry-eyed grin before drifting away to the kitchen, calling out that she’d meet her at the front door at eight a.m.
Anna was right. Maryam couldn’t remember the last time she’d had this much unstructured time to do nothing. Maybe when she was in college, during school breaks. No, she had worked every summer. Maybe during high school? No, she had volunteered and worked during high school. Now that she thought about it, Maryam realized the last time she’d just taken a few days to simply...behad been in middle school.
