Maryam’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”
“When you first asked me if I knew anyone who had a plane, I didn’t even think about Raihan. I offered to do some free legal work for his new boss in exchange for a discount on an emergency flight to Snow Falls.”
For a moment, Maryam was speechless. But then her face fell. “The wedding would have been tomorrow. They canceled all the venues, the catering, everything. Even if we made it to Toronto, it would be too late. This wedding can’t happen.”
“I know,” Saif said, and his eyes finally softened as he looked at Maryam. “That’s why I told Raihan to charter a planefromToronto.”
Anna was the first to catch on; she clapped her hands and jumped to her feet in excitement. “Which means we can have Saima’s dream wedding here, in Snow Falls!”
NINETEEN
Anna
December 25
Christmas Day!
The 4th night of Hanukkah
The last day of Ramadan—Eid tomorrow!
A knock at Anna’s door woke her from the dream she’d been having about Santa delivering gifts on Christmas Eve while riding on a giant menorah pulled by several reindeer with brightly glowing crescent moons for ears.
She stood and padded over to the door, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Room service,” said a familiar voice. She smiled and opened the door, not caring that she had bed head and was wearing the cupcake-festooned flannel pajamas again.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Josh said. He was holding a teetering stack of prettily wrapped gifts. “Mind if I come in? I wanted to be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas.”
He deposited the gifts on the table and turned to take her in his arms. They shared a sweet kiss.
“There’s one more thing I have to bring in,” he said, breaking away from their embrace and ducking out into the hall. He returned seconds later carrying a tray with a coffee carafe and a white bakery box.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“You know it. I figured since we’ll be leaving Snow Falls soon, our upside-down pineapple rugelach days will be coming to a close for a while. We need to enjoy these while we can.”
Anna knew he hadn’t meant for those words to make her sad. And that she had absolutely no reason to feel morose right now. It was Christmas morning, and she was spending it in a place she loved, with a person she cared deeply about—who cared back. She needed to stay in the moment and not worry about the future. “So did you buy gifts for everyone at the hotel?” Anna asked, inclining her head toward the stack of gifts.
“Nope, all for you.”
“Allfor me? But that’s too much!”
“It is Chrisma-Hanukkah, after all. Which means you need eight gifts, plus one extra.”
“Really? I’ve never heard of this Chrisma-Hanukkah holiday. And I only got you one gift.” She took a wrapped package from her closet and added it to the pile of gifts.
“Well,” he said, taking her in his arms again, “I can think of about eight or nine ways you could make it up to me... starting with a kiss?”
Between all the kissing, chatting, coffee drinking, and pastry eating, it took them a few hours to get through the gifts—and it felt, Anna marveled to herself, just as homey and warm as many of the holiday mornings in her past. Josh hadbought her winter boots and a parka—“so you don’t have to borrow from the inn anymore,” he had said, “and because I’m still not convinced you actually own any proper winter gear.” He had also given her a pair of Toronto Maple Leafs mittens, rose quartz crystal earrings from June’s Cauldron, a knit scarf from the knit shop, the peacock and peahen paperweights from Kate’s Kurios, artisanal dark chocolate Hanukkah gelt from Ginger’s bakery—and, finally, an open-ended plane ticket—which certainly helped with some of the melancholy Anna had been feeling earlier, when he mentioned their time in Snow Falls coming to a close.
“I just wanted to make sure you knew beyond a shadow of doubt that even though we’re taking things slow, I want to see you whenever you think you can get out to LA,” Josh said as Anna stared down at the plane ticket, a range of emotions burbling inside her. “And I’ll come visit you in Denver, of course. I mean, if you want?”
“Of course I want,” Anna said, placing the plane ticket carefully on the end table, then nestling into his arms. “I guess I’m just not sure what my life is going to look like, or where I’m going to be. But I know I want you to be a part of it.”
Josh ran his hands through her hair, then gently brought her face to his.
“I will be,” he said, kissing her. “You don’t have to worry.” He kissed her again. “We can support each other.” The third kiss was even deeper, and Anna felt her body melt into his. He pulled back to stare into her eyes, then stroked her cheek. “I’m not going anywhere, Anna.”
