Page 74 of Meet Me on Mistletoe Lane

Oh.

Bianca threw up her hands. “I already bought you a present—”

“Me too.” Aunt Helen nudged me.

“Just be mindful of the trees there, dear.” Aunt Sofia waved a biscotti at me. “Your Great-Great-Great-Uncle Giuseppe was taken by one during—”

“Sofia,” Uncle Gabe said, lowering his newspaper. “He was not taken by trees. It was a fishing accident—”

“Boating,” Uncle Rick chimed in. “He wasn’t fishing, he was—”

“Enough about Uncle Giuseppe!” Mom shouted, pushing off the counter before turning to me. “Gianna, I’m sorry. Half of them were here when I came down this morning, and I promise we’ll change the locks.”

The family gasped as if Mom had stabbed them with her grapefruit spoon.

I bit back a laugh.

This family, these people, could push me to my breaking point, and yet I knew that if I ever needed them, they would drop everything for me.

Heck, Marco, Nico, and Francis had already proven that when I was teased by a horrible girl named Julie in the sixth grade who said I had a big nose and cheap clothes. They hid rotten eggs in various spots of her yard, tree house, and locker—apparently, Francis had a spreadsheet of all the locker combos used at Mullings Creek Middle for “emergencies.”

And then there was the time when Aunt Sofia and Aunt Helen had stayed up past midnight to mend my Dorothy costume and shoes when I accidentally ripped mine while racing Sam on our bikes the day before opening night.

Or how Uncle Rick and Uncle Gabe took shifts at our house for months after Dad died when Leo had a bad case of croup.

But my Nona…

My eyes filled with tears. Next to my mother, she was the strongest woman I knew. When I first told her about the opportunity to study abroad, she immediately started contacting her cousins who still lived there so that I could stay connected with my family.

Papa would be proud to know I was going back to the place that brought him such joy.

“Don’t worry, Aunt Sofia.” I pulled out my phone and opened up my confirmation email from the Adventure Italy program. I smiled as I clicked “Yes” and then held up the confetti-exploding “CONGRATULATIONS!” screen to my family. “I’ll watch out for the trees when I go to Italy.”

The room erupted into cheers. Nona and Mom hurried over to me and hugged me tightly before Nona held up her hands to quiet the group. “I will throw a party to celebrate, and we’ll finish it with a movie under the tree, yes?”

We all agreed just as a knock sounded from the front door.

I opened it to find Sam with cold-kissed skin and wearing his usual flannel, jeans, and boots.

“Hi!” I said, surprised at how chirpy it came out.

“Hi.” He smiled. “I was wondering if you’d want to walk together to town? My mom said they could still use a few hands to help finish setting up some of the Reindeer Games.”

“Love to. Just let me grab my keys.”

Bianca, who had suddenly materialized like the freakin’ Ghost of Christmas Present in the kitchen doorway, winked at both of us before I rolled my eyes and closed the front door.

The air was crisp and cold, and our breaths lingered in the air like steam as we walked toward Mistletoe Lane.

“Sounded like a lot of noise in there,” Sam said before breathing into his hands and shoving them into his pockets.

“Yeah.” I kicked a small rock toward the road. “I just accepted the invitation to Adventure Italy.”

“Congratulations!” Sam shouted.

“Thanks!” I fixed my earmuffs. “Nona wants to throw a party and then watch a movie under the tree. It’s been years since we camped out on her floor.”

He bumped my shoulder. “Am I invited?”