“I’ve heard of spätzle, but not rouladen.”

  “It’s thinly sliced beef, layered with bacon and sliced onion, and then rolled around a thick slice of pickle. Trust me, Lindy, you won’t be disappointed.”

  “Then that’s what I’ll have.”

  Lindy did well to have taken Dan’s word, as the dinner was everything she’d hoped it would be. They lingered over a dessert called donauwelle. Dan explained that it was basically pound cake flavored with vanilla. Then the top was filled with cherries, a thick layer of buttercream, along with a thin covering of chocolate ganache. Every bite was pure heaven. The meal was finished with a cup of decaf coffee.

  Dan escorted them to the door once they were ready to leave and handed them their coats. He took Lindy’s hand and kissed it. “Meeting you was a delight,” he said.

  “Hey, buddy,” Billy teased, “that’s my girl.”

  His girl! Lindy couldn’t have hidden her smile if she’d tried.

  “The French side of his family comes out every now and again,” Billy said, as he placed his arm around Lindy’s waist and steered her out the back entrance, where he’d parked the truck.

  Billy helped her inside, then walked around the front. Once inside, he started the engine and let it warm up enough to clear the frost off the windshield.

  “I had the most marvelous day,” Lindy told him, and it was the truth. Every aspect of their afternoon and evening had been simply wonderful. Even seeing Brian with Celeste hadn’t hampered her time. This day would be one she long treasured.

  “I don’t want it to end,” Billy said.

  “I don’t, either.”

  “Good. Let’s stop off at the Wine Press. There’s a special ice wine I’d like you to taste. It’s a favorite of mine, and I think you’ll enjoy it, too.”

  Ice wine would be a treat. The grapes could be harvested only in climates where temperatures dropped to below freezing. The grapes were kept on the vine to sweeten until the first frost of the season. They were then handpicked, generally in the dark of night, after the grapes had frozen. The excessively sweet wine wasn’t to everyone’s taste. Lindy happened to like it. The bottles were narrow and thin, and often expensive, due to the labor costs.

  “I’d like that,” she said.

  “It’ll give me a chance to check in with the night manager, too. It might be my day off, but I make a habit of checking in at some point during the day.”

  The responsibility of being an owner/operator must weigh heavily on Billy. It told her he didn’t likely have time for a relationship, not with him working six days a week. Even on his day off, he ran interference. The restaurant was constantly on his mind, as it should be. Billy understood this could be only a holiday romance. She was of the same mind.

  Even though it was after eight, the restaurant was busy; every seat at the bar was taken. Billy secured a table and left Lindy while he went to check in with the manager. When he returned, he had the bottle of ice wine and two special glasses that resembled miniature wineglasses.

  He sat next to her and poured them each a small amount. “A little goes a long way with ice wine,” he said. Again, the wine was one from Washington State. Only northern climates had the necessary temperatures cold enough to produce ice wine.

  “The Toronto area has some wonderful ice wines as well,” he said, as he gently clinked his glass against hers.

  “What shall we toast?” Lindy asked.

  “How about we toast to Santa.”

  Lindy laughed. “To Santa,” she said, and raised the glass to her lips.

  The wine was extrasweet, and cold. It tasted a bit like honey and came to life in her mouth. She smiled to herself, thinking this was like a cavity in a glass.

  “Do you like it?” Billy asked.

  “It’s wonderful.” It was the perfect complement to their magical day.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Lindy’s mom watched Peter every Thursday, so Lindy was able to spend the morning with her precious nephew. He was a ball of fire. This precocious four-year-old had wrapped his way around her heart from the day he’d been born.

  Chad’s wife worked at a small arts-and-crafts store owned by her parents. Now that Ashley was pregnant, she worked part-time, helping her parents out two days a week. Because Lindy’s mother had them for dinner on Thursday nights, that was the day she also kept Peter. After a long day on her feet, Ashley appreciated not needing to rush home and prepare dinner. Lindy’s mother was thoughtful that way.

  For this evening, her mother had a Mississippi pot roast simmering in the Crock-Pot, which, Lindy knew, was one of Chad’s favorites. After spending the morning entertaining Peter with Beau’s help, Lindy got Peter down for his nap. He resisted until she promised him a sledding trip in the park after Christmas. Once she was sure he was asleep, she slipped away to meet Peggy for lunch.

  Following their food scavenger hunt, when Peggy learned Lindy would be spending Wednesday afternoon with Billy, she’d insisted they meet so she could hear all the details. Lindy had stopped by Peggy’s office earlier and solved a minor back-end website problem. Peggy used that excuse to pay for Lindy’s lunch, but Lindy knew it was more to drill her about her day with Billy. Lindy had agreed, mainly because any time spent with Peggy was sure to be fun.

  Lindy parked and noticed that her friend had already arrived and was seated in a booth by the window in the fifties-style diner, known as the Big Apple Diner. Even knowing she was about to undergo an inquisition, Lindy was happy to see Peggy.

  She slid into the booth. “Hey, girl,” she said, as she reached for the menu, which was tucked behind the old-style jukebox.

  “Hey, yourself,” Peggy greeted. “So, don’t keep me in suspense, how was your date with Billy the Kid?”

  “Can I look at the menu first?” Lindy teased.

  “No. I’ve only got an hour; I’ve already ordered for us. I want details.”

  “What did you order?”

  “Cobb salads for us both. Now spill.” She cocked her head to one side and grinned shrewdly, as if seeing Lindy’s smile told her everything she needed to know.

  “What?” Lindy asked, as a saucy grin spread over Peggy’s beautiful face.

  She shrugged. “You don’t need to say a word, I can see everything was super just by your look.”

  “You’re full of it.” Lindy immediately lowered her gaze, afraid of what her friend saw in her.

  “I know what I know. You can deny all you want. Tell me everything, and don’t leave out the juicy details.” Peggy was relentless.

  “Peggy!”

  “Did he—”

  Lindy wagged her index finger. “I’m not one to kiss and tell.”

  “Ah, so there was kissing.” Peggy jiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

  “All right, I’ll admit it was a fabulously fun day.” The truth was, that afternoon and evening with Billy had been the best time Lindy could remember in a very long while.

  “When are the two of you getting together next?”

  Her nosy friend wasn’t going to drop this until she got the details she wanted.

  “He did ask you out again, didn’t he?”

  “No, he didn’t.” Lindy neglected to mention how busy the Christmas holidays were for the restaurant. Companies had booked office parties, and every available table was reserved until Christmas and into the week that followed. It went without Billy needing to explain, although he had, that he couldn’t take time off until after Christmas, other than a few odd hours here and there. But he’d encouraged Lindy to stop by anytime.

  Peggy looked insulted. “You mean to tell me Billy wined and dined you and let it go at that?”

  “Yes. You’re putting more into this than warranted. Billy was thanking me for my help, is all.” No way was she mentioning the kiss they’d shared on the sleigh ride or the ones after he drove her home. That was private.

  Because Peggy insisted, Lindy caved and filled her in on her day with Billy, the sleigh ride, and especially the dinner. Other than the kiss, she left out running into Celeste and Brian. She might have said something if Peggy hadn’t been so full of questions. Lindy had barely answered one and her friend fired off another, wanting in on every small detail.

  When she’d finished, Peggy said, with that same I-know-you-better-than-you-think look, “You like Billy. Don’t bother to deny it.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really. It’s obvious he feels the same way about you. Anyone with half a brain can see the two of you have chemistry.” She raised both hands and made explosion signs.

  “You mean like Romeo and Juliet?” she teased. “Bogie and Bacall?”

  “You think I’m joking. I saw the way you two looked at each other the other night. It’s sweet and makes me wish there was a man in my life.” She heaved a sigh loud enough to make Lindy laugh out loud.

  The server delivered their salads. After all the indulgences of the day before, Lindy ate sparingly. Peggy was both tall and thin, and seemed not to worry about calories. Lindy envied her friend’s ability to eat any- and everything and still maintain her trim figure.

  “You showed me your pictures from high school. How is it you weigh the same now as you did then?” Lindy asked.

  Peggy shrugged. “Good genes.”

  “Well, I have skinny jeans and they won’t fit if I continue to eat like I did yesterday.” She mentioned the dessert she’d had after the German dinner and how decadent it was.

  “That sounds delicious.”

  “It was.”

  Peggy’s gaze narrowed. “You’re changing the subject.”

  “Not on purpose. I had a great time with Billy, but that’s as far as it goes. Remember, I’m in town only until after New Year’s, and then I need to return to Seattle. Billy knows that, too. Whatever this is can last these two weeks and no longer.”

  “Do you have to go back to Seattle?” Peggy pushed out her bottom lip in a pout with the question.

  The question caught Lindy up short. She hadn’t given moving back to Wenatchee a thought. To her surprise, she was immediately drawn to the idea. Reconnecting with Peggy and Billy, too, held a lot of appeal. As quickly as the thought came, reality set in. If her proposal was accepted, there was no way she could leave Media Blast, not after the hours and effort that had gone into the project.

  “It’s a good thought,” she said, “but my life is in Seattle. I’m six months into a year lease on my apartment. I can’t up and move now, even if I wanted. Besides, I have a great job.”

  “Didn’t you tell me how underappreciated you are?”

  That was true. Still, Lindy was determined to prove herself, and she hoped this latest proposal would do it.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Peggy said, growing serious. “I looked at what you did for Billy’s website and, Lindy, it’s fabulous. Have you ever thought about doing freelance work?”

  She hadn’t, and shook her head.

  “I know several businesses that would like to have updated websites. You’d fill a real need.”

  “I can’t do that, Peggy, not when I work for Media Blast.”

  “Then don’t work for them. Move back to Wenatchee and go out on your own. Without a doubt you’d be a success.”

  That would be a Jack-and-the-Beanstalk giant leap of faith, and not one Lindy was willing to take. “I don’t have the connections to do that.”

  “But I do. I can help; I have lots of connections,” Peggy told her, as if what she suggested was a small thing. Lindy would be risking everything.

  Lindy shook her head. “Sorry…Maybe sometime down the road.”

  Peggy reluctantly accepted her decision.

  Once her lunch hour was over, Peggy returned to the office, and Lindy picked up a few items her mother had asked her to collect for dinner. She was walking into the house when her phone dinged.

  It was a text from Billy.

  Found your glove in the truck. You home?

  Yes.

  See you in a few.

  This was an unexpected surprise. She’d missed the red glove when she’d left to meet Peggy. The only place it could be was in Billy’s truck. She meant to ask him about it but had decided to wait until later. She would have saved him the trouble and collected it herself. Seeing that he wanted to deliver it himself was even better.

  “You’re back,” Peter said, running as fast as his legs could carry him as soon as she walked in the door. Beau barked his greeting and raced alongside Peter. Whenever she returned, Beau acted like she’d been gone forever and he’d been anxiously waiting for her to come home so she would pet him.

  Setting aside her purse and the grocery bag, Lindy hauled her nephew into her arms. “Did you have a good nap?”

  Peter nodded enthusiastically.

  “You wore him out this morning,” her mother said, from the kitchen.

  “Billy’s on his way over,” she said, as she headed into her bedroom. Peter and Beau tagged behind her.

  “Who’s Billy?” Peter asked.

  “A friend.”

  “Does he like playing in the snow?”

  Lindy shrugged. “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask him yourself.”

  “Okay.”

  Wanting to make sure she looked her best for Billy, Lindy touched up her makeup and ran a flat iron through her hair. She was applying lip gloss when the doorbell chimed. She let her mother and Peter answer the door. Right away she heard Peter asking Billy if he would go sledding with them for fun in the snow. Lindy rolled her eyes. Oh dear. She hadn’t meant for that to happen. She’d explain it to Billy later.

  Inhaling a deep breath, Lindy centered herself. It would be far and away too easy to let her heart get ahead of her brain when it came to Billy. She couldn’t let that happen. This was a temporary situation. A Christmas romance, and it would end when she left Wenatchee. Billy had a business to run. She wasn’t going to encourage anything beyond the two weeks she was in town.

  By the time she appeared, her mother had brought Billy into the kitchen. He sat at the kitchen table. Her mother had poured him coffee and was gathering cookies for a plate. Peter was munching on a cookie as he sat on the family room floor watching Paw Patrol, his favorite cartoon series. Ever attentive, Beau was at his side.

  “Ah, here’s Lindy.”

  “Hey,” she said, a little self-conscious. She wasn’t sure why, other than the fact that her mother was in the room.

  “Hey,” he returned.

  Their eyes locked, and it felt as if they’d been apart years instead of a few hours. Her heart seemed to roar inside her chest, as if looking to make a break for it.

  “I have your glove,” he said, and the way he said the words made it sound as if he held her heart in the palm of his hand. Lindy was afraid he just might, and that was dangerous for a wide variety of reasons.

  She remembered removing her glove when they’d kissed inside his truck. The need to bury her fingers in the hair at the base of his neck had been too much to resist. She’d torn off her gloves and stuffed them into her coat pocket. Apparently, only one of them had made it inside. The look they shared assured her that Billy remembered exactly when she’d removed it as keenly as she did.

  “There must be a lull at the restaurant,” she said, making a determined effort to break eye contact.

  He nodded.

  Her mother delivered the cookies to the table and then returned to whatever it was she was doing.

  “Whatever you’re cooking, Mrs. Carmichael, smells delicious.”

  “Chad and Ashley are coming for dinner,” Lindy explained. “Mississippi pot roast is my brother’s favorite.”

  “Never heard of it.”

  “It’s made with pepperoncinis,” Ellen explained, as she set the lid back on the Crock-Pot.

  “Never thought of them having anything to do with Mississippi,” Billy said.

  Lindy had to agree. She didn’t know how the dish got its name. “Come to think of it, me neither.”

  “Billy, why don’t you join us for dinner?” her mother offered, turning to face them. “We’d love to have you.”

  Billy looked to Lindy, as if seeking her reaction.

  “Could you get away?” Lindy hoped it was possible. The last thing she wanted was to put pressure on him, knowing how busy the restaurant would be this evening.

  “We’ll eat around six,” her mother added.

  Billy reached for Lindy’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “I could get away for an hour, I suppose. I’ve been there since eight this morning. I could use a break.”

  Lindy hadn’t dared to hope he would take the time away, and squeezed his hand back. “That’s great.” And then, because she didn’t want him to feel an obligation on her behalf, she added, “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. The restaurant has taken over my life. I need to make time for myself now and again,” he said, and added in a whisper so low she wasn’t sure she heard correctly, “Time for us.”

  “What about Christmas?” she asked, feeling brave. “I know you said you were spending it with your sister, but do you think you might be able to stop by here?”

  “I’d like that.”

  “That’d be great.” She couldn’t hide the joy she felt knowing she would spend part of the day with him.

  “I don’t suppose you know anyone willing to play Santa,” her mother asked, lowering her voice so Peter wouldn’t hear.

  “I do,” Billy said.

  “This is the first year Peter’s into Santa. I’d love it if Santa could stop by the house at some point on Christmas Day. I know it’s a lot to ask of a stranger, but I’d be willing to pay whatever was reasonable.”

  “I doubt he’d take the money. I know for a fact he’d refuse.”

  “Who is it?” Ellen asked.