Free Mistletoe in Maine by Ginny Baird

brisk winds and flurries that drifted inside.
    “Thanks, guys,” Paul said. “You can just leave the things by the sink over there.”
    “Want us to put this stuff away?” Amy asked helpfully.
    Paul glanced at Beth, knowing she was right. It really was nearly impossible to get a moment’s peace around here. Particularly today—in this kitchen. “Thanks, Amy. I’ll get it in a minute. Why don’t you and Daniel go and relax for a bit. Take a breather before things get busy for dinner.”
    Daniel caught Amy’s eye and nodded toward the kitchen door. She smiled and followed after him as Beth watched the exchange. “Young love,” she said with a sigh after they had gone.
    “Hmm,” Paul said, stroking his chin. “If you’ll excuse me a second…” He stood and walked to the kitchen door, swinging it open—just in time to spy Daniel and Amy, hand in hand, sneaking up the stairs. “I meant relax down here!”
    They halted in their tracks, then eased back down the steps.
    Beth stared at him with amazement. “Wow, you’re good,” she said when he came and sat beside her.
    “I was young once.”
    She raised an eyebrow. “I recall.”
    Paul combated a rash of heat with a swig of wine. “Yeah, me too,” he said, surveying her with a tender melancholy.
    “What is it?” she asked, seeming to note his wistful look.
    “I was just remembering,” he said with a laugh, “when we got caught necking in your old man’s barn.”
    “Oh God!” She giggled. “I thought I was going to be grounded for the rest of my life!”
    “Back then, three weeks felt like the rest of our lives.”
    She studied him sweetly then clinked his glass. “Good times.”
    “Yeah.”
    She studied him a beat, then set down her wine. “Paul, I’m not quite sure how to say this. But I want you to know that good times are possible again.”
    “I’m sorry?” he asked with a cough.
    “For you,” she said kindly. “Now, I know things have seemed glum, but there’s always a rainbow after every storm.”
    “Beth? What on earth are you talking about?”
    She lowered her voice and leaned forward. “Your mother told me about your… depression. ”
    “My what?”
    “It’s all right. You don’t have to pretend with me.” She reached forward and took his hand. “I want you to know you have someone to talk to. I mean, I know it’s been a while, and things between us ended kind of badly—”
    “Kind of…?” Paul withdrew his hand. “You left me for my best friend!”
    She dropped her chin. “I know, and I feel terrible about that. But Jack was just so…hot!”
    Paul blinked hard, wondering how this was helping things.
    “It was high school, Paul.”
    “Our freshman year in college, actually.”
    “A million years ago and a billion miles away… A lot has changed since then. I’ve changed . ”
    “Yes, I’m sure you have. Time does that to us all. But”—he crooked a finger in her direction—“I have to tell you something.” She leaned toward him; then he said in a whisper, “I am…not…depressed.”
    “What?” she asked with alarm.
    “In fact, I have no idea why my mom would say that.”
    “But she said you weren’t in your right mind! Were about to do something drastic!”
    “Drastic?”
    The kitchen door swung open, and Daniel looked from his dad to Beth, then back at his dad again. “I was just coming to grab some eggnog for me and Amy.”
    “Daniel,” Paul said, lowering his voice. “Would you happen to have any clue how Velma got the notion I was down in the dumps?”
    Daniel thumbed his chest with a blank look. “Dumps, Dad? No, sir. Not at all. Frankly, you’re looking pretty chipper to me!”
    Paul narrowed his eyes at the boy, scrutinizing. “You didn’t mention anything to her? Nothing at all?”
    Daniel scratched the back of his head, then spouted out with a squeak, “I might have said some little, tiny thing about you possibly selling the inn.” He swallowed hard. “And moving to