Free Mistletoe Magic by Celia Juliano

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter One
     
     
     
    “Nice guys like you, Pete, just don’t get it.” Pete’s ex-fiancée, Kerry, shook her blonde head. Her tightly-done hair and features didn’t move.
     
    “Thanks for returning the ring. Congrats.” Pete smiled as Kerry’s lips twisted. She didn’t get that he was over her and he was happy she’d found someone else. Pete studied the papers on his desk again.
     
    Kerry pushed out a frustrated breath. Her heels clicked across the concrete floor of his office. The door slammed shut.
     
    It’d been over six months since he and Kerry’d broken up. Thank God. He’d seen what he wanted to in Kerry. She’d seen his family’s money, not him. When she did, she’d found him lacking. Pete wanted to see good in people, but they didn’t return the favor as often as he’d like.
     
    Pete shoved the papers and stood, stretching. His fingers almost touched the ceiling. His phone buzzed on the desk. Aunt Sophia. He answered.
     
    They exchanged hellos. “Can we count on you for Sunday dinner tomorrow?” Aunt Sophia said.
     
    “Sure.” He wanted to ask if Becca would be there. He wanted to tell Aunt Sophia to stop trying to set his cousin Joey up with Becca. But Pete didn’t do things like that. He let things go. Even with Kerry, she’d been the one to push him to get engaged.
     
    Besides, Becca hadn’t ever looked at Pete with anything other than friendliness. And she was friendly with everyone.
     
    “Good,” Aunt Sophia said, breaking into his thoughts. “See you at five.”
     
    “Okay.” Pete ended the call. He shrugged his shoulders. Christmas cheer would be all over Aunt Sophia’s like bug splat on a windshield. He should just take off, like his brother Gianni and his cousin Janetta did, to avoid the family storm.
     
    But he was the reliable one, always there. He used to like it, the family gatherings, especially at Christmas, when everyone smiled and sang and baked and forgot troubles—the magic of the season. But the magic had gone stale, old. He felt old, at thirty. He wanted to find a special woman, get married, have kids. Discover the magic again. Yet instead of it happening for him, his cousins Vincente and Lorenzo, who hadn’t even been trying, found that magic. He blew out a breath and chuckled at his sulky attitude. He was glad for them. But for him…Maybe Kerry was right, maybe he wouldn’t ever get it.
     
    ***
     
    “Hi, Becca,” Carlo D’Angelo said as he walked down the steps of his and Sophia’s house. “Go on in. Sophia’s in the kitchen. I’m going to check on my mom. See you soon.”
     
    Carlo patted her arm as he passed. Becca smiled and nodded. She walked up and into the house, as she had been since she was a little girl. It was a blessing, having neighbors like the D’Angelos.
     
    The house was warm and smelled like sugar, yeast, and spices. Holiday baking was in earnest, since it was already a week into December. Sophia had gone all out on the decorations, too, even more than usual. Greenery swagged the staircase, with red ribbon and bows throughout, bows decked the family photos lining the walls of the hall. Becca peeked into the living room—a cozy Christmas throw brightened the green sofa, holiday candy stood in a bowl on the coffee table, candles and greenery and ribbon near it, and on the fireplace mantel. A large Italian nativity set filled the table behind the sofa. And the tree: a floor to ceiling noble fir stood in front of the bay window, ornaments and bows and lights laced throughout the branches.
     
    Becca drew in a breath, the scents calming her. She walked to the kitchen. Sophia, a holly-patterned apron on, kneaded bread dough at the center island.
     
    “Becca!” A smile beamed from her older friend’s face. Sophia and Carlo’s had been the welcoming house in high school, and, for Becca, a haven from elementary school on. Still, since high school, it had lost some of its appeal,