Epilogue – Noelle
One year later, the week before Christmas
“Behind you!” Dad calls, balancing a tray piled high with Christmas Dinner Melts.
Jolly’s is packed. Every booth’s full and there’s a line out the door. The air smells like toasted bread, cranberry chutney, and Christmas magic.
“Order up!” Three plates slide across the pass. Liz, our new server, snags them like she was born doing it.
The kitchen hums. The new broiler works like a dream, the wiring doesn’t threaten to burn down the building, and the shiny ventilation hood actually vents. Gabriel did most of it himself, with Clarence supervising.
Speaking of Gabriel...
Strong arms wrap around my waist from behind, pulling me against his broad chest.
“You’re not supposed to be in the kitchen during service,” I scold, though I’m already melting back into him. He kisses that spot behind my ear that makes me forget how words work.
“Breaking rules is kind of my thing. Also, I have news.”
“Good or bad?”
He hesitates. “Depends how you feel about forty people coming over on Christmas Eve Eve.”
I spin around. “What did you do?”
“Clarence may have mentioned the engagement party.” He gives me that lopsided grin that says I regret nothing. “Now half the town’s showing up. Clarence’s idea. He says it’s good luck.”
“Of course he did.” I smile and shrug. “The more the merrier. And I get to show off my handsome fiancé to everyone.”
The bell over the door jingles and Avery bursts in, cheeks pink from the cold.
She unwinds her scarf and grins. “Guess what? I finally moved into my apartment!”
Dad looks up from the griddle. “Congratulations! How does it feel?”
“Good. I’m so happy I don’t have to share a room with my sisters anymore. Your brother Felix helped me move in, Gabriel. Grunted the whole time, like helping me carry boxes was a personal insult.”
Gabriel raises an eyebrow. “Felix helped you move?”
“Shocking, right? He even stayed to hang my twinkle lights.” She grins, a faraway look in her eyes. “I’m hoping he might have a crush on me.”
Gabriel snorts. “Felix doesn’t crush. He… simmers.”
“Maybe he’s defrosting,” I say. “Getting into the Christmas spirit, Frost family style.”
“Worked for Gabriel,” Dad says.
Avery smiles. “Anyway, housewarming in a couple of days? You’re all coming. It’s mandatory. I’ll provide cocoa and questionable karaoke.”
Before I can answer, the food blogger from the city swoops in. She’s all bright lipstick and shoulder pads, and has the confidence of someone who’s never cleaned a grill. “The aesthetics here are incredible! So nostalgic. Small-town charm meets modern culinary vision.”
Gabriel leans close, voice low. “I could fake a small fire. Quick evacuation.”
“You’re literally the fire department.”
The afternoon flies by in a blur of videos, photographs and Gabriel sneaking kisses when he thinks no one’s looking. Later, after closing, the diner’s finally quiet. Snow drifts past the windows in slow, lazy flakes.
“Remember last year?” Gabriel says, flipping the “Closed” sign. “You nearly burned this place down.”
“You saved it.”
“You saved it,” he corrects. “I just handled the extinguisher.”
I step into his arms. “Okay, we saved it.”
His smile softens. That one special smile that’s only for me. “Yeah. We did.”
Outside, something darts across the street. There’s a blur of brown fur and… antlers? That crazy dog disappeared after Christmas, but now it looks like he’s back. I blink. Nothing. Just snow, streetlights, and Snowflake Falls settling into another Christmas.
“Did you see that?” I ask my fiancé.
“Nope. I was looking at you, gorgeous.”
I nudge him with my hip. “You really didn’t see the reindeer dog? It was magical.”
He shakes his head, eyes warm. “The only magic I need is standing right here.”
Outside, snow swirls in the glow of the streetlights. Inside, his arms wrap around me, and the whole world feels perfectly, wonderfully right.