1. Wine for Dinner

Wine for Dinner

Nova

37 Days until New Year’s Eve

W ith a sigh, I slumped against the front counter of my cupcake shop, Icing on Top. It was Thanksgiving, and I was waiting for the last of my customers to pick up their orders. Not that I had any special plans to rush home to. Unless you considered a bottle of wine “special plans.” My eyes drifted to the box of Christmas decorations against the wall. I could always do something useful since I would be here for the next few hours. I moved the box to a table and opened it. I would handle the outdoor decorations tomorrow, but there wasn’t any reason why I couldn’t get the inside of the cupcake shop festive.

I was still decorating long after the shop should have closed, but I had one final customer who still needed to pick up their order. Just as I taped off the end of the silver garland I had lined the counter with, the door opened, and I turned expecting to see Dave, but instead, it was Bree.

I wouldn’t consider us best friends, but we were friendly enough. She worked across the street at Caffeinated Charm, our local coffee shop. “Nova, what are you still doing at work?” she asked. “Even we’ve closed up shop for the day,” she said as she held out a to-go cup. “I saw you were here and thought I would give you your final pumpkin fix until next year.”

I took the cup from her and held it under my nose, inhaling the delicious smell of the pumpkin spice latte. “You’re a gem,” I told her, taking a tentative sip. “I still maintain that pumpkin is a Christmas flavor, too.”

She rolled her eyes at my familiar argument. She had heard it many times before, usually around this time of year. “Unfortunately for you, the owner disagrees. Now, stop avoiding the question. Why are you still here? That cute boyfriend of yours must be waiting for you at home.”

I grimaced. “I have one more order that needs to be picked up today, and the only thing waiting for me at home is a chicken and a bottle of wine,” I told her.

She tilted her head curiously. “What happened to the boyfriend?”

“He decided two days ago that he wasn’t interested in continuing our relationship,” I replied, tapping my cup with my nails.

“That bastard. And right before Thanksgiving was when he had this epiphany?” I appreciated how angry she was getting for me. I should focus on making time for her and developing a deeper friendship. I’ve been in such a fog lately that everything outside of Paul has fallen to the wayside.

“Yup.” I took another sip of my coffee.

“Well, he’s a fucking idiot, and he never deserved you,” she stated.

I smiled at her support. “Thanks, girl, and thanks for the coffee. Do you have any big holiday plans?”

“Not really. I invited my boss over since he didn’t have plans, but I’m not sure he will come. He’s a little strange,” she replied.

“Obviously, if he thinks pumpkin is only a Fall flavor,” I replied.

The door opened, and Dave walked in. “I’m sorry for being late, Miss Nova!” he said hurriedly. “I lost track of time down at the Drunken Duck.”

“It’s fine, Dave. I was decorating the shop for Christmas, so I was here anyway,” I assured him as I grabbed his bag from behind the counter and handed it to him.

“I really appreciate you making these for my Belle,” Dave said as he accepted the bag.

“It’s my pleasure, Dave. Happy Thanksgiving, and tell your Belle I also said Happy Thanksgiving.”

“Yes, ma’am, I will,” he replied as he left the shop.

“Old Man Dave was the customer you were waiting on?” Bree asked.

“He was.”

“Did you even charge him?”

“Nope. And his cupcakes were a special flavor,” I smiled.

Bree shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You’re too nice sometimes, you know that?”

“Perhaps. Dave sleeps at that bookstore, Timeless Pages. He came in asking for the owner’s niece’s favorite cupcakes as a gift to show his appreciation since it is the day to give thanks,” I replied as I started shutting down the shop. “He wanted to pay, but I wouldn’t let him.”

“And that’s what makes you too nice sometimes,” Bree laughed as she stepped forward and hugged me quickly. “Never change. Happy Thanksgiving, Nova.”

“You too, Bree.” I watched her leave and then gathered my purse. I made sure that the back door was locked and that everything was turned off, and then I stepped outside. I inhaled the cool air deeply. It smelled like snow. The smell of snow instantly made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Snow and the holiday season brought so many beautiful memories of the past back to me. All of that was over now.

As I was locking the door, Bree appeared beside me. “So, maybe you aren’t ready yet, but I thought I would give this to you.” I took the business card she held out and looked at it.

“Tempted Hearts?”

“It’s a dating app that the coffee shop is promoting. You should think about creating a profile. Find someone who deserves you and will make you happy.”

“Umm, thanks, Bree, but I don’t think I want to date right now,” I said as I tried to return the card to her.

She held her hands up and backed away from me toward her car. “No take backs,” she laughed. “If you don’t want anything serious, say that on your profile, but you should try to find someone to keep you company for the holidays, especially this year.”

I shook my head at the girl as she retreated to her car and drove away before I could respond. I slipped the card into my back pocket and went home. I let myself into the silent house, immediately turning on the lights and pulling up a Spotify playlist to drown out the quiet. This had been my childhood home. My mom had died when I was younger, so for most of my life, it was just me and my dad. Much to my dad’s concealed annoyance, Paul moved in with us a couple of years ago. He tried, but he never really liked Paul. He might have been on to something.

Now, it was just me. Dad died eight months ago in a car accident. I’ll never forget the day the police came into the shop to tell me the news. Paul had been away on a business trip then, so I had to face the initial pain alone. For months, I had a tough time coping with the loss. And Paul had a hard time dealing with me. He started going on more and more business trips until it felt like he was gone more than he was home.

In the last month, I had just started to come out of the fog. I still felt like screaming over the loss, but I was trying to pull myself together and function better. I knew that’s what my dad would have wanted. I tried to reconnect with Paul when he was home. He had pushed me away with disgust or laughter on more than one occasion. Then he would ask me why I thought he would want to touch me after turning into a blimp. I knew I had gained some weight, but I hadn’t thought I had gained so much to make me repulsive. Apparently, in his eyes, I was. Finally, he came home a couple of days ago and packed his belongings.

He had tried to do it while I was at work, but knowing he had come home, I left early to surprise him. I had intended to seduce him. Imagine my shock when he was placing the last box into his car. He had the good sense to look slightly ashamed at being caught trying to sneak off. When asked if he planned to tell me, he responded, “I figured you’re a smart girl and would have figured it out. You had to know that this was coming. I haven’t touched you in months. This relationship isn’t working. I need someone by my side that I can be proud to look at, that is desirable, and unfortunately, with your dad dying, you’ve just let yourself go.” He left after that. Leaving me standing in my driveway with my mouth open, dumbfounded.

I broke myself out of my reverie and looked at my plate of half-eaten chicken. I shoved the plate away in disgust and reached for my wine glass instead, gulping down its contents and pouring myself another glass. Guess I’ll be drinking my dinner tonight. Objectively, the break-up was probably for the best. If Dad were here, he would be thrilled to see Paul walking out of our lives. But it was difficult to think objectively. Paul was safe, and his presence kept me from feeling like I was all alone in the world. Even if his presence was more in spirit than physical. The only silver lining was that I learned in the last two days that I didn’t love Paul as much as I thought.

I met Paul shortly after he moved to town to work at Triple Tech, the largest company in Sunflower Falls. He had come into the shop to order cupcakes to bring to work to impress his coworkers. I hooked him up, and he asked me out on a date. Living in a small town like Sunflower Falls, strangers didn’t tend to stick around. Most were tourists here to ski and visit our picturesque little town. So I felt lucky that the new guy in town was interested in me. A year later, he was moving in with us, and I thought my life was perfect and my future was set. And now, I’m all alone, and it will be the first Christmas without my dad.

I stood to bring my plate to the sink and had to grab the island to steady myself as the effects of the wine made themselves known. Deciding to leave my plate, I emptied the rest of the wine into my glass, grabbed it and my phone, and went to the couch. Sipping my wine, I looked around my living room. If Dad were here, he would already be decorating. We would drink eggnog every Thanksgiving night, put on A Christmas Carol, and decorate the Christmas tree. I had always longed for a real tree, but Dad preferred the artificial trees because they didn’t make the mess a real tree did.

Spending Christmas alone sounded dreadful, but I knew I couldn’t ignore the season. I loved Christmas, and so did my Dad. It was his favorite holiday, and to turn my back on it felt like I was turning my back on him, too. An idea came to me, and I reached into my back pocket and fished out the business card that Bree had given me earlier. I studied the card thoughtfully as I tapped my finger against the edge. The card read, ‘Let fate find your match!’ What could it hurt? Maybe fate could find me someone to do all the Christmas traditions with.

I sat up, opened the laptop on the coffee table, and pulled up the website. I entered my email, and a questionnaire filled the screen. I filled out the essential information and paused at the question to describe myself in ten words. I hated this kind of thing and almost shut the laptop. Instead, I took another fortifying gulp of my wine and powered through.

Hard Working, Loyal, Creative, Grieving, Alone, Drunk.

I didn’t come up with ten words, but I did my best. The next question that made me pause was the monogamous, swinger, or polyamorous one. Polyamory was becoming mainstream, though I knew some people still didn’t approve of it. In my own opinion, love was love, and someone else’s love life wasn’t any of my damn business. As for myself, I didn’t have an answer to that, and it didn’t matter because I wasn’t looking for love, just company. I snickered as I answered the question.

Single AF.

The rest of the questions were rather mundane. In the additional comments section, I stated that I wasn’t looking for anything romantic. I just wanted someone to spend the holiday season with. I finished my wine as I hovered over the submit button. Using my liquid courage, I clicked the button and quickly closed my laptop. Well, now that I had put my future in the hands of fate, it was time to go to bed. I grabbed a glass of water to take to bed with me as I turned off all the lights. I had a feeling that tomorrow was not going to be pretty.