I laughed and took a bite of my muffin. It was even better than I remembered. “God, I missed these.”

Bell shifted in her seat and said nothing. What could she say? That it was my own damn fault I missed them? That it served me right? I changed the subject. “What do you think about having auditions for bands next week? I can put an ad in the paper, maybe online somewhere?”

Bell took a sip of her coffee. “Sounds good. We should put some flyers up around town, too.”

“Great idea.” Silence filled the space around us. I broke off a piece of my muffin. “What’s your favorite movie?”

Bell cocked her head to the side, her lips fluttering as if she were holding in a laugh. “Random much?”

I shrugged. “We’re starting fresh, gotta ask you questions if I’m going to get to know this Bell person.” I raised an eyebrow. “She seems like kind of a shady character, but her movie preferences might change that.”

Bell chuckled. “The Princess Bride.” Same as it had always been. There was something comforting about that. We might be different people, but there were parts of us that were the same, that recognized each other. “What about you?”

“Die Hard.”

“The best Christmas movie ever.”

I twisted in my seat to face her. “Yes! Why do people argue that it’s not a Christmas movie?”

She grinned. “I watch it every year.”

My mind filled with an image of Bell curled up on the couch, surrounded by pillows and blankets, eating Christmas cookies and watching Bruce Willis kick some serious ass. In that moment, I realized I didn’t know what her Christmases looked like at all. I knew every detail of what their celebrations had looked like before, from the Kipton family Christmas party, to Violet and Bell’s gingerbread house decorating, to how their parents used to hang Vi’s and Bell’s stockings on the ends of their beds. But it seemed like Bell had little to no relationship with her parents these days.

I hated the thought of her being lonely on a day that she’d always loved. Guilt crept back into me at the idea that it might be my fault. I cleared my throat. “What are your other Christmas traditions?”

There was no hint of sadness in her expression. Instead, her smile grew wider, twisting something in the cavity of my chest. “The Christmas Eve parade through town, of course. Kenna and I have a sleepover at Caelyn’s. We all bring sleeping bags out into the living room and camp out by the tree. The kids love it. In the morning, we exchange gifts, and Caelyn makes a feast that would make the White House jealous.”

“That sounds like a perfect Christmas.”

Bell’s smile turned gentle. “It is.” She took another sip of her coffee. “What about you? Your family goes to LA, right?”