She tried to keep her eyes on the road while also gauging Miri’s reaction. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Miriam had blushed all the way up to her hair.

“Pull the truck over,” Miriam said, in a strangled voice. Noelle did as she was told. She put the truck into park and looked over at Miriam, who was already throwing a leg over her lap. Before Noelle knew what was happening, she was being straddled by a tiny elf, curls enveloping her head, hands in her hair, and Miriam’s lips on hers.

“I’m not complaining, but what are you doing?”

“You just said the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” Miriam said, kissing her harder.

“That you’re weird as fuck, and I’m into it?” Noelle asked, against her mouth, confused but not complaining.

There was no response, except a little squeak of lust and Miriam pressing her body closer.

Noelle let herself sink into the kiss, wrapping one hand around Miriam’s hips and bracing the other against the dashboard to give herself leverage. They frantically explored each other’s mouths, tongues and teeth and hands everywhere. When Miriam leaned back to unbutton her shirt, her back hit the horn on the steering wheel. A tiny piece of logic entered Noelle’s lust-addled brain. Beyond the fogged-up windows of the truck, the snow was falling even harder.

“Babe, we are going to get ticketed for public indecency and stuck in this snowstorm overnight, neither of which is a way to spend your birthday. You would miss Mrs. Matthews’s cake.” She pushed Miriam’s curls away from her face, dragging a thumb over her kiss-plumped lips.

“It sounds like the best way I can imagine spending my birthday,” Miriam said, grinning, “but I’ll behave myself.”

She resettled herself in the seat next to Noelle, and Noelle kicked herself for being way too rational for her own good.

“Did you find any inspiration for the tree at the shop?” she asked, to distract herself.

“I think all the inspiration I need is already at Carrigan’s,” Miriam said, cryptically.

The snow kept falling, and they only made it inside by following the Christmas lights to the front of the house.

Cole opened the front door, to her surprise. “I was worried you died in the snow,” Cole whined.

“What are you doing here?” Miriam squeaked, throwing her arms around him.

“It’s your birthday, Mimi,” Cole said, picking Miriam up and swinging her around. “Mrs. Matthews baked a cake. Also, you need help with the Christmas tree lighting.”

“Well, you can help me go up to the attic to find more materials,” Miriam said. “I think we’re going to be snowed in up here for a couple of days, so I should have plenty of time to finish all the decorations before the carnival.”