“Maybe next holiday season, you’ll fall in love and throw your life into chaos,” Miriam said, cautiously hopeful that they might end on, if not good terms, at least not catastrophic ones.

“You shut your mouth,” Tara said, sounding horrified and crossing herself. She opened the bar door and leaned her head in, yelling, “Cole, you’re driving me to the train station.”

Cole ran out the door, followed by Hannah. “Ooh, stealing cars at midnight,” Cole said, jacket in hand. “We haven’t done that since middle school.”

Hannah squeezed Miriam’s hand. “I’ll go with them to make sure they take a farm truck instead of Noelle’s truck.”

Tara took one last look at Miriam. “Don’t call me for awhile.” Miriam nodded. It was better than she’d hoped for.

Once they were gone, Miriam slid back into the booth across from Noelle, who had been left alone, an ocean of cold leftover onion rings in front of her.

“Well, you fucked that up pretty good,” Noelle said. She took a small wooden duck out of one inside pocket of her coat, and a knife from another, and began whittling, not looking at Miriam.

“You’re not wrong,” Miriam agreed, leaning her head back against the booth and closing her eyes.

“What are you going to do now?”

Miriam thought for a long minute. “Order more fried food and cry into the plate?” she speculated.

She was deeply regretful that she’d hurt Tara. They had been together for years, and even if they weren’t in love, they had loved each other. Miriam wanted to honor that by mourning the end of their relationship. But she was also relieved, which made her feel like an asshole. She wanted to get on with her new life, let herself become giddy with possibilities. To see how she really felt about Noelle, now that she wasn’t engaged.

It was a lot of feelings to try to have at once, for someone not used to having any.

“I meant more big picture,” Noelle said, and Miriam picked up her head from the booth. Noelle sat forward, looking her in the eyes. “What do you want, Miriam Blum?”

Miriam took a fortifying breath and practiced telling the truth again.

“I want you to ask me to stay.”

Part 2

Thanksgiving to Christmas

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Noelle

Miriam was twisting her hands again, paint and glitter still caught under her short nails. Noelle reached over and put her own hands, rough and work-hardened, over Miriam’s. Seeing her with Tara had made it impossible for Noelle to ignore how she felt about Miriam. Noelle’s rational adult brain understood that their being together would, in fact, be a huge, potentially disastrous complication. They’d only known each other a month. Yet Noelle wanted her to stay. Even if they never got together.

Because she didn’t want a Carrigan’s without Miriam Blum.