Beau tried to hide his grin as he sipped his hot cider.

“What?” I said. “What’s that look for?”

“Nothing,” he said. “Just . . .”

He finished his sentence by signing, HAPPY.

SAME, I signed back. HAPPY.

Thanks to the shorter days this time of year, night started to fall and the market began closing up. Beau led me across the street to a restaurant called Troia’s Café and we wound up having an early dinner of pasta and meatballs.

I had a mouthful of noodles when Beau signed, TRAIN NEXT.

AGAIN? I signed. What did he mean, train?

“Train . . .” Beau repeated. “Up . . . mountain. Christmas lights . . .”

He stuck a hand in his jacket pocket and came up with a folded piece of paper. He slid it across the small table to me. It was a ticket he’d printed off the computer, brightly colored and advertising the Georgetown Loop Railroad and their Santa’s Train & Lighted Forest event for the holiday season.

“This is for kids, isn’t it?” I said to Beau, handing the ticket back.

Beau surprisingly nodded. AGE EIGHTEEN, he signed, pointing back at himself with a grin. BUT I FEEL LIKE KID.

SAME, I signed, pleased by his playfulness. I didn’t get to see this side of him at school, and I liked it.

Holding Beau’s hand again on our way back to his car after dinner wasn’t as much of a surprise this time around, but I still felt like dissolving into a giddy mess. Strange what a boy could do to you.

Driving through the rest of Georgetown—which was only a few more streets—was necessary to get to the Loop Railroad. All the lights in town were flickering on as Beau drove us up a small hillside. I stayed turned around in my seat to memorize the sight. Everything about this old mining town hidden in the mountains was enchanting.

The Railroad Loop was just as crowded as the Christmas market had been, although this time with a bunch of kids hyped up on hot cocoa and sugar cookies. I snagged a couple cookies from the table set out for paying visitors and slid my arm through Beau’s as we got in line to get on the train.

A man dressed in a conductor’s uniform took our tickets when we reached the front of the line. We found a spot in the train’s second car and took seats by the back window. The car was heated, but I sat close to Beau anyway, so I could pretend we needed to huddle together for warmth.