Rose held Nathan's hand as tight as she could through their thick mittens. She tilted her face up to the sky and let the snow tickle her cheeks in a happy hello. It was ecstatic to have earned her acceptance. She looked around at the glittering lights on all the houses and smiled as they passed by a bookstore where there were huge stands of her new bestseller: Nathan The Great Adventurer. She tugged on Nathan's sleeve and pointed.
Nathan smiled as Rose's slender finger singled out her book from all the rest in the bookstore's windows. He remembered how she withheld her writing from him until the first draft had been completed, and how he got to be the very first reader of Nathan The Great Adventurer, as promised two years ago today in Mr. Thompson's 24-hour coffee shop. Now it was Nathan's turn to point something out - the coffee shop still sat snugly on the corner. He remembered that Christmas Eve, when he was wishing for someone to share all his romance with. Looking at Rose, he knew he had received what he had asked for. Rose followed his gaze, and when her eyes fell upon the coffee shop, she beamed. "Let's drop by," she told Nathan.
Mr. Thompson leaned his chin in his hand. He looked out around his empty coffee shop and then out to the snowy streets. As he watched the snow drift down, the bell on the top of the door rang out and a couple entered the coffee shop holding hands. "Hi, Mr. Thompson," said the man.
A look of recognition spread across the old man's face. "You two were in here... two years ago today," he said in awe. He bustled around to the front of the counter and smiled wide. "Well, let's pull up a chair."
They sat and talked for hours, about all the magic that was going on around them. Finally Rose removed her mitten to reveal an engagement ring that gleamed just as brightly as the snow outside.
Maybe there weren't presents wrapped in fancy paper, but as Mr. Thompson watched Rose and Nathan play out in the snow, they were all sure that they had received exactly what they wanted.
YOU ARE READING
Coffee Shop Christmas
Teen FictionRosemary is twenty eight and depressed. Nathan is a hopeless romantic, but he's all alone. What will happen when they meet one Christmas Eve in Mr. Thompson's 24-hour coffee shop?
