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“All right, Gianna,” she said as she walked toward me, stopping at one of the shelves to grab her emergency chocolate stash. “I may not have my mother-in-law’s sense for this kind of thing, but I know my own daughter. You’ve been acting very flighty lately, and I saw the look on your face when James asked you to the dance.” She held out the tin of chocolates, and I grabbed a peppermint bark. “That was not the face of someone who is happy in a relationship, or of someone who just picked out a stunning dress for that very event, so…out with it.”

I took a bite of the bark and sighed as Mom pulled up a stool and took a seat. “I don’t even know where to begin, Mom,” I said.

“The beginning is always a good place,” she said, setting the tin on the windowsill.

So, I started at the beginning and proceeded to unload everything the way I did at the cemetery, omitting the details about mine and Sam’s mind-blowing kiss in the snow, because I was pretty sure if I confessed those details to my mother, my face would literally light her studio on fire. I didn’t stop talking until I reached my conversation with James on Cherry Street.

And then Mom made a face I hadn’t seen before.

It was a combination of stony meets sad, where her mouth went slack before she slowly shook her head. I didn’t think my Grinchy heart could feel any smaller than it did when I rejected James’s invitation to the Masquerade, but boy was I wrong.

“How…” She stopped and turned her head to the side before she continued. “How could you be so…so careless, Gianna?”

“I don’t know.” My entire body sagged. “I feel awful—”

“As you well should.” Mom pressed her hands on her knees. “This isn’t one of your Christmas rom-coms, Gianna. These are real people, real hearts you’re playing with so recklessly, and for what?”

“We really thought the fake dating could save The Market,” I said, my voice quiet.

“Fake dating doesn’t save anything.” She stood and began to pace. “It only takes and hurts someone, or in your case, two someones.”

Tears burned behind my eyes before they spilled onto my cheeks. “I’m sorry—”

“I’m not the one who needs your apology.” She stopped pacing and gestured outside. “But you need to fix what you broke.”

Do you think I don’t already know that?

Or how frustrating it is to be able to fix things for literally everyone else except yourself?

But Mom kept going. “Emotions are not something to play around with. If you’re not careful, you may just—”

“Just what?” I stood, accidentally knocking my head into the pothos. “Fall in love? Get hurt? News flash, Mom, I did. And yeah, I feel like crap because I hurt not one but two people in the process, but at least I took chances. At least I put myself out there. When was the last time you did something like that, huh?”

Mom sucked in a sharp breath and stepped back as if she’d been slapped. But before I could try to rephrase or clarify, the door flew open, and Leo hurried in wearing his noise-canceling headphones. “Gianna! Nona said she can’t pull the alarm again or the fire marshal will give her a citation, but I swear I smell smoke!” He winked.

I grabbed another piece of chocolate and stormed past my mother before whispering a quick “thank you” to Leo and then hurrying down the stairs and out into the cold midday air.

I stayed in my room for the rest of the afternoon. Mom had knocked on my door to ask me if I wanted dinner, but I ignored her. I knew what I had said was hurtful, but she had hurt me too, and I was too emotionally exhausted from the whiplash of the last forty-eight hours to go another round with her or anyone else. Jo and I had texted a few times, but she knew to leave me to my movies and ice cream when I felt like crap.

On my second watch of The Spirit of Christmas—Kate really did have the right idea…falling for a ghost is a lot less messy than what I did—my phone buzzed with an alert.

Auntie Sof: I know you’re sulking right now but I need a favor

I groaned and fell back onto my bed, pulling a pillow over my face. The last thing I needed right now was to do an odd job for my aunt. Knowing her, she’d have me go up to that North Pole Suite at the B&B and iron the curtains or launder the sheets while wearing something ridiculous in the hopes of lightening the mood between me and James.

But I also knew that if I didn’t do this, she’d probably send Bianca over here, and I definitely didn’t want that either.

I sat up and grudgingly texted her back.

Me: What do you need me to do?

She replied instantly.

Auntie Sof: They’re shorthanded at Town Hall. The cub scouts couldn’t make it in to help put the paper drip protectors on the candles for the caroling.

Auntie Sof: Thank youuuuuu

After sadly putting on a pair of pants and shoving a hoodie over my head, I slid into my boots and coat and started the long walk to Town Hall. The night air smelled crisp and earthy with a familiar stillness that only happened right before the weather changed. Maybe we would get more snow soon.