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“You told me one thing and did another. What more was there to say?”

“If you would have given me the chance, I could have—”

“Gabe? Where’d you go?” a female voice calls.

Chapter 4

Gabe

I spin around at the sound of my mom’s voice. She pokes her head around the aisle, her face lighting up as she takes in the sight of Beth and me.

“Oh! You found a friend.”

Former friend is more like it. Currently, I’d say Beth considers me her enemy.

“Hi, Elena.” Beth turns her back on me and gives my mom a hug.

I take the opportunity to try to collect myself. When I agreed to run errands with my mom, I did not expect to run into my ex-best friend.

Beth looks good. Too good. Her cheeks are rosy, the color no doubt heightened by her unexpected conversation with me. She’s got on her trademark swoopy black eyeliner, which emphasizes her hazel eyes. Her hair is still long, secured back in a ponytail with a long red ribbon tied in a bow.

I try not to be jealous of how close she and my mom are. My mom and I are close, too. Maybe not as close as I’d like to be since my job takes me around the world on any given day, but we have a solid relationship. She doesn’t know what went down between Beth and me on the eve of my big break. I wasn’t going to put that on her. She needed me, and I came through for her. That’s that.

Seeing the two of them chat about their businesses and the Black Friday rush like the good friends they are solidifies that I made the right call.

My mom picks up one end of Beth’s garland and smiles warmly, which sends faint crinkle lines scattering from the corners of her eyes. “That’s beautiful. Good find!”

Beth’s face lights with a smile of her own. She stands up a little straighter. “I’m trying to do up the store perfectly for the holidays. It’s my last chance to make a good impression before the Dasher Valley 8 selection.”

“Smart of you to go all out.” My mom nods. “The selection committee looks at all aspects of a small business when considering who to include.”

I catch the brief look of panic that flies across Beth’s face before she smooths it over.

She’s gunning for a spot in the Dasher Valley 8. Interesting. If she’s anything like the girl I knew in college, she’s probably working herself to the bone. My heart gives a slight lurch, and the desire to take care of her rises up from the pit in my stomach like a phoenix, but I swallow it down. She’s not my homeland anymore.

Still, it’s a lot for her to take on alone. I remember when my mom was trying to get elected to the small conglomerate of Dasher Valley businesses set apart by the Chamber of Commerce as being a tier above the rest. They’re the businesses that consistently bring something extra to Dasher Valley. The gold standard. They also, then, receive more publicity from the town itself and are promoted across the town’s marketing platforms, thus bringing more business to them. A spot in the Dasher Valley 8 is a huge boost for a business’s bottom line, not to mention the bragging rights and prestige that comes with it around town.

“I’m glad we ran into you,” my mom says.

“More like were crushed under you,” I mutter under my breath.

My mom shoots me a questioning look. Beth doesn’t make eye contact.

“What’s up?” Beth asks, ignoring me.

“I’ve got an idea for a new holiday event, and I was hoping you’d help me coordinate it.”

“Okay.” Beth cocks her head to the side. “I’m listening.”

My mom rubs her hands together. “A town-wide scavenger hunt. Or at least, a sequence of clues, taking participants around the Valley and having them complete a series of missions, culminating in a final event. Maybe a Christmas party? A concert or a dance? I don’t know. Haven’t worked out the details yet, but I figure you could help me with that. Look, I found this app we can use to run the event.”

Of course she did. My mom is like a one-woman Energizer Bunny.

She and Beth put their heads together, staring at my mom’s phone screen.

“And,” Mom continues, “I thought we could call the event the Christmas Dash.”

Beth grins. “Sounds like fun. I’m in.”