our conversation. “It’s perfect,” she whispered as she moved to the mirror in the bathroom.
“Hang on, no, it’s not,” I said as I followed her. I was beginning to learn that it’s perfect to Em was code for Hallmark movie trope. “It’s not perfect. It was a coincidence, that is it.”
Em was standing in front of the mirror, blotting her lipstick with some toilet paper. “Haven’t you learned that there is no such thing as coincidence?” She turned to face me. “At least not here in Christmasland.”
Here we go again. “This town is not trying to purposely give us a Hallmark movie experience.” I leaned against the counter in the bathroom and studied her.
“Right. Sure,” she said as she fluffed her hair. “And Porter and Ethan just happened to make breakfast for two strangers.” She gave me an unimpressed look.
“Well…yeah.” I hated how uncertain I sounded. Why couldn’t I be more confident about this? Did I really think that Ethan wanted to spend the morning with me? Did it seem more likely that he was being forced to do this by someone higher up in Christmasland? Was I delusional enough to think that he voluntarily wanted to spend time with me?
I wanted to say, no, I wasn’t. That it just might be more likely for him to invite me to breakfast because he had to instead of him actually wanting to. But neither scenario made sense to me. First, he’d just met me—so there’s no way he would be that interested. Second, there was definitely no scheme to give us a ridiculous holiday experience. This was just a town that loved Christmas and had found a way to monetize it.
Period.
I groaned as I buried my face in my hands. I needed to get out of my head.
“You’re thinking too much. Whether it’s fake or not, enjoy it. After all, in a few days we will return to normal life, and you’ll regret it if you don’t take advantage of every experience.” She reached out and patted my arm. “That’s what I’m doing.”
I peeked through my fingers at her. Em looked so at ease that I felt jealous. Why couldn’t I be like that? What did I have to overthink everything?
I was a rational person. Getting inside my own head had historically caused issues for me. I should remember that.
“So you think I should just go along with everything?”
Em nodded. “You’ll have a good time, and that furrow”—she motioned toward my forehead—“will lessen.”
I rubbed my brow. “I don’t have a worry line.”
She snorted. “Okay.” Then she clapped her hands. “Finish getting ready. We’re expected downstairs in a few minutes.”
I sighed as I headed back to the mirror, where I attempted to keep my mind focused as I worked on finishing my makeup. I was just overthinking things, that was all. There was nothing for me to stress about. It wasn’t like Ethan and I were destined for each other or anything.
I was here to have a fun and enjoyable vacation, and I was tired of getting in my own way. I could survive a picnic. I could even compete in a bake-off and live to tell the tale. I needed to stop focusing on things I couldn’t explain and just live.
I could do that.
Fifteen minutes later, we were dressed and ready to go. I followed after Em as she led us out into the hallway and down the stairs. Ethan and Porter were standing in the foyer with their winter jackets and hats on. I tried to look relaxed as I walked up to Ethan with a smile.
“Hey,” I said.
Ethan startled and then glanced down at me. His eyes widened, and I couldn’t tell if it was because he was surprised I came or because he was happy to see me. Whichever it was, I wasn’t going to worry about it. I was just going to take everything that came at me.
“We’re ready,” Em sang out as Porter grabbed her jacket from the hook and helped her slip it on.
Ethan looked out of place as he stood next to me. Then he stepped forward to grab my coat.
“I can get it,” I said at the same time he said, “Let me get it.”
We both stopped, and I peeked up at him. His skin looked flushed as he pinched his lips together.
“I can help you,” he said quietly.
I nodded and watched as he pulled my coat—the right one this time—from the hook. Then he shook it a few times and held it