I have got to change that contact name. I thought to tell him no, to say I had plans and ignore him. But clearly no good was going to come of me being here all afternoon.

Me: If you did, what would day one include?

Did I want to know? Probably not. Surely it involved helicopter rides or rock climbing.

Hottie in 15B: If I tell you, you won’t go.

Me: That’s true. Let me see what my parents have planned.

I padded through the living room where Mom had her feet in Dad’s lap. Dad had one hand on her foot, the other holding his coffee. They were watching Christmas Vacation, and a wave of déjà vu came over me. They were always this way, so sweet and affectionate to each other. It could make you sick—in the best way possible. They set my expectations for romance too high when I was young, and I learned quickly the chances of finding a love like theirs was nearly impossible.

“Hey, my little Olive tree! Are you all done with work?”

I took a seat on the opposite side of the sectional and propped my feet up. “Yeah, I am for now. Do you guys have plans tonight?”

Mom looked at me in shock and paused like she wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Well, we were hoping to go get a tree tonight, if you want…to go?”

“I’m surprised you don’t already have one up, normally it’s decorated by Thanksgiving Day.“

Mom shrugged nonchalantly. “I was planning on waiting till you were here. I was thinking maybe we could all decorate it together again? But I wasn’t sure you would want to go with us to pick it out.”

I really didn’t want to go pick one out. Walking down rows of identical trees in the freezing cold at the end of the day was not my definition of fun. But clearly being stuck at home was doing me no good. And if Finn was going to bother me with his crazy plans, then I might as well.

“Yeah, I think I’m going too. Is…everyone going?”

Mom looked at Dad then back to me. “I think so. But bring Finn! We would love to have him.”

I wasn’t sure I’d make it through without him anyway. After dinner and our ski trip, I learned pretty quickly that distractions were the way to go when I was near Sarah.

Me: We’re going to a tree farm in a couple hours if you want to come. You can come pick me up at the house?

Hottie in 15B: See you soon, Grinchy.

I smiled down at my phone, and when I looked back up both my parents were staring at me with puppy dog eyes.

“What?”