I marched past the village Christmas tree all lit up and twinkling, to the swings where Fred had given me not-moldy apple juice, and tried Nick again.

On my fiftieth attempt, he finally picked up. “Sorry…” He fiddled with the settings. “I was…driving. You okay?”

“I’m okay.” I sniffed. “Cold, but okay.”

“Well, I think it’s fair to say that didn’t go how we’d planned.” Nick laughed. That’s the thing with my brother—even when things got bad, he knew how to make me laugh.

“Note to self. Never try and do a surprise again.”

“You’re telling me. I think I tore a ligament, crouching for that long.” I laughed, but I knew I needed to be honest, tell him what I’d found out. “Oh, and for the record, I am not allergic to tinsel.”

“For the record, you don’t need to explain.” I paused. It was so long since the two of us had really spoken, and right now hearing his voice felt like being home again. Which is why it sucked that I might be about to ruin it.

“So…” Here goes nothing. “Holly met Grams?”

“Ahhh.” Nick said it like he’d known it had been a long time coming. And the timing couldn’t have been more perfect, because messages started popping up from Holly—but I swiped them away to read later.

“That’s where you’ve been going, isn’t it?” He didn’t answer. “Nick?” He moved the camera around—he was parked in the row of stores near the Alpine Peaks Residential Home. “Why didn’t you just say?”

“C’mon, Elle.” He sighed. “You know what Mom and Dad are like.” I did. “Being with the band, doing sports, got them off my back. If they knew I was spending all my time here…” He shrugged. “Well, let’s just say I’m not exactly in a hurry to move again either.”

I couldn’t help but laugh—I had no idea we’d been playing the exact same game.

“Jeez…” I should have figured it out. “I had no idea.” Suddenly it all made so much sense.

“And you’re not mad?” He looked genuinely concerned I was going to freak out at him.

“Well, I’m mad you didn’t tell me. But not mad at what you did.”

“Really?” He looked relieved.

“’Course. Do you not think I hate those ‘so what plans have you got for the weekend’ dinnertime interrogations too?” We smiled at each other. “But do you really think they would have minded that much?”