“Hahahaahahahha very funny. Have you met my mother? No, I was thinking—we should slide into Elle’s DMs, tell her that her photo’s from here. Try and convince her to come to Little Marsh!”

Fred made a “hmmmm” noise. “Just so you know, having a supermodel spend Christmas here is definitely something I could get on board with.”

I put my arm around him. “What a guy.” Still, at least he wasn’t talking about Eve—progress.

But there was no time to plot. Ruby’s phone was ringing, and she looked like she might throw up. I squeezed her leg. “We love you! Good luck!”

With a very solemn hello, she answered the phone and walked out. I don’t think Fred or I breathed until Ruby walked back in.

“Rubbbyyyyy?” Her face was giving nothing away. “Rubes?! Tell us!”

“Okay, okay…” She did a slow turn. “You are officially looking at…Mirabelle…” She took a deep breath in. “As in Snow White’s mirror. Me. I got the part!”

SHE’D DONE IT! AND NOT JUST ANY PART, THE MAIN PART SHE WANTED! WITH THE ABSOLUTE MOST SASS!

Ruby crumpled on the floor, and we piled straight on top of her. Colin too.

“This is SO huge!” I was literally shaking with joy. “Rubes, you are officially not only a magical, pebble-waving witch, you are also going to be the best glass-coated-with-a-metal-amalgam the world has ever seen!” I’d been preparing that line for a while.

Fred sat back, a huge grin on his face. “How do we book tickets for every single night?” He wasn’t joking; we’d already made a pact (plus I’d put it in the itinerary).

“First step, Little Marsh village pantomime. Next step, Lin-Manuel begging you to be in his new show.” I tried to catch my breath. “And what about Temi? Any news?”

When Ruby had come back from the auditions, she’d spoken about Temi almost as much as she had about the part. Ruby might try and play it down, but the massive smile on her face gave everything away. “Maybe I’ll drop her a message tonight to ask?”

Of course she would!

Ruby scrambled to her knees, her smile suddenly gone. “There is one thing though…” She chewed her lip. “They said it will mean rehearsals every night, and two performances for some of the days in Christmas week.” Wow. Hardcore.

But I got exactly what she was saying. This year wasn’t going to be like all the others. Our normal Christmas plans were now on pause. The itinerary would need some serious work.

But there was no way I was going to let her see me even the tiniest bit sad when she had such epic news.

I wiggled my eyebrows. “And that’s why they make spreadsheets editable.”

Fred gave me a high five in solidarity. “We’ll be too busy fangirling to do other stuff anyway.”