And I’d already gotten my first reply… Oh.

tooblessed2bstressedxx: Can’t wait. Have set my watch. Highlight of the year xoxo

I shut my screen. I know I shouldn’t let it bother me… But it did.

Still, at least Holly had been up for the challenges I’d sent her, which meant she had no clue what I was up to. I’d gotten the idea after talking to Ruby. She didn’t say it exactly, but I could tell what she was thinking—Holly needed a hand getting over Woody. So I’d emailed them over this morning like an official contract. Risky. But hopefully worth it.

What Ruby said definitely made Holly’s sudden enthusiasm to swap lives with a total stranger make sense. Guess we both had big things riding on this trip. Ruby had even asked if there was anyone in Alpine Peaks who could bring some Christmas romance to Hol’s stay. I’d been trying to come up with someone worthy, but the best I had so far was asking Nick to set her up with one of his bandmates. Although then he’d have to believe in the concept of love. I’d never known him to even say he liked anyone, let alone have a girlfriend. Blake? Hmmm, he only had eyes for his boyfriend, Lance, but Dean… Yeah, Dean wasn’t a bad option.

Ding.

I opened the door expecting to see Ruby, but instead there was Fred, giving me the kind of smile that meant he was either pained to see me or had eaten something bad.

“Hey.” I stepped back. “I wasn’t expecting you…” Well, that came out badly. “I mean, great to see you. I just thought you’d be—”

“Ruby. She’s meeting us later.” Pause. Silence. “She’s running late at the matinee, so she said to come call for you.” So he was here under duress. I’d made a good call yesterday then—Holly had suggested I go with him to the pantomime, but I knew he’d hate being stuck with me for a whole evening, so I’d made it seem like I had other plans.

“Wow—you’ve gone big.” Under his open coat, Fred was wearing a blue sweater, a tiny, headless dancing elf knitted up to the neck, like his real head was on the elf’s body. “Holly…” He pointed at his chest with both hands. “I promised. The back says ‘Elf and Safety Monitor’…” He stopped. “Ironic considering most accidental deaths happen at Christmas.” He trailed off and started doing his coat up, even though seconds ago, he’d been taking it off.

Confusing to know how to respond to that. I went for a low-key “awesome…”

I hoped he knew I meant the sweater, not the fatality fact.