“Really?” Tia said. “I didn’t think they’d do anything, since this didn’t end up going anywhere. Are they going after Kouretas, too?”

“I don’t know. But she’s begging me to step in and talk to the Silver Springs Police so that she doesn’t wind up in jail.”

“And? Will you?”

“I don’t know.” He squeezed his forehead as though just seeing Lois’s text made him tired. “She didn’t seem to care much if I went to jail, but—” he dropped his hand “—I’ll probably end up doing what I can.”

Tia would’ve guessed that. Unable to resist a wave of tenderness, she slid her arms around him and kissed his cheek. “You’re such a good guy.”

It felt wonderful to see Tia having fun. Seth held her hand as they ambled from one store to another to give her added support, and she turned her face toward him so that she wouldn’t be recognized whenever someone walked by. But with her scarf, beanie and sunglasses, and most people busy doing their own holiday shopping, no one seemed to be paying them any attention.

“Do you think your mother would like this?” she asked, holding up a set of whale bookends at a gift shop a few doors down from Sugar Mama. “She has those shelves in the living room with plenty of space to display them.”

“I bet she’d love them,” he said.

“What would she like better? Any ideas?”

He wanted to help her look. For a change, he was feeling the Christmas spirit, too. Even the carols that played in every single shop didn’t grate on his nerves like they usually did. The colorful lights, the scent of evergreen that permeated the nicer gift shops, the man roasting chestnuts with an old-fashioned cart at one end of the street—he had to admit it was all quite pleasant. The only thing that bothered him was Lois Ivey. His phone vibrated again and again, and every time he pulled it out, he found another text or incoming call from Shiloh’s mother.

“She won’t quit?” Tia asked, grimacing when he checked his phone yet again.

He scowled at the screen. “Apparently not.”

“Have you decided how you’re going to handle the situation?”

“No. I don’t even want to think about it today. This is our time to relax and have fun.”

He was almost certain Tia was smiling under the scarf that came up to cover half her face, because she hugged him impulsively before allowing herself to be distracted by another potential purchase.