Her mother’s lips thinned. Without a word, she went to the hutch, pulled Angi’s phone out of the drawer and brought it to her. “Figure out what’s wrong at the inn,” she said resolutely, “and then we’ll go fix it together.”

Angi’s fingers felt numb as she took the device. “I already walked away.”

“But before that, you made a commitment.” Bianca smoothed a hand over the Christmas sweater she wore. Angi noticed that her mother’s nails had been painted in a sparkly red with a delicate silver ring on her right hand. Instantly she thought of Iris and how happy the woman had been to have Angi give her a manicure. How much it meant for Iris to have that connection.

Connection was what mattered. She thought about how scared she’d been when her mother suffered a heart attack so soon after they’d lost Angi’s father.

Everything else was insignificant.

“Emma and Mariella understand,” she said quietly, even as she glanced at her phone. To her surprise, the missed calls and texts weren’t from either of her friends. The number belonged to Sarah Beth. That did not bode well, but she still didn’t unlock the home screen.

“You committed to this,” her mother said again. “As a grown woman, I would have appreciated you not lying to me or sneaking around like some kind of rebellious teenager, but that’s in the past. The inn might not be your future...”

Her mother paused when Angi winced at those words.

“...which doesn’t mean you have to relinquish a promise. I hope your father and I raised you better than that, Angela. We raised you to be a person of honor.”

Angi didn’t bother to argue even though sometimes it felt as though she’d been raised solely to dedicate herself to the family business and the family’s honor. Her mother was giving her a chance to make things right in this moment, and Angi was going to take it.

“Thank you, Mom,” she said as she hit the voice mail button and listened to the frantic voice mail from the stand-in caterer. Already she was moving toward the coatrack. She called Sarah Beth as she slipped into a pair of clogs.

“I’m on my way,” she said when the other woman answered. “Take all of the containers out that are on the top shelf of the freezer and start a pot of water boiling.”

“Can you salvage this?” Sarah Beth demanded, panic clear in her voice. “I haven’t even told Emma yet, and—”

“I’m going to make it right,” Angi promised, and disconnected the call.

“What’s wrong?” her mother asked.

“The power in Sarah Beth’s company kitchen went out last night, and all the food ended up at room temperature by the time she realized it.” Angi blew out a shaky breath. “Emma and Mariella don’t know they have an entire reception to feed and only crackers and uncooked pasta to serve them. Can you watch Andrew and Princess? I have to go.”