The fact that she’d fallen in love with him.

It took a few minutes for the front door to open, and she found herself face-to-face with Poppy, who gave her a long, assessing once-over that might have made Angi cringe at some point. But she was past caring what anyone thought of her. Although this was Gabe’s mother, Angi had little interest in playing nice.

“You’re the one he was dancing with the other night,” Poppy said, her fingers clasped tightly in front of her bulky sweatshirt.

“I’m Angi Guilardi.” Angi held out a hand because that’s how she’d been raised. “A friend of Gabe’s.”

Poppy didn’t take it, which told Angi everything she needed to know, confirming her suspicion about the kind of person Gabe’s mother was.

With a sniff, the other woman turned and hollered up the stairs, “Gabriel, you have a visitor.” She said the last like it was the worst of all swear words. Then her sharp gaze flicked to Angi again. “My son never had many friends.”

“He does in Magnolia.”

“A change from when he spent summers here as a kid.” Poppy shook her head, but the corner of her mouth curved into an almost smile. “Such an awkward, odd boy. I thought he might be touched in the mind. Turns out the army did more with him than I ever could.”

“Maybe you should have tried harder,” Angi said before she thought better of it. “Or at all.”

“Snippy one,” Poppy murmured as heavy footfalls sounded on the stairs behind her. “Interesting choice for him.”

“What are you doing here?” Gabe asked as he came to stand next to his mother.

“Merry Christmas,” Angi answered with a smile. One he didn’t return. “I brought you some food.” She looked at Poppy. “There’s a plate for both of you.”

His mother shook her head. “I got Chinese carryout earlier. Ate my weight in moo goo gai pan.” She patted Gabe on the arm, and Angi would have sworn he had to make an effort not to flinch away from the touch. “It’s our family tradition.”

“We don’t have family traditions,” Gabe said quietly, his voice like a razor cutting through the awkward tension.

His mother just laughed like he’d made a great joke, turned and walked away.

“How are you?” Angi reached for him once they were alone, but Gabe shifted away from her.

Warning bells clanged in her brain, and she did her best to ignore them. The new year wouldn’t dawn for another week, but it was past time she worked on being brave.

“I missed you today. We all did.”

His eyes darkened for an instant, and then he grabbed the wrapped plates from her hand, placed them on the side table in the entry and pushed her a step backward out the door.

The door slammed shut behind him, and Angi swallowed against the rising panic in her chest. This was a Gabe she’d never seen before. It was more than disdainful, as he’d been when he first arrived in Magnolia. It was as if he’d turned to ice, and a shiver rippled through her in response.