My mind was completely blown. I couldn’t believe the lengths the Rose-Covington family went to take Christmas to an entirely new level. I was expecting a cute little ranch with a few holiday decorations and a nice tree by a crackling fireplace. I wasn’t expecting a freaking holiday theme park!

We were parked right in front of what appeared to be the main house. Although house was an understatement. Outside, through the tinted window, I could see a grand mansion with an entrance reserved for extremely exclusive mountain resorts. There was a beautiful blending of smooth gray and black stones at the bottom of the mansion’s facade, which then, around the halfway mark, turned into an expensive and luxurious-looking wood, painted in soft white and grays with mint greens and soft browns. It appeared to have three floors, and judging by the number of windows, about sixty-seven bedrooms. There were big silver bells pulled straight from a Christmas storybook hanging off the large doors with silver ribbons.

“This is crazy,” I said, more to myself than to Declan.

“Don’t worry,” he said, looking at me with a smirk I was growing way too fond of. “It’s only going to get crazier.”

“Oh, great,” I said, sliding the van door open. “Just great.” I hopped out, my sneakers crunching onto the layer of fresh, fake snow. I bent down and picked it up, shocked by how the faux snow reacted just like the real thing, crushing together in my palm and forming a small ball.

“Who’s picking all this up?” I asked, coming around to the back so I could help bring down the suitcases. The air was chill but nothing my coat couldn’t keep back. Apparently the real cold front was due to hit tomorrow.

“I didn’t tell you?” Declan said, setting a black backpack by his feet as he reached in the van for a bag. “We gotta earn our stay somehow.”

“Ha. Ha,” I deadpanned, my gaze narrowing.

“We’re supposed to be getting the real thing in a couple of days. When it melts, it’ll just wash away the fake stuff.”

“Nice,” I said, about to ask how they got it all there but deciding I didn’t want to know. Sometimes, not asking how the hot dog was made was the smart choice.

“Deck!” The shout surprised me, mostly because it sounded like it came from right behind me. I turned, and sure enough, there was someone a few feet away. Instantly, I could recognize her as Declan’s mom. They shared the exact same strong nose, and their eyes were almost identical, with their almond shape and dark lashes. She was shorter than Declan, coming up to his shoulders as she ran over for a hug from her son. Declan was beaming, a smile wider than I’d seen him wear.

Momma’s boy, huh? As if I needed one more chip in my armor.

“Mom, you outdid yourself once again,” Declan said, motioning around at the fake snow. By the door there were three life-size deer statues with big red ribbons tied around their necks, each with a big bell hanging from the center.

“Oh please,” she said, waving a manicured hand in the air. “This was just me teaming up with two bottles of wine and my best friend, Amazon Prime.”

I couldn’t hold back the laugh at that. She looked over to me and shook her head as if realizing something. “I’m being so rude! I’m sorry, I’m Robin. You must be Andrew!”

I was a little surprised she already knew my name, and then it hit me: Holy shit, this is real. I’m really supposed to be acting like this guy’s boyfriend. A man I’d met a few weeks ago during one of the most tumultuous times in my life.

Declan was right—this was only going to get crazier.

“I am,” I said, pulling it together enough to offer a nervous smile and a hand to shake. She abandoned the hand and wrapped me up in a tight hug. I could smell the vanilla and lavender in whatever shampoo she used, and oddly enough, I instantly felt like I was at home.

“So glad to meet you,” Robin said. “Declan told me last minute that he was bringing someone special for the week and I’ve gotta say, you sure do look like someone special. I can see there’s something between you two and I’ve only known you for what? Fifteen, maybe twenty seconds?”

My mouth went dry and prevented any words from forming. I froze. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it or what to do or where to even put my hands. Thankfully, Declan had no trouble in getting things under control. He came over to my side and wrapped a boyfriendly arm around my lower back. Tingles shot through me, and my brain went a little haywire. “He is special, I was definitely excited for you guys to meet,” Declan said, smoothing over the potentially disastrous moment. Suddenly, I started to feel pressure that wasn’t there when I said yes to this loony-bin idea. I was feeling the pressure to perform. We had to basically put on a show, and if I made any kind of mistake, any kind of slipup with the facade, then someone could figure out we were faking our relationship and it would all implode. Declan would never be able to live it down, and I would probably get daggers stared at me as I embarrassingly got kicked out of the ranch. Although Robin looked way too nice of a person to kick me out like that, I also had to remember she was the owner of a massive hotel chain and most likely had a cutthroat and down-to-business attitude underneath that warm and welcoming toothy grin.

“I’ve heard a lot of great things about you,” Robin said, and then she leaned in and in a stage whisper added, “and some not so great things.” Then she shot back and let out a bark of a laugh. “I’m joking! I’m joking, just teasing.” She had a sarcastic edge to her. I liked that a heck of a lot. “On second thought, I don’t think Declan’s really talked much about you!”

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Code red. We hadn’t planned for this. How did we not think of the fact that there was zero groundwork laid down on this fake thing.

“I, um, hmm,” I said, already fumbling the ball once again.

“You know I’m pretty private about things, Mom. I wanted you all to meet first before I start constantly talking about him, because you know that’s what’s going to happen.”

I looked to Robin, a fear in my chest telling me that the gig was up before it even had a chance to start. And then she smiled and laughed and put a hand on my elbow. “Well I’m glad to meet you, Andrew, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you some more.”

“All right, Mom, we should probably get set up.”

“Right, of course!” She turned and started up the steps to the front doors. “Oh shoot, actually.” She put a hand in the air and turned on her heel to face us. “I’ve got you guys set up in the guesthouse. It’ll be a short walk around the house, past the snowman’s-land.” She wiggled her thin eyebrows. “Get it? It’s a play on no-man’s-land.”

“Got it, Mom,” Declan said with a laugh and a shake of his head.

I reached for the duffle bag Declan was carrying. “Here, let me help.”

“I got it,” he said, stubbornly smiling as he rolled two heavy suitcases behind him and carried the duffle bag on one of his shoulders, a black backpack hanging off another.

“Okay, let me get the rolly suitcase, then,” I said, reaching for the handle of the luggage. Declan relented and let me help. Our fingers touched in the swap, and the tingles returned, almost stronger the second time.

I didn’t even want to know what would happen if there was a third.

I grabbed the suitcase and walked next to Declan, his mom a few feet ahead of us. “Declan’s a stubborn one, although I’m sure you’ve figured that out by now,” his mom said over her shoulder. I could hear the smile in her voice, and for some reason, it filled me with a wave of sadness.

“I sure have,” I said, keeping my eyes down on the ground. “We balance each other out really well, though.”

“I can tell,” Robin said. The path we were walking on was made of smooth red brick and was clear of any snow. It wrapped around the massive mansion and led us through a white fence surrounded by rows of stark red poinsettias. Ahead, I could see the snowman’s-land Robin was telling us about, and again, I was totally mind-blown.

“Nooo,” I said in disbelief, a laugh coming up from my chest. “This is soo cool.”

“I got Yunis Boudreaux, the famous sculptor, to come over and help out with this section.” Robin, who was wearing a thin white coat that matched the fake snow around us to almost the exact shade, stood at the start of her creation. Behind her was the snowman’s-land that set my imagination into overdrive.

There, behind her, was a visual representation of what a “no-man’s-land” would look like, except with a winter twist. It was an area about as big as a school playground, and it looked like a nuclear bomb had been dropped, but instead of ashy and radioactive destruction, there were snow and ice crystals left in its wake. There were sculpted trees of ice and snow crystals that sparkled as if they were set with thousands of diamonds. Between these barren trees of winter were the snowmen, who were sculpted out of what seemed to be smooth white stone. They were human-sized, and they all seemed to have been survivors of some kind of war. A couple had shirts that were in tatters, and a few others were missing buttons or had chunks gone from their carrot noses. But all of them had smiles on, the little rocks of coal turned upward on their faces as they stood around and decorated the barren wasteland for Christmas. A couple of snowmen were helping each other hang up mistletoe on an ice branch, while one snowman was taking it upon itself to drape lights on a boulder.

“You… you are a Christmas goddess,” I said to Robin, my jaw still on the floor. It was the only thing I could even think of saying. This seemed to have tickled her because she cracked up. Declan was also laughing, but I assumed he was used to this kind of stuff.

“I just get these crazy ideas sometimes and run with them,” she said when she stopped laughing.

And then two figures drew my attention, coming from the far side of the snowman’s-land. They were older; I could tell in the gait and the way they seemed to both lovingly support each other’s steps. They were wearing much thicker coats than us, with their hoods thrown on so I couldn’t really see faces, but I still had a feeling who these two were.

“Grandma, Pop!” Declan called, confirming my suspicions.

Grandma Lucille lifted her head, the hood falling back and revealing a woman with more youth still in her than an entire high school basketball team put together. She had a head of white and gray curly hair that framed the kindest face I’d ever seen, with big smile lines on her face from her constant beaming. Her brown eyes were bright and kind, and I could see a lot of Declan in them.

And then she opened her mouth and completely shocked me: “You all see this crazy shit, right?! I didn’t mix up my meds again, did I?”