Krampus hadn’t gone easy on Rowan just because they were volunteering at the speed dating event. He made sure Rowan was doing a lot of heavy lifting and running around. By the time the speed dating event was nearly set up, Rowan was super sweaty.

Rowan went to wash his hands and came back to the main hall of the community center. The sign-in table, activity centers, and snack and beverage areas were all set up. The set-up crew, consisting of Rowan, Holly, Krampus, Avery, and Jack and Pandora, wasn’t snacking on the miniature candy-canes, the mugs of warm mulled cider, or the bell-shaped sugar cookies.

As it was nearly Christmas, they ordered a classic — Chinese food. A spread of pork lo-mein, chicken and garlic dumplings, orange chicken, and of course, broccoli beef, was set out for the crew. Krampus was eating a jar of mapo tofu on a bed of ‘tree ear’ fungus. No rice, nothing else — just hot-sauced covered tofu and some mushroom-like things that Rowan was sure he’d seen Krampus growing on the Christmas tree farm.

“Krampus, are you sure you don’t want some of the chicken?” asked Avery, holding up a particularly glossy piece of orange chicken, a portion of orange chicken so shiny that it could make a tube of lip gloss jealous.

“Look — I can’t help it if I have a highly refined palate,” said Krampus, wiggling one of the ‘tree ears’ with his chopsticks. The blackish brown slice of fungus jiggled like a stripper the night before rent was due.

“This was quite the spread, Avery,” said Pandora.

“Yeah, thanks for ordering in,” said Jack. “We don’t have food like this down South.”

“Oh, you’re a Southerner?” asked Holly.

“You know…you could say that,” said Jack. Pandora shot Jack a look and he smirked back at her.

“There are egg tarts for dessert if anyone wants some,” said Avery.

“I could have one,” said Pandora.

“I’m stuffed,” said Holly, rubbing her wide belly. “I couldn’t eat another bite.”

“Then why don’t you run and get changed?” asked Avery.

“Get changed?” asked Holly. “Why? And into what?”

“Well, if you’re going to be playing the part of matchmaker, you best look the part,” said Avery. “It’s Christmas Eve’s Eve! You should be in your Christmas Eve’s Eve best!”

“That’s not a thing,” said Krampus.

“It is if I say it is!” snapped Avery. “Anyway, behind the stage, there’s a bright red bag with a change of clothes in it and some shoes. I think you’ll like what I picked out.”

“Whatever you do, don’t go into the green bag,” said Krampus.

“What’s in the green bag?” asked Holly.

“What this joker has to wear,” said Krampus, pointing his thumb at Rowan.

“Whoa, wait — I never agreed to wear a costume,” said Rowan.

“I got two words for you,” said Krampus. “Tough. Titties. If you’re done, go shower and change. There’s a shower near the bathrooms backstage. I don’t need your shifter musk stinking up the whole joint.”

Holly and Rowan walked backstage together. There were two bags — one red, one green, just as Avery and Krampus had said. Holly grabbed her purse and quickly made her way to the bathroom to change. Rowan took his bag and looked inside. He shook his head, went to the showers, took a quick shower with the toiletries in the green bag, and got changed.

Rowan walked out to the community center’s main hall.

“So…how do I look?” asked Rowan.

“You…look interesting,” said Holly, stifling a laugh.

Rowan turned and looked at Holly. His jaw nearly hit the floor. He’d expected that she’d be stuck in some silly outfit like him, not in something downright sexy.

Holly was wearing a red silk dress with a green tulle overlay. The dress had an empire waist that accentuated her curves. Whoever had said that BBWs couldn’t pull off an empire waist dress was wrong. Yes, it made Holly look curvier — but that was a good thing. Holly had on a pair of tights that matched her skin tone and on her feet, a pair of red satin heels. The tip of each heel had a small golden jingle bell, so they lightly tinkled as she walked.

Of course, as it was Christmas, Holly had to have on one of her signature ‘ugly’ Christmas sweaters. Avery had provided Holly with an ugly Christmas bolero, rather than a full sweater. The bolero was in red with white markings, matching Holly’s red Santa hat, which had white fur trim.

“What?” asked Holly. “Don’t tell me — you think I look ugly.”

“I’d never say that,” said Rowan. “You look… perfect, Holly. Very festive.”

“I can say the same about you,” said Holly, looking over Rowan.

Holly had only ever seen Rowan in work clothes. Krampus had managed to find a Christmas themed suit for Rowan. Rowan was wearing an oxblood crimson shirt with a forest green bowtie. His pants were forest green. However, his blazer had an ugly Christmas sweater pattern. The blazer was white. The design, which included geometric shapes and reindeer and sleighs and trees, was in green and red.

“Hey, coming through,” shouted Pandora. Holly and Rowan turned to face the entrance of the community center’s hall. Pandora and Jack were wheeling in a set of six flatbed carts, which were all lashed together. On the raft of flatbed carts was a frikkin’ miniature gazebo, open on one side, and it was at least twelve feet tall.

“What is that?” asked Holly.

“I told you — Jack’s real good with ice,” said Pandora. “This is for photos. After all, the couples will need a memento to remember how they first met, won’t they?”

“I think it’s not going to work,” said Krampus.

“Why not?” asked Avery.

“Because it’s ice, so the flash and the lights will shine off of the ice and mess up the photo,” said Krampus.

“Jack gave the ice a frosted texture, smart one,” said Pandora.

“This can be settled very easily,” said Jack. “We just need to photograph a couple. Krampus? Avery?”

“We’re not a couple,” said Avery.

“Fine,” said Pandora. “Holly, Rowan, even if you two are just friends, would you mind being adults, unlike these two, and helping us test out the photo gazebo?”

“I mean, I’m fine with it,” said Rowan. “Holly?”

“Alright, but, let’s make it fast,” said Holly. “Not gonna lie, Jack, I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Rowan got underneath the gazebo. He moved to make room for Holly.

“Now you’re out of the shot,” said Pandora, who had an instant film camera in her hand. Apparently, she and Jack had been planning out their big surprise behind the scenes, so she was prepared to take photos.

“Which way do you want me to move?” asked Rowan.

“Further in,” said Pandora.

Rowan moved in. Holly took a step out.

“Holly, you were fine, but now, you’re not in the shot,” said Pandora. “Can you two, just for two seconds, pretend to be a couple and stand real close to one another?”

“Do you mind if I…” started Rowan, opening his arms.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” said Holly coolly, even though, inside, she felt like her insides were on fire, and not from eating too many of the dumplings with the super strong hot sauce. She’d touched Rowan the night before, during their hike, but that’d been different — he’d been a bear. Touching human Rowan, the Rowan she thought about more often than she wanted to admit…well, that was another beast entirely.

Rowan wrapped his arms around Holly. Holly looked up at Rowan’s face and saw that Rowan was looking down at her. She felt her cheeks redden from desire and embarrassment. Pandora snapped a photo. The flash went off, but Rowan’s arms remained around Holly’s waist.

“Did you get it?” asked Rowan. “Or do you need to take another shot?”

“You know — I actually think this looks great,” said Pandora. She pressed a button on her camera and the photo printed, as it was a digital/film hybrid instant camera.

Rowan’s arms fell away from Holly. Holly found herself wishing he hadn’t pulled away, but she knew why he had — he didn’t like her like that. It was what she’d suspected for a while. After all, if he had, wouldn’t he have said something to her before?

A little voice inside Holly’s head argued with her, but she didn’t listen to it.

Rowan and Holly went up to Pandora. Pandora had two photos in her hand. It was two copies of the same picture, the picture she’d taken of Rowan and Holly.

“One for you, and one…for you,” said Pandora, passing the pics to Holly and Rowan.

“Oh, thanks,” said Holly lamely. She looked at the photo. Holly had caught the picture just as Holly had looked up at Rowan, just as Rowan had looked down at Holly. To the untrained eye, Holly was sure that she and Rowan would look like a couple.

Rowan pocketed his photo in his novelty suit pants pocket. Holly put her picture in a pocket in her dress.

“Hey,” called a voice. Rowan and Holly turned. There were a couple of women at the sign-in table! Apparently, whatever behind-the-scenes promotion for the event that Avery had come up with had worked.

“Well, hello, ladies,” said Rowan slickly, turning on the charm. “Let’s get you signed in. Holly?”

Holly nodded and followed after Rowan. They sat down at the sign-in table. Rowan showed Holly how to properly check IDs, give out wristbands for people to show that they could drink, and of course, had her direct them to one of the many activity stations so that they could all mix and mingle while enjoying the complimentary spread of Christmas treats and libations.

Holly watched as Rowan interacted with the people, turning on the charm for not just the attractive women his age, but for men, for older folks, for folks that were outgoing, for those that seemed shy. He had a different approach for every type of person. Everyone left the table with a smile.

“Wow,” said Holly.

“What?” asked Rowan.

“Over there, the shy man you sent over to the buffet,” said Holly. “He’s chatting with that woman that looks like a frikkin’ model! What’s your secret?”

“You can’t win if you don’t play the game,” said Rowan.

“I don’t follow,” admitted Holly.

“If that woman and that man hadn’t both decided that they wanted to come to this event, they never could’ve met each other,” said Rowan. “When people come up to this table, they make a choice. They make a choice to look at this event and decide to go in or to decide to go back home, where their bed is empty, and the house is quiet, and where they aren’t making any memories with any special someone. Sometimes, people need a little push to come into the event. Making them feel comfortable being here, well, that’s sometimes all the push they need.”

“Sometimes?” asked Holly. “Why do I have a feeling that this is an exceptional case?”

“I may have recommended the white chocolate cranberry mini-scones…to both him and her,” said Rowan. “Look. I’m not saying they’ll get married or something. But, I am saying that there are ways to get people to interact, without pushing them together too fast. Sometimes…it makes sense to take things slow.”

You’ve got that right, said Cupid. Rowan had had to turn in his bear shift that morning before they’d headed for The Wreath.

Yeah, well, she obviously doesn’t want the explicit version of why we didn’t match, so…I’m trying a more subtle approach, said Rowan.

“When do you start the speed dating stuff?” asked Holly.

“When it feels…right,” said Rowan. “People are still milling around, chatting, drinking mulled cider. When things die down a bit, we’ll start the speed dating.”

“But isn’t the point of speed dating to help people meet in the first place?” asked Holly. “All these singles are already interacting. Doesn’t this defeat the purpose of the speed dating?”

“You’d think that, but, no,” said Rowan. “In fact, it helps with the speed dating.”

“I don’t see how it could possibly help,” said Holly.

“Give me two seconds,” said Rowan.

Rowan went to the buffet. He came back to the sign-in table with two cups, each covered by a napkin.

“In one of these cups, there are some gumdrops,” said Rowan. “In the other cup, there are mini candy canes. Which candy do you like better? Which one do you want, right now?”

“Oh, that’s tricky,” said Holly. “I don’t know.”

Rowan pulled a napkin off a cup and passed it to Holly.

“Here,” said Rowan. “Gumdrops.”

“Oh,” said Holly. “Now, I kinda want the candy canes instead.”

“Great,” said Rowan, switching cups with Holly. “See how you were disappointed by the gumdrops, but excited by the candy canes? It only happened after you were presented with a single option. Now, imagine it was like this, but with a dozen candies instead. There’s going to be some that seem fine in the abstract, but, that in person, aren’t very good at all. There’ll be some that you end up wanting more than others.”

“I still don’t get what this has to do with speed dating,” said Holly.

“Imagine you were speed dating at an event with twenty men, but there was one man you really liked,” said Rowan. “You can see that you haven’t been paired with that special guy for the speed dating event — at least, not yet. You see that he’s five tables away. If you find yourself thinking about that special guy, instead of focusing on your speed dates with the other men…well, maybe that means you should listen to your heart.”

“So the matches aren’t made during the speed dating?” asked Holly.

“Some are, but I think that most of the matches are made ahead of time when people are just having low-pressure fun,” said Rowan. “Speaking of which, I should do the rounds. Come with me.”

“Why?” asked Holly. “Doesn’t someone need to staff the tables?”

“Avery and Krampus can do it,” said Rowan. “Jack and Pandora are handling that ice photo booth thing right now.”

Rowan went and got Avery and Krampus.

“Move, kid,” joked Avery. “I don’t want to stand here awkwardly.”

“Thanks, Avery,” said Holly awkwardly, before she followed after Rowan.

Holly and Rowan went to the stocking decoration table first. There were mini stockings, red and green, and a variety of felt stickers that had glue pads on the back, so people could decorate their stockings without making a mess and ruining their clothes. The table was running low on supplies, so Rowan made a mental note to have someone come by to restock the materials. The pair moved on, checking each of the activity tables. Most were popular — well, all except for one.

The station was like the saddest looking Christmas tree in the lot, the kind that would get tossed out on Christmas Day, while the rest of the stations were like the giant glitzy Christmas trees one would find in the mall. The station didn’t have much décor, except some sad looking garlands. It looked more like a voting booth than a proper activity station. Every other station had visitors except for that lonely station, reading, ‘Letters to Santa!’ in big bubble letters drawn by Avery in red, with green Christmas trees pictured near the characters. As good as a baker as Avery was, she was a very poor artist when it came to drawing with markers.

“I wonder why nobody likes this station,” mused Holly.

“I guess it’s not as glamorous as the others,” said Rowan.

“It’s classic,” said Holly. “Here, you do one with me.”

“Writing a Christmas list?” asked Rowan. “Huh. I haven’t done that in a long time. I just thought it’d be a fun activity for people that did do it every year.”

“You never made one as a kid?” asked Holly.

“I did — but not since I’ve been grown,” said Rowan. “What about you?”

“Maybe it’s silly, but…I write one every year,” admitted Holly.

Holly took one of the papers from the Christmas list writing station. The paper was plain printer paper, printed off of a color printer. The papers all had the same template. They read ‘Christmas List’ on the top in goofy letters, had a cartoon of Santa Claus, and, below, ten spaces for writing down wishes. On the bottom, there were mailing instructions. On the table, there was a box of envelopes, some stamps, and a self-inking stamp. The top of the self-inking stamp had the same address listed in the mailing instructions on the Christmas list template.

“These are super cute,” said Holly. “I always just wrote mine on plain notebook paper. Avery outdid herself with these. Okay, you and I have to do this. It’s tradition, and we have to make sure somebody uses Avery’s templates! She obviously went to a lot of hard work to set this up.

If only she knew Avery has boxes of this stuff in that same basement you two were looting, said Cupid. That Christmas elf is probably just glad to get all this stuff out of her basement!

Rowan took a paper and thought about what he wanted for Christmas. He already knew what he wanted for Christmas — he just had to think about it. He finally wrote it down. He knew it was silly, but, there was only one thing Rowan wanted to see underneath his Christmas tree, that year, and every year after.

Rowan wrote it down. On the bottom of the form, he filled out his name. He sealed his list in an envelope, reaching for the self-inking stamp at the same time as Holly.

“What did you wish for?” asked Rowan.

“I think if I tell you, I won’t get it,” said Holly, stamping the envelope and passing the stamp to Rowan,.

“Come on,” said Rowan. “What, are you afraid of getting on The Naughty List?”

The mention of the word ‘Naughty’ immediately brought one thing to Holly’s mind — the mark on Rowan’s body. Holly didn’t answer Rowan.

“Sorry,” said Rowan. “Did I say something?”

“It’s nothing, really,” lied Holly. “I think things are dying down a little. Are you ready to start the speed dating event?”

“Yeah, I guess now could be a good time to do that,” said Rowan. “Alright. I’m going to need you to stand up there with me.”

“Why?” asked Holly.

“Because my battalion of knitting-needle-wielding grandmas is nowhere to be seen,” said Rowan. “Aren’t you my assistant tonight?”

“Ugh, fine,” said Holly. “I really don’t like being in front of a crowd.”

“Just imagine that they’re all just wearing their underwear,” said Rowan.

Of course, that made Holly think of one, and only one, person in that room wearing nothing but his underwear. Holly had seen enough of Rowan that she could imagine him without the underwear, to boot!

Rowan and Holly ascended to the stage. On the stage was a table, decorated like the ones in the speed dating area, with two chairs, and a vase filled with a paper chain. Rowan grabbed the mic from the stage and turned it on. Slight feedback filled the room.

“Sorry about that, folks,” said Rowan. “It got your attention, though, didn’t it?”

Some people in the crowd chuckled. Rowan kept talking.

“I’m your MC and matchmaker for the night, Rowan Hooligan, and this here is my lovely assistant, Holly Luna,” said Rowan. “Now, can we get a round of applause for Holly? This entire event was her idea — really, I’m her assistant.”

The people in the crowd laughed. Holly felt her cheeks get as red as her namesake berry. Had Rowan just called her, of all people, lovely? When it was obvious he wasn’t attracted to her?

“We’ll be starting the speed dating event very shortly. There’ll be a few events based on personal preferences — a round for men interested in men, for women interested in women, for men interested in women and vice-versa…you know the drill,” said Rowan. “Or…do you? Let’s see a round of hands. How many of you have ever done speed dating before?”

A bunch of hands rose up in the air.

“Now, how many of you have ever done speed dating — Rowan Hooligan style?” asked Rowan.

All the hands went down.

“That’s what I thought,” said Rowan. “When the speed dating events start, you’ll form two lines, based on gender. You’ll get a number and a color. Sit in the seat that matches that number and color. For example, if I have a red one, I’d sit at the first table, in the red chair. Simple enough?”

The crowd nodded.

“Great,” said Rowan. “At the end of each speed date, whoever is sitting in the green chair will move up a number. That means if you were at, say, table seven, you’d move to table eight — and of course, sit in the same color chair. Here are twenty-four sets of tables because, luckily, we prepared for this turn-out. At only three minutes per speed date, each speed dating round will take at most an hour. But, you’re not here to think about that. You’re here for romance! So, Holly, let’s show the people how it’s done.”

Rowan led Holly to the green chair that made her red dress pop. He sat down in the red chair, across from Holly.

“First, we’re going to tear off one of the paper links from the paper chain,” said Rowan.

Rowan ripped the paper link.

“On each of these links, there is a question — and it doesn’t matter how you rip it, because the question is written multiple times on the strip,” said Rowan. “These are just conversation starters.”

Rowan looked down at the strip. He gulped. He knew that he should’ve seeded the example question with a custom question of his own.

“So?” asked Holly. The crowd laughed with her.

“Sorry, I seemed to have forgotten how to read,” joked Rowan. “Alright, Holly…what’s been your most fond memory this entire holiday season?”

“Hmm,” said Holly. “I think…it was putting up Christmas decorations at Bear Claw Bakery, with your help.”

“Really?” asked Rowan.

“Heck yeah,” said Holly. “What was your fondest memory?”

“Taking the hike with you down the Christmas trail,” said Rowan. “It was a truly magical evening.”

People in the crowd sighed and smiled at the cute couple on the stage.

“So what’s next?” asked Holly.

“At this point, you move on to the next table — to the next man,” said Rowan, going back into matchmaker mode as Holly broke the very spell she’d put him under. “It’s that simple, folks. We’ve got our corny, goofy, Christmassy questions in those bowls, but we’re not about to put you on The Naughty List for daring to talk about other stuff. Throughout the night, we’ll have the food and libation available, as well as the activity stations.”

“I personally recommend the Christmas list station,” said Holly, taking the mic. “Who knows? Tonight, things feel magical, don’t they, folks? So who knows — you might just get every last thing on your Christmas list.”

The crowd clapped. Rowan turned off the mic.

“That was a really great closer,” said Rowan.

“People don’t want to hear boring instructions,” said Holly. “Fun. Fast. Theme. Those are the three ingredients for a perfect singles’ event.”

“You remembered that?” asked Rowan, surprised Holly had chosen to remember anything from that afternoon in the basement that had been fateful but not mateful.

“It’s three words, Rowan,” said Holly. “It’s not that hard to remember.”

Holly and Rowan went back to the sign in table and relieved Avery and Krampus of their positions. Holly and Rowan continued to check in late-comers and direct them toward the buffet and craft stations. Rowan left the table to MC the speed dating events, rushing between the stage and sign-in table so he could perform both duties.

At the end of the night, once the speed dating rounds were over, those tables were put away and room was made for a dance floor. New couples had their photos taken in the ice photo booth, which had somehow not melted onto the floor, into a great, big, hazardous puddle. Avery put out the last of the food with signs that said people were free to take what they wanted. The last people trickled out of the community center by midnight.

“Time really flies,” said Holly. “Can you believe it’s already midnight? We were here for longer than a work day!”

“Yeah, I can feel it,” said Rowan.

“Well, you can sleep when you’re done cleaning,” growled Krampus.

“We can’t do this tomorrow?” asked Rowan.

“Sure we can,” said Krampus. He looked at his watch, waiting for the second hand to pass the twelve.

“Oh, would you look at that,” said Krampus. “It’s twelve-oh-one. It’s technically Christmas Eve. That means we need to haul ass to clear this place out because you need to get your sleep. We have a big job tomorrow.”

“You have to work on Christmas Eve?” asked Holly.

“Yeah,” said Rowan. “I can explain tomorrow.”

“Don’t,” said Holly. “Rowan…I had fun tonight, but, explaining things is just…”

“I get it,” said Rowan softly. He got up from his chair and started to help Krampus clean up the mess.

Holly went backstage and got changed into her regular clothing again. The fancy dress and heels were cute, but not as comfortable as her work clothes, her worn but comfy sneakers, and her soft Christmas themed sweaters. That day’s sweater had a message on it — ‘Help Your Elf To Some Cookies,’ with a pattern of grandmas and Christmas cookies and little elf shoes, not unlike the heels she’d worn that night.

Holly went back out. Krampus and Rowan were doing the heavy lifting. Avery got help from Holly, cleaning up the trash. Holly heard that little voice in her head tell her that she should’ve heard Rowan out, but Holly shut it out by focusing on cleaning up the bits of crushed up candy canes and crumbs from the sugar cookies.

“You know, you should’ve done the speed dating thing,” said Rowan.

“Not for me,” said Krampus, arranging the boxes in the van. Pandora and Jack had helped clean up a lot of the community center before they headed out. Within twenty minutes, Rowan and Jack and Krampus had put away all the tables, and Pandora had very efficiently hauled trash bags out to the dumpster so Avery and Holly could focus on filling the dang things instead of dragging them outside into the cold. The clean-up stage was already in the home stretch, with Holly and Avery packing up tablecloths and lights and such.

While Holly and Avery packed up the decorations, Rowan and Krampus were loading up Avery’s full-sized bakery van with all of the boxes of decor Avery had contributed to the event.

“There were some cuties,” said Rowan.

“Sounds like you found someone,” said Krampus.

“Well…okay, there’s one cutie I’m into,” said Rowan. “No points for guessing who I’m talking about.”

“You really think Holly’s the best woman out there?” asked Krampus.

“She’s perfect,” said Rowan, loading a box of lights into the van. “There’s nothing I would change about her.”

“Not even her penchant for those vile seasonal tops?” asked Krampus.

“I know what you’re thinking — ‘how could someone love something so ugly?’ — someone like Holly, who’s gorgeous and beautiful and not ugly in the least”, said Rowan. “But…I actually think they’re kinda cute.”

“There’s no accounting for taste,” said Krampus.

“If she can find the beauty in something like an ‘ugly’ Christmas sweater, then maybe, she can find something Nice in a Naughty sinner like me,” said Rowan.

“You really do love her, don’t you?” said Krampus.

“Absolutely,” said Rowan.

“Then why haven’t you told her?” asked Krampus.

“Because…I rushed things, made mistakes, and now, she doesn’t want to talk about that stuff,” said Rowan.

“A lot’s changed since that day,” said Krampus. “I see the way she looks at you. I think she might be ready to hear the truth — the whole truth.”

“Am I allowed to tell her?” asked Rowan. “Am I allowed to tell her about why I’m a reindeer, what the deal is with Camp Kringle, The Ride, everything?”

“Of course,” said Krampus. “Shifters. I never get it. For a bunch of bad boys, the werebears of Clan Marron sure seem to be wary of breaking the rules. There’s no rule against telling people about Christmas magic — at least, not for you.”

“And for you?” asked Rowan.

“What about me seems like I follow the rules?” asked Krampus. “I’m no Christmas angel, kid. Speaking of which, do you want to use your bear again tonight?”

“Of course,” said Rowan. “But let me guess –”

“You have to turn it in tomorrow morning,” said Krampus. “I’m the only one allowed to break the rules – so don’t make me regretting breaking the rule about letting you use your bear.”

Holly couldn’t believe what she’d heard. The words rang over and over in her head.

‘How could someone love something so ugly? Someone…like Holly?’

The sound of Rowan’s chuckles played in the background as his words played over and over like a broken record.

As soon as she’d heard the words, she’d walked away from the car, back into the community center. She dropped the box of decorations, not bothering to put them in the back of the car herself. Holly made a bee-line for Avery.

“Hey,” said Holly. “I, uh…I’m drained. Like, really tired.”

“You should be — you worked hard today,” said Avery, patting Holly on the back. “Why don’t you take the night off tonight? All I’m doing is collecting ribbons for Krampus, for his ribbon ball.”

“It’s, uh…more than that,” said Holly. “I think I made a mistake.”

“What do you mean?” asked Avery.

“I think coming up to The Wreath was a mistake,” said Holly.

“Did something happen?” asked Avery.

“I just…would rather be around family this Christmas,” said Holly. “Would it be okay if –”

“Yes,” said Avery. “If you need to spend the holidays with loved ones, then you should leave tonight. That way, you can spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with them.”

“I won’t be inconveniencing you?” asked Holly.

“I hired a temp for the holiday season so that somebody could handle organizing a party,” said Avery. “You did that, and you put on one heck of a party. I’ll miss seeing you on Christmas Eve, at my Christmas party, and of course, you’re a joy to have around the bakery…but you need to give yourself a gift, and do right by you.”

“Thanks, Avery. I needed to hear that,” said Holly.

“Just text me when you’re out of the rental unit. Leave the key in the mailbox,” instructed Avery. “Don’t forget to swing by the bakery tomorrow to pick up some treats for the road — and to bring home to your family.”

“You really are the best,” said Holly, before giving Avery a big hug. “Merry Christmas, Avery. I swear — you’re my Christmas angel.”

“Angel? No,” demurred Avery. “Elf? Well, if the pointy shoe fits…” Avery motioned down to her green and red pointed heels. They curled at the toe. Each toe had a gold jingle bell hanging from it. Avery clicked the toes together, and the bells jingled.

Holly headed out to the parking lot. Rowan was still loading Avery’s car with Krampus. Good. He wouldn’t notice her leaving, and that meant he wouldn’t see her crying.