Rory’s family came to pick me up the next day, and we sat in the back of the van with her cousin, Heidi, who was seven. Rory and I couldn’t talk since Heidi kept interrupting, but at least her family wasn’t fighting anymore. Rory and I decided to get tickets for the carriage ride, and while we were waiting in line, I saw one of the carriages go by carrying Brendon and Lauren.

“Emme, where are you going?” Rory asked. She ran after me and grabbed my arm. “What’s the matter?”

“Brendon’s with Lauren,” I said.

“You saw them here?”

“In the carriage. They were sitting together,” I said as my stomach tensed.

“But I thought you guys were back together,” she said.

“So did I.”

“C’mon, don’t let him ruin this,” she said. “I’ve got the tickets and we’re next. We’re going to go on the carriage ride and have fun. Maybe they’ll put us in with some cute guys, and you can forget all about him.”

The last thing I wanted to do was to get into one of those carriages, but I knew Rory had been looking forward to it so I followed her. Why should everybody’s holidays suck just because fate had decided to dump on me? The driver helped us in, and we had to share the coach with a family who smelled like garlic. Not exactly the happy ride we hoped for. Why couldn’t Lauren have to sit next to the garlic family? I’m sure the other people in her coach all smelled like expensive cologne and had brought hot chocolate for her drinking pleasure. The ride was okay with the exception of the garlic and horse poop smell. The driver let us off near the nativity scene, and we walked around, looking at the lights.

“Em, they have roasted chestnuts. We’ve gotta get some,” Rory said, pulling my arm.

I had never had roasted chestnuts before, and they were mushier than I expected. I liked the smell and the way they warmed my hands more than I liked the taste. I was about to suggest we get some hot chocolate when I saw Brendon standing on the other side of the chestnut cart. I grabbed Rory’s arm and hid behind the giant snowman display.

“Brendon’s right over there,” I said. “Okay, who is he with?”

“Um, some blonde-haired chick, but I don’t see Lauren,” she said

I peered around the snowman. “That’s his mom. I wonder where Lauren went.”

“Can we go inside and get something to drink?” she asked. “My nose is about to fall off from frostbite.”

I followed her inside a candy store, and she bought me a licorice rope and some taffy to cheer me up. We sat drinking hot chocolate and watching two guys make fudge.

“Why does every tourist place in Michigan sell fudge?” I asked. “You could go to the gas station and it’s like, ‘Did you get any fudge?’”

“I dunno, but I like to watch the taffy pull. See the blue kind? I’d love to dye my hair the same color, but I’d have to bleach it first, and it might dry my hair out too much,” she said. “Look, Brendon just walked in with his parents.”

“Is Lauren with him?” I asked, and Rory stood up to see him better.

“Yeah, I think she’s with her parents, and I’m guessing her brother. Her brother’s kind of hot,” she said, and I glared at her. “What? He’s hot in a preppy lawyer way. Not my type anyway.”

“I’m going to the bathroom,” I said. I stayed in there until Rory came in and said Brendon and Lauren had left.

“I can’t believe he took her on some family thing. I wonder if she had dinner with them yesterday. She was probably sitting next to him when he called me,” I said.

We finished our drinks and went to meet Rory’s family. The kids had gotten candy canes from Santa Claus, and they were all sticky. We were walking back to the van when my foot slipped.

“Ew-wie kablooey,” Heidi said, pointing at me, and I realized I had stepped in horse poop. I hated Thanksgiving.

When I got home, I asked Caroline where Grandpa was, and she said he had already gone to bed.

“Okay, I’ll just go say good-night.”

“Don’t bother him. He might be asleep by now.”

“Right,” I said, but I went to check on him in case whoever put him to bed forgot his nightlight and glass of water or put his glasses on the wrong side of the bed where he wouldn’t find them.

I walked into his room, and his face lit up with a smile.

“Hey, Grandpa,” I said, plugging in his nightlight and moving his glass of water closer. “You okay in here?”

“Yes, sweetie. Oh, I forgot to tell you, Dennis told me at the funeral he’s going to call you because he had to leave early. It was nice to see him again.”

My heart hurt as I told him thanks for the message. I closed the door behind me, and my dad was in the hallway.

“Grandpa doing okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said, but my eyes welled up with tears. Dad hugged me and I sobbed on his shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure something, kid. I promise.”