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She glances up at me, and I see a glint of familiar joy in her gaze.

“Elf?” we say at the same time.

She lets loose a small laugh and I grin at her. Elf was always our favorite. We can quote the entire movie, and we used to sing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” together as often as possible in November and December each year.

I push my chair back from the table. “I’ll get it ready. Sit here and sip your tea.”

“So bossy,” she says with a shake of her head.

“It’s for your own good, friend.”

“Yeah. Yeah.”

Chapter 29

Beth

I’m rearranging a book table in the middle of my store on Thursday afternoon. I took the past few days off to make sure I was fully recovered, and fortunately, I regained my strength with a couple good nights of sleep. My sinuses still don’t feel the greatest, but I have most of my energy back, and I can function. For that, I’m grateful.

I confirmed with Calvin that our date is on for tonight, but now I’m going stir-crazy.

Ivy comes to stand next to me with her hands on her hips. “How many times are you going to mess with those?”

I glance down at the table. “I’m just trying to highlight these indie books for last-minute shoppers.”

It’s true, but I can also hear the defensiveness in my tone.

Ivy hums. “Well, it looks good how it is to me, and you need to relax. What’s going on?”

Ivy’s curls are pinned back off her makeup-free face. She looks effortlessly chic and completely stress-free. As far as I know, she has no clue Jack is planning to pop the question any day now, and I envy her the solidness of her and Jack’s relationship. The surety of him—of them.

She’s not overanalyzing what it means that a guy she really likes told her he’s her friend after he told her he wanted to be more the week before.

She’s not self-sabotaging by telling the same man she is going on a date with another guy.

That is me, myself, and I.

“Whoa. What gives?” Ivy grabs my arm and leads me to the couches in the front of the store. “The look on your face is telling me you’re freaking out.”

We plop down, and she tucks a leg under her and faces me. “Spill.”

“I don’t know, Ives. I don’t know what I’m doing. The whole find-a-boyfriend-this-holiday-season thing is turning into a massive mistake.”

Gabe taking care of me when I was sick was both sweet and confusing. He showed up in a very real way. He stayed at my house while I slept. He made me soup and tea and watched a movie with me. It was perfectly domestic, and it felt so good to be taken care of. Once again, he thwarted my idea of fame making people change and disappear. He’s texted me throughout the week—checking in to see how I was doing, asking if I needed anything from the store because he was making a run, that sort of thing. It was all very friendly. I can tell he’s giving me space, respecting my looming date with Calvin. I should appreciate it. I do appreciate it. Gabe isn’t pressuring me to change my opinion of him—of famous people and their lifestyle. But he is making it hard to ignore him. Hence the confusion.

“Is it?” Ivy raises a brow with skepticism. “From where I sit, you’ve got two eligible bachelors pursuing you.”

I huff. “That’s exactly the problem.”

“Can you honestly tell me you don’t have stronger feelings for one than the other?”

I sigh. “No, I have stronger feelings for Gabe.”

There’s no denying it. I’ve always had stronger feelings for Gabe than for anyone.

“There you go.”

I sigh. “It’s not as simple as feelings, Ivy.”