“I know what you said, Anna. That you wanted time. A break. But I don’t accept that. I know you, and I know you sometimes create emotional problems for yourself.”
“Wait—”
“It’s okay. We don’t have to get into it now. Just suffice it to say Iknowyou. I love you. We aregoingto be together. We aregoingto have our perfect Christmas. Can you get yourself to the Rockport Airport by nine o’clock tomorrow morning? A plane will be waiting for you. That’s what matters, right? Being with the one you love on Christmas? My family is expecting you. You have to come. We have to give ourselves a chance. We owe this to ourselves. We’ve been planning for so long.”
Anna’s head was spinning and swirling with thoughts. She wasn’t surewhatmattered anymore. Nick kept repeating the word “Christmas,” but here in Snow Falls there was so much more than justChristmas. It was Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan all wrapped into one chaotic, sparkling, festive package. It was light and laughter and fun. It was... everything she had been searching for, always. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t perfect—but was she ready to leave it behind already?
“Anna, please, let me come to your rescue. Don’t push me away. You need me.”
Now Anna frowned. Was that what she had always wanted,to be rescued? Hadn’t that been what she liked about Josh—that he was always coming to her rescue? Maybe it was time to stand on her own.
“Well, it’s just I’ve already told Maryam I’d help with the set decoration for the play. I can’t just bail on that.”
“The set decoration? For what play? What are you talking about? Who’s Maryam?”
Anna tried to explain her new friends, the Holiday Hoopla, her role in set decorating, to Nick, but none of her explanations about Snow Falls were coming out right.
“You sound strange,” Nick said, his voice even heavier with concern. “Like you have Stockholm syndrome or something.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of that statement. “I haven’t been kidnapped, just snowbound.”
“But admit it, it’s all very traumatic. And it’s almost over. I have to go now, I’m going out shopping with Mother, but I’ll see you in the morning.”
He hung up before she could respond. She sat still, watching the candles on the menorah burn down. Even when they were reduced to stubs, she still didn’t know what she was going to do.
But she had an idea about who she could turn to.
—
Anna tapped on Maryam’s door, and seconds later her friend answered, her eyes red-rimmed and watery.
“Anna, are you okay?” Maryam asked, just as Anna said, “You look like you’ve been crying.” They both laughed ruefully.
“Come on in,” Maryam said, moving aside to let Anna into the room she shared with Saima, which was bigger than Anna’sbut also faced out the front of the inn. She could see the sweet, twinkling lights of the town in the distance, and briefly wondered where Saima could be.
“You’re upset—please tell me what’s going on,” Anna said.
“You go first. What’s wrong, Anna?”
Anna sighed and flopped down on the bed.
“I kissed Josh. It was such a mistake. And then Nick called, and it was so awkward, and...”
It all came out in a rush, the intense moment in Anna’s room, Tenisha’s abrupt arrival, the ringing phone, Josh’s hurt expression. “But does he have a right to be hurt? He has a girlfriend, too! He’s stringing me along!”
Maryam looked even more stricken than she had when she answered her hotel room door. “I saw him kissing Tenisha today on set, and I didn’t want to hurt you, so I didn’t tell you. I had no idea things were getting so serious. I’m so sorry!”
“You don’t have to be sorry. This isn’t your fault, it’s mine. I knew there was probably something going on between Josh and Tenisha—I just didn’t want to believe it. I got caught up in a fantasy.”
“No one could blame you,” Maryam said softly, and Anna turned to her.
“What’s going on with you? You seemed so shaken up when you came to the door.”
“It’s... Saif.”
“But I thought things were going well with you two!”
“Maybe that’s the thing about Snow Falls. It’s only a break from reality, but the real world is always there. Saif and I have no chance in the real world, and that’s just the way it is. Case closed.” She folded her arms and let out a loud, frustrated sigh.“Honestly, sometimes I think men are just more trouble than they’re worth.”
