“It’s all so complicated,” Anna said when Maryam was done. “And he was so hurt when he found out about Nick. The night we met at It’s the Most Wonderful Time for a Beer, it all seemed so simple—but it really wasn’t at all. We had chemistry, sure. It was exciting. But we never truly understood who the other was. And I’m afraid now it might be too late.”
“But you two get along so well. There’s just... somethingrightabout the two of you together. Chemistry, yes. I’m a pharmacist, and I want you to know chemistry isimportant.” Maryam smiled.
“But it’s not everything. I was just in a relationship where I didn’t think it all through. I don’t want to do that again.” Anna couldn’t help it, though. The chemistry was still there. Almost against her will, her gaze was drawn across the dim theater to Josh again. He was watching her, too. But she wasn’t able to read his expression. Was he surprised to see her? Happy? Still hurt that she had never explained about Nick? Most likely a combination of all of these things. Anna took a deep breath. “Maybe we’ll get a chance to talk and try to put all this behind us, somehow. But for now, Josh or no Josh, it doesn’t change anything for me.” She turned back to Maryam. “I really like him, don’t get me wrong. How could I not? He’s...” She trailed off and Maryam nodded.
“He’s a dreamboat,” Maryam supplied. “That’s all there is to it.”
“Just looking at him and hearing his voice... Maybe the way I react to him will never change. But I came to some realizations this morning, and those are the reasons I’m sticking around. It’s not because of my feelings for Josh, or for Nick, or for anyone. It’s just about me—and whatIneed.”
“It doesn’t change anything for you, though, knowing he’s not really with Tenisha?”
Anna watched Josh’s handsome face again as he continued to read from the script, turning the tri-holiday take on “A Christmas Carol” into something special.
“In a world that can feel so full of darkness,” Josh wassaying in his deep, appealing voice, “Hanukkah is a holiday that provides light and hope for the future. Hope that maybe things can be better... that happy endings are possible for anyone.”
She did feel an emotional tug toward him, and an attachment to the connections they had shared—but she wasn’t going to let that dictate the choices she made. “I’m just not sure how I feel” was all she could say to Maryam. “But I know I want to stay. So, please, let’s get to the reason I came. Set design. I’m back. And I want to get to work again and make this the best Holiday Hoopla in Snow Falls history!”
Maryam directed Anna side stage, where the other volunteers were working away on various set design projects. Anna noticed Saif was at the playhouse, too, enthusiastically playing the role of the Ramadan Host, and she paused to watch his performance. For an amateur thespian, Saif had impressive range—he did a wonderful job with his lines, and had an excellent command of the stage. Anna couldn’t help but notice the way Maryam gazed at him when he read his lines, pulling herself together with obvious effort in time to deliver his stage directions. Anna made a mental note to ask for an update on that front. But soon, she was lost in the buzz of activity and excitement, buoyed by her sense of purpose—and full of the satisfaction that comes from doing something that you love doing and you’re really good at.
Hours later, she was in such a reverie Bruce had to tell her twice that someone had come to the backstage door looking for her.
“For me? Are you sure?” She stood and brushed some tinsel from her jeans—and couldn’t help but feel a tiny thrill, despite having told herself earlier she was going to leave Joshout of the equation for a while. Was he waiting backstage to talk to her?
“He seems to feel it’s quite urgent,” Bruce said, and he sounded a little put out. “Used a lot of big words.”
Oh, no.Anna felt a sudden sense of doom.
When she stepped backstage, Nick was standing near the door, arms crossed, a storm cloud expression on his handsome face. “Anna!”
She waited to feel something, seeing him standing there. But she didn’t feel anything except an urgent wish that he had not come to find her in Snow Falls. “Nick, what are you doing here?”
“I came to get you, of course. I had always planned to be on the plane. It was going to be a nice Christmas Eve surprise. Until you didn’t show up.”
“I tried to call you. You didn’t answer, so I left you a message telling you I wasn’t coming to the airport.”
He shook his head. “I don’t accept it. I can’t. We had plans. Everything was all in place.”
“ButIwasn’t in place. I told you I needed time, and that’s still true. I didn’t think spending Christmas together was a good idea, so I made the decision to stay here.”
“Just a few days ago, you were an entirely different person!”
Anna stepped closer and put her hand on his arm. “Maybe that’s because you never really knew who I was. I don’t blame you for that. I don’t think I ever really showed my true self to you because I wanted you to believe I was the perfect woman you thought I was. I’m not. There’s so much you don’t know.”
“Like what?”
“Like, I didn’t go backpacking around Europe, the yearbefore we met. I got fired from my job for taking too many sick days—because I was so grief-stricken over my dad, I couldn’t get out of bed—”
“You always make such a big deal out of things, I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as that—”
“And I never went backpacking. Once I’d lost my job, I decided to take the trip, but I only made it to Paris. I stayed there for a month, eating croissants and crying in a hotel room. I thought that was something to be ashamed of... but I’ve been starting to realize that it’s okay to fall apart sometimes, and you should be with someone... someone who gives you the space to share that sort of thing.”
“So you hit a bad patch and didn’t tell me, okay. Do we really need to talk about it? So unpleasant. Please, Anna. I just need you to come back with me. We don’t have much time, the plane has to leave—” He stepped toward her—and then, in one swift move, dropped to one knee. Anna gasped as he pulled a ring box out of his pocket and popped it open.
Inside was a radiant-cut solitaire on a white gold band. Anna peered down at it. “Wait a minute...”
“I love you, Anna Gibson. We’ve had our problems, but I’m sure we can surmount them. Please, say you’ll marry me—and then come back to Toronto as my fiancée. Say yes.Please.”
Anna stared down at a ring that was unfamiliar to her. “What happened to the other one?” she found herself asking in a daze.
