"I like baking with Eve," Sofia said, but her voice was softer. She was still upset about Eve's reaction.
Mom gave me a look. "Why don't you find Grandpa? He's supposed to be fixing the toilet upstairs, and he might need help?"
"I love to fix things," Sofia said, her eyes brighter than a few seconds ago. She ran out of the room and up the stairs.
"What's going on? You seem upset, and you stopped by without letting me know. That's not something you usually do."
I sighed. "We wanted to get Eve the perfect gift for Christmas."
"You let Sofia help you?" Mom opened the oven; the door squeaked. She picked up the pan with oven mitts and placed it on the stove to cool.
I sat on one of the stools at the island. "Yeah, she wanted to be part of it."
Mom filled a glass with ice and water.
"Sofia suggested a weekend away."
"That's why you asked about us watching Sofia for the weekend?" Mom asked, handing me the glass.
I gripped the cool glass. "I made reservations for this weekend, thinking she'd want to get away from work."
"I take it that you gave her the gift, and she's not happy about it?"
I blew out a breath. "That's an understatement. She seemed upset with me. And now Sofia's upset."
"You don't like when anyone upsets Sofia."
"Of course not. She's gone through enough already."
"I'm wondering if this was a present you should have discussed with Eve first. This is her first year running Christmas Town. I heard they just had a flood in one of the shops and maybe a second. Is that right?"
"She thinks all the pipes are the same material and will need to be replaced sooner rather than later to prevent more flooding."
"She's in the middle of a crisis at work."
I blew out a breath. "It's not like anyone's dying."
This time, Mom sighed. "Just because it's not life or death doesn't mean it's not important."
"She said she put all their savings into buying and renovating the inn and surrounding town."
Mom nodded. "Sounds like she put a lot into this, and she doesn't want to lose it."
"She's always talking about the owners who depend on her to keep the town running," I said, remembering everything she'd said over the last few weeks.
"It sounds like she's under a lot of pressure."
I nodded. "Did I mess up?"
Mom touched my hand. "You have a big heart, and you wanted to do something nice for a person you care about."
"I think I more than care about her."
"Oh?" Mom said innocently, as if she wasn't wondering the same thing.
"I think I might love her. I know it seems soon?—"
Mom shook her head. "There's no right timeline when it comes to love. It happens when it does."
