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He pulled me into his arms.

“Yours was better,” I said. My face was in his neck, and my voice came out muffled.

“What?” he asked.

“Your apology was better than mine.”

“It’s not a competition.”

“You know it is,” I said with a laugh.

“Well, your apology was perfect, so I think you’re wrong.” He kissed my cheek and then my lips.

I kissed him back, my heart fluttering. “I want to pet the reindeer and meet your mom.”

“Let’s go then.”

As we walked over to his yard, I asked, “And your dad? Where is he?”

Ryan pointed to the sled where Santa was sitting, handing out candy canes to kids and letting them sit on the bench seat next to him for pictures.

My eyes widened. “You never told me you were Santa’s son.”

Ryan laughed. “Funny.”

“No, but really, I thought your dad would hire a Santa.”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect it either.”

“Jasmine,” Mrs. Moreno said as I approached. “Hello.”

“Hi.”

“It’s so much better to meet you face-to-face rather than behind my curtains.”

I coughed out a surprised laugh.

“You knew she was there?” Ryan asked, obviously hearing this for the first time as well.

“I put two and two together later,” Mrs. Moreno said.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“I wish you both would’ve talked to us. Told us what was going on.” Her arms were folded over her chest.

Okay, so his mom wasn’t quite there yet. “We were scared,” I admitted. “There’s a lot of … history with our families.”

Her eyes went to her husband. “There is. And I think there are things that the adults need to talk through. That might be good for us.”

I nodded. “Thank you for helping to remake the snow globe.”

“It was more fun than I thought it would be,” she said, a smile softening her features.

“I’ve always had fun making things.”

“It’s one of Jasmine’s many talents,” Ryan said, which I appreciated.

I gestured toward the reindeer still thirty feet away. “How did you get Mrs. O’Leary to let you keep the reindeer?”