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“She is not the law,” Mrs. Moreno said. “Despite her bright red flyers.”

“Are you two still fighting?” Ryan asked.

His mom rolled her eyes. “We’ll get over it.”

“You want to pet a reindeer?” Ryan asked me.

“You know I do,” I said.

“Don’t be a stranger,” Mrs. Moreno said as Ryan led me over to the nearest reindeer.

“I won’t,” I said over my shoulder.

And then we were standing in front of the reindeer. They were shorter than I anticipated, and their antlers seemed fake, like sticks on their heads.

“Do you know how much crap I’ve had to clean up from these beasts?” Ryan said as he ran a hand along their fur.

I used my still gloveless hand to pet one of the reindeer’s snouts. “How much?”

“A lot.”

“Hello, Santa,” I called to Ryan’s dad because there were kids around, and I wasn’t about to destroy their magic.

“Hello, young lady! Merry Christmas!”

I smiled. “You think you guys are going to win?” I asked Ryan.

“Win what?” he asked, genuinely confused.

“The competition.”

“I honestly do not care at all. I feel like I’ve already won.”

My chest warmed with his words. “Me too.”

Chapter 41

“Christmas dinner and Thanksgiving dinner are pretty much the exact same thing,” Marcus said, piling marshmallows on top of his sweet potatoes.

“No, we don’t do green bean casserole for Christmas,” I said, drizzling honey on the ham.

“Or turkey,” Momma said.

“Or stuffing!” Harris called from where he was putting together the new Lego set he’d opened that morning.

“And we have roasted vegetables for Christmas,” Mom said.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Marcus said. “I’m just in charge of sweet potatoes for both so it feels the same to me.”

“It’s because you are the best at them,” I said. “You and your marshmallow mountain.”

“You’ll need to take over when I’m gone next year,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. “You are not missing Christmas Day.”

The doorbell rang.

“Who is it?” Harris asked.