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“What about you? Why did you want to find me?” he asked.

My smile vanished.

“Oh, that’s not good,” he said, noticing.

“I can’t go to the ball.”

“What? Why not? I thought you said that Marcus didn’t tell your moms about us. That you didn’t get in trouble the other night.”

“He didn’t. I didn’t. But my mom has a work party that night, and apparently the whole family is invited. I can’t get out of it since it’s Marcus’s last Christmas season here and it’s the first year they’re letting families come.”

Ryan was disappointed. His sad face was my least favorite. But he nodded. “I totally understand.”

“I wish you didn’t have to understand.”

“I know,” he said.

“I’ll get the dress back to you so you can return it.”

He shook his head. “No, you should wear it to the work party.”

“I should wear a formal dress to my mom’s work party? And where will I say I got it from?”

“Say you borrowed it from Fiona. And take a picture so I can see you in it.”

“You should take it back,” I said again. “Get the refund.”

He pulled me into a hug. “Please just keep it. I’ll take you somewhere someday where you can wear it.”

I nodded against his shoulder. I hoped that was true. “Okay.”

He slung an arm over my shoulder and we kept walking, both apparently not ready to go home. Because at home, we had to pretend not to know each other.

“What were you talking to Mr. Lenny about?” Ryan asked.

“He was asking about the latest flyer. About the live animals?”

Ryan frowned. “Yeah, my mom texted me about that. Did you tell Mrs. O’Leary about the reindeer my dad wants to get?”

“No, I didn’t!” I bristled. “Don’t you think your mom probably told her? She walks with her every day.”

“She said she didn’t.”

I shrugged. “Maybe someone else was planning on live animals and asked Mrs. O’Leary about it. That’s the real reason your dad can’t find reindeer. They’re in demand.”

“That must be it,” he said with a smile.

“Do you think the flyers have to do with the lawsuit?” I asked. “Like Mrs. O’Leary is trying to compromise with the person suing by setting firmer boundaries.”

“I guess anything is possible.”

“Anything?” I asked, meeting his eyes.

He held my stare. “I hope so.”

Chapter 32

Was I trying to get caught? Did I secretly want to? That was the only reason I could think of for wearing this dress. Maybe the other reason was that I wanted to send Ryan a picture of me in it.