“Luka has a knack for cracking me right open, and I don’t want that right now. I don’t want it ever, to be honest, afraid of what he’ll find when he starts connecting all the data points.”

This quote summarizes the complexity behind Stella’s feelings for Luka. Her greatest fear in the novel is losing him, and she is unwilling to change their relationship in any way that might risk it. This shows Stella’s great Fear of Abandonment and Change, which becomes a major theme as the novel progresses.

“I wasn’t exactly level-headed when I bought this place. Blinded by positivity, probably. Too focused on the cute little cottage that hugs the corner of the property, visions of curling up in front of the stone fireplace with a mug of tea dancing through my head. Imagining the first snow of the year, walking through rows and rows of trees. A place of my own. A place to belong—finally.”

Stella never put down roots growing up, always having to move from one place to another for her mother’s jobs. When she found the Christmas tree farm in Inglewild, she felt like she could finally “belong” somewhere. This quote again shows how Stella’s past experiences greatly affect her present actions.

“Maybe this time, for once, I want my story to be something different than a sad one.”

Stella thinks this when she considers Evelyn’s contest and her fake relationship with Luka. The image she presents of the farm on her contest application is idealized and happy, representing the life that she wants to live rather than her real life.