Sam presses Emily for the truth about who she really is. She refuses to give assurances, and with nothing left to say, he wishes her a Merry Christmas and leaves the shop.
Eleven months later, Emily is still in town and has grown to love it there.
The local chess team reels after a loss to Eastcreek. Kyle can’t figure out what went wrong, while Violet tries to cheer him up. At the diner, Emily grabs coffee and notices Violet now works there instead of at the Mistletoe. Violet introduces her to Mr. Tim Henley, who Emily later observes being stern with another student. She also picks up on Violet’s crush on Kyle.
On her way out, Emily crosses paths with Sam. The tension between them lingers. They discuss Violet’s wish to return to the store.
Meanwhile, Henley finds a note taped to his door. Rattled, he hurriedly packs a bag and drives off.
At the Mistletoe, holiday crowds pour in. Emily still makes time for dinner with June at Sue’s Diner. Violet waits their table, daydreaming that Kyle might ask her to the dance. Sam arrives to pick her up.
Emily continues searching online for Chimera, careful to mask her IP.
Later, Violet asks Emily if she can spare decorations for the school dance. She also asks for chess lessons and casually reveals that Henley resigned and left suddenly. Emily is unsettled.
Tracking down Henley’s address, Emily sees his mail piling up. Something is wrong. She asks Sam to investigate. He admits he regrets how things ended between them but presses again for answers about her past. Emily refuses.
At the high school, Emily delivers decorations and flashes back to her boarding school days, where she once introduced herself as Grace. She bumps into Ray, there to drop off chess team jackets, and meets the Vice Principal and interim coach Richard Leland. He asks her to replace Mr. Henley as coach, but she declines.
In the hall, janitor Hollis shows Emily a stray dog. She calls June, who takes the dog to her clinic.
Sam later questions Emily about being at the school. She says she was just delivering decorations. He warns her to stay clear of Henley’s disappearance—for her safety and everyone else’s.
When Brooke asks Emily to fix some faulty school lights, Emily presses her for gossip about the chess team. Brooke shares that a rival coach, Mila, once got blacklisted for arranging to rough up an opponent. She also hints at rumors of Mila’s “extracurricular” involvement with Henley.
Emily relays this to Sam, who dismisses its relevance and urges her to stay out of it. She realizes his real concern is keeping her away from Violet. She wishes he could focus on who she is now rather than who she used to be.
Soon after, Emily meets Mila herself, who was also asked to step in as chess coach but declined. When Emily mentions the rumor, Mila insists it’s false.
Brooke, meanwhile, signs Emily up as a dance chaperone. Violet admits she wants to ask someone to the dance and asks Emily if she can return to the Mistletoe. Emily deflects and leaves.
Sam questions Leland, who admits Henley seemed anxious before leaving. Leland’s son, Shane, then gets into a fight with Kyle, sparking Emily’s curiosity when Shane claims Kyle shouldn’t even be on the team.
Emily digs further, asking Leland about eligibility. He reveals Kyle is just barely above the GPA requirement. At school, she again runs into Hollis along with the stray dog, now identified as Clyde. June confirms Clyde’s owner is none other than Tim Henley.
When Clyde paws insistently at a spot on the basement floor, Hollis mentions the concrete there was newly poured just days ago. Emily immediately calls Sam: she thinks Henley is buried there.
That night, Sam visits Emily with confirmation that a body has been found beneath the basement floor. Violet will be devastated. As Emily goes to make tea, Sam spots a slip of paper with coordinates sticking out from under her couch. Emily quickly snags it back and covers, but not before he secretly snaps a photo. To change the subject she asks for his help hanging the tree star, and their chemistry is undeniable.
The next day at the diner, Violet and Kyle mourn Henley’s loss. Brooke announces the dance will still happen—in Henley’s honor.
Sam reviews school surveillance footage and finds a video of Kyle and Henley arguing outside.
At the diner, Kyle asks Violet to the dance. Just then, Sam arrives and takes him away for questioning in the murder of Tim Henley.