Lovelight Farms

When Luka and Stella are greeted by Elle, her stepmother, she mistakenly refers to Charlie and Stella as her children, creating an awkward moment before Charlie arrives. When Charlie sees Luka and Stella together, he assumes that they are finally dating, hinting that that it is something he had always hoped for, but Stella clarifies that they are still just friends. The group awkwardly waits for Brian to get home, with even Elle uncharacteristically mentioning her pleasure in his absence. Brian eventually stumbles in drunk, a state that Stella has never seen him in before, and quickly falls asleep at the table after taking a handful of mashed potatoes. Stella can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation, and for the rest of the meal, they all treat Brian like a table decoration and make fun of him.

On the drive back from dinner, Stella asks Luka if he only came to have practice with their fake relationship, something Luka vehemently denies. He does agree, however, that they should practice being in a relationship so that their lack of romantic contact won’t concern Evelyn. As they continue to discuss this subject, Stella gets the sense that Luka might be flirting with her, but she doesn’t know if it is real or an act for their fake relationship.

The next morning, when she runs into Luka inside the farm’s barn, he tells Stella that he has to go back to the city, though he had planned to stay until Evelyn arrived. Stella doesn’t see this as a big deal, as he will be back before Evelyn comes, but she senses that Luka is nervous about it. He mentions that they should kiss to practice their fake relationship because they will both be thinking about it all week if they don’t do it now. Luka believes that they can handle this situation like mature adults, yet Stella thinks differently. Even so, she kisses Luka quickly and forcefully, causing Luka to try for a better kiss afterward, which sends Stella reeling. When she pulls away, however, Luka looks unaffected and leaves for the week.

Luka’s texts to Stella over the following days are completely ordinary and never mention the kiss. Meanwhile, Stella continually thinks about the kiss but tries to explain how it was pretend when she mentions it to Layla. While out shopping later, Stella runs into a local who tells her about a betting pool that the members of the community had regarding Stella and Luka’s relationship and when they would finally get together. She also runs into Sheriff Dane, who asks her why he only heard about property damage on the farm from Luka. Stella didn’t think it was a big enough deal to tell the sheriff, but he disagrees and mentions that the various small incidents might be related. He asks about how things are going for the contest, and Stella seems hopeful despite things like the pumpkin smashing, and the two tease each other about their love lives like old friends.

On her way back to the farm while reading a text message, Stella bumps into Mr. Hewett, the curmudgeonly librarian with whom she has an awkward interaction before leaving. Luka calls her shortly afterward, warning her that his mother is coming to the farm and that he didn’t have the courage to tell her that their relationship was fake when she found out about it. Luka knows that his close-knit family will soon all know about the relationship, and he feels like he has to keep the secret to prevent his gossipy aunts from telling the whole town. Stella continues to feel bad about lying and hurting someone she cares about when the fake relationship inevitably ends, and she is somewhat cold to Luka and ignores his calls after he tells her about his mother.

Luka’s mother, a somewhat intimidating schoolteacher whom Stella adores, is waiting for Stella when she returns home. Carina Peters brings several containers of homemade food and interrogates Stella on how she started dating her son, but the two also talk about Stella’s mother and Luka’s father, who has also passed. Stella calls Luka once Carina is gone, and he apologizes for not being there when she arrived. Stella reveals that she has agreed to go to the Peters’ family Thanksgiving celebration in a few days, and she coaxes Luka to talk about his father, something Carina thinks he should do more often. He reveals that his father, Leo, always made him grilled cheese when he was sad, and Stella remembers that this was what they ate the first time they met. Stella tells him that he can talk about Leo with her whenever he wants.

Stella has been hearing noises coming from the barn and had assumed that they were coming from the raccoons that have claimed the farm as their own, but one morning, she goes inside and finds a cat and her three kittens. Beckett quickly becomes attached to the cats and names them after Santa’s reindeer. After a personal discussion with him, Stella finally reveals to Beckett that the farm is in financial trouble, but this only commits him further to winning the contest.

Stella wakes up early the next morning to find Luka in her kitchen. Knowing that he must have gotten up extremely early to drive to Inglewild, she invites him into her bed to rest. They wake up tangled in one another and nearly have sex, hinting that they both want to. They are stopped by Beckett honking the horn of the tractor, causing Stella to remember that she is supposed to watch the kittens today. As she gets up, Stella thinks that what just happened between them didn’t feel like they were pretending.