Page 3 of A Christmas Mystery

Whenever Tee expresses concern about my spending too much money, I try to explain how much money I’m earning as an influencer. It might as well be a foreign language to her, and she doesn’t quiet down until I pull up my banking app and show her the balances in my checking and savings accounts.

She’s quiet for a while after that. Then finally asks with a thoughtful frown, “Daniela shows me the pretty pictures you take and reads me your thoughts from her phone. They all sound just like you, so I always want to hear them. But I don’t understand how you get paid for it. So people give you money just for being you?”

I think for a moment before I answer. “Yes. I guess that’s a lot of it.”

She shakes her head with a smile. “Well, it’s very odd to me, but I’m proud of you. I should have expected you to make a unique place in the world for yourself, and now you have.”

I hug her again, ridiculously pleased by her approval and understanding. I’m still smiling as I turn away and my eyes land on a familiar face.

It’s a handsome face. Not like a movie star or a model but with a boy-next-door appeal. The jaw is square, the cheekbones strong, the forehead broad, and the mouth set in a frown. He’s clean-shaven with slightly too long auburn hair that insists on curling despite his best attempts to tame it. His eyes are a vivid blue. His body is built naturally big and strong, although he’s never spent a lot of time lifting weights. He’s wearing gray trousers and a neat blue Oxford. He’s standing on the corner of the sidewalk outside and was talking to someone else when our eyes met through the large front window of the shop.

Theo Humphrey.

Chris’s best friend and the last person I want to see today.

I glance away, hoping futilely that he’ll pretend he didn’t see me and not come inside to speak. He’s never liked me, and he’s not going to have miraculously changed his opinion in the past two years. But he’s never ignored me. He’s always made a point to say a few terse, stilted words to me whenever our paths have crossed, as if he feels like it’s his duty as Chris’s friend to play nice.

So I’m not surprised when the bell on the door chimes a minute later. I turn around with as close to a polite smile as I can muster.

Theo blinks at me with a frown. “Maya.”

“Theo Humphrey.” I’m not sure why I always say his last name. Just that the name Humphrey sounds appropriate to his grumpy personality.

“You’re back in town.”

“It appears that way.” I really can’t help the dryness in my tone.

“How long?” There’s still not a trace of a smile on his face. Just that sober, intent scrutiny he always focuses on me.

I shrug. “A few weeks. For the holidays.”

“Maya,” Tee says, stepping away from the rack she was searching through. “I don’t see anything here.” She pauses when she sees Theo. “Ah. You’ve found a young man.”

My back stiffens sharply. “I do not have a young man. Theo saw me as he was passing by and stopped in to be polite. You remember Chris’s friend, Theo, don’t you?”

Of course Tee remembers Theo. She remembers faces and names from decades back. I’m actually not sure whether she’s trying to make me uncomfortable or Theo, but she’s definitely doing it on purpose.

“How are you, Ms. Santiago?” Theo asks her soberly.

“Young man, you need to call me Tee like everyone else.”

Theo clears his throat and doesn’t answer her with anything but a nod.

I’m about to suggest Tee and I depart when Theo blurts out, “Are you still in that toy house?”

I narrow my eyes, offended despite my attempts not to care about his attitude. “It’s not a toy house. It’s atinyhouse. And yes, I’m still living in it.”

“Okay.”

I wait a minute for him to say something else. To make a gesture toward basic civility.

But not Theo. He just stands there staring at me disapprovingly.

He’s never been a big talker. Chris told me that, and I’ve seen it when he’s interacted with other people. But he does manage to smile occasionally or have a normal conversation with people other than me. It’s clearly only me he doesn’t care for.

It used to really bother me, and maybe it still does. But I’m no longer in a mental place where I’d try to remedy his opinion of me.

If he doesn’t like me, then that’s his problem. I’ve never done anything mean or impolite to him. Or evenaroundhim. I’ve always tried to be a good-hearted and generous person. I might not be the smartest or the most capable or the most ambitious or the most competent at life, but there are other positive qualities that people can possess.

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