Page 4 of Meet Me on Christmas Eve

“I—I wasn’t,” I stammered. I had no idea what to say. “Are you … you’re … Terry,” I said the name slowly, the feel of it on my tongue strange, such a long ago memory. “I can’t believe it’s you,” I whispered, still in shock.

For a moment, his face softened slightly, but then it hardened once again as he pressed his lips together. “Well, indeed. I have a similar feeling. Especially since I didn’t even know if you were alive.”

I winced. I had no excuse to give him, nothing I could share anyway. I opened and closed my mouth several times, unsure how to respond. Finally, I said, “I hope you’re doing well. You look … healthy.”

Healthy? This had to be the most mortifying day of my life. And I’ve had many such days before.

One corner of his mouth twitched slightly, but he didn’t smile. “I’m in good health, yes. Are you? You look … different.” Different? What does that mean? Then, a moment later, he added, “No, what I really want to know—”

“Time’s up,” Hazel said, swooping in and linking arms with me. I have never been happier to see her. Before he could get another word in, she was dragging me away. “Goodbye, pinecone. Wrong holiday, by the way.”

*****

If I thought I’d escaped questioning from my ever-inquisitive best friend, I’d be wrong.

No, I figured it was coming. But I had still hoped.

Last night, I’d managed to convince her I needed to be alone and sleep. Which, obviously, I did. Not to mention some sleep meds to make me forget.

But when I tried to plead illness to cancel our lunch date today, she showed up with soup and orange juice at my door.

“You’re such a bad liar, Mari,” she said after taking one look at me. “So I’m going to eat the soup.”

I watched helplessly as Hazel waltzed in, heading to my kitchen island and setting her food down. Sighing, I went to grab a coffee and made a sandwich as she watched me warily.

“Have you found a realtor yet, by the way?”

Her question surprised me. We hadn’t talked about it in a while, and I had hoped she’d forgotten about it. “No.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Because … you haven’t been looking?”

“Because I’ve been busy.”

She nodded like she didn’t believe me, taking a spoonful of soup. “You plan to live here forever?”

What if I did, dammit? This place is my livelihood. What was the point of finding somewhere else to live? It was easier to live here. I didn’t have a life outside of work, and that probably wasn’t going to change.

I couldn’t tell her any of this though.

Because … well, she’d try to do the whole best friend thing and assure me my life could be more than work, blah blah.

Just, no.

No thanks.

I’m fine with my life.

More than fine. I like it the way it is. It’s a dream, really.

It doesn’t get any better than this.

I stirred my coffee slowly. “Oh, hey, Roxy had a little delay in sending out the evaluations from the last retreat. She said to tell you sorry.”

Hazel didn’t seem to hear me. “Anyway, so you know why I’m here.”

I looked at her blankly. At least I hope so.

“Last night. Spill.”

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