“Nine o’clock,” I said to all who inquired as to the whereabouts of my date. “You’ll meet him at nine o’clock.” Smiling to the next table. “Peanuts! Popcorn! Nine o’clock! He’ll be here at nine o’clock!” In retrospect, it probably would have been easier for me if I had gotten a neon sign that read “nine o’clock” and attached it to my forehead.

The clock on the wall was now reading 8:45. Any minute I was expecting him to walk through the doors, when suddenly from behind I heard the voice of—

“Sadie, Sadie, married lady!”

“Sam?! Oh my God, what are you doing here?”

“Girl, I wouldn’t miss this for the world. And look at you! You look fabulous! That dress is working, girl. I told you it would!”

“Thank you! And look at you! All dressed up in a suit and tie!”

“Am I working it, girl?”

“You are working it!” I said, laughing, glad that my friend had showed up to support me.

“So, spit it out. Who is it?”

“Who is what?”

“Montana, don’t play with me. I just passed up the Barbra Streisand Holiday Look-alike contest to be with you, okay? Who did you choose?”

“I want it to be a surprise.”

“A surprise?! To who? Me or you?”

“To you and everybody else. I’m expecting him here any moment. He doesn’t live in town and the earliest he could make it here was nine o’clock. But he promised me he’d be here.” Both of us looking at the clock on the wall that now read 8:51.

“Nine o’clock?”

“Nine o’clock.”

“It’s almost nine o’clock now. Don’t you think you’re cutting it close?”

“He’ll be here. Wild horses couldn’t keep him away.”

“For your sake, I hope you’re right. And speaking of wild horses, where is Gail? I thought she would be here too.”

“She’s probably somewhere getting engaged herself.”

“Oh, that’s why the horse-drawn carriage was missing a Clydesdale…Gail’s getting engaged? To who?”

“Curtis.”

“Curtis who?”

“Curtis.”

“The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want, Curtis?”

“Yes.”

“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, Curtis?” I nodded my head yes.

“In the beginning God created—”

“Yes, yes, yes! That Curtis.”

“Hmmph, straight folks.”

Just as I was about to spill the whole Gail thing, we were interrupted by the sounds of tapping on a microphone. “Testing testing, one, two.” It was my mother settling in at the podium.

“Everyone, may I have your attention, please?” The band stopped playing their Christmas medley, and everyone in the room grabbed their drinks, their mates, and quickly made their way to their seats.