I looked over at Dean, my hand up, ready to give him the sign. Everyone shut up, except Max, who was ninety-eight, couldn’t really see anything, and was chatting loudly about how if he had his time again, he’d love to try and be on Drag Race.

I saw the light under the door change.

It was now or never. I dropped my hand. Right on cue, the band started playing.

“Dorothy Miller,” Dean purred into the mic in his smoothest voice as the door opened. The room broke into applause. Dottie and Nick both froze. “Please, could you come and join me onstage…?” Dottie looked up at Nick as if he knew what was going on, but Nick shook his head, his mouth hanging open. “We would like to start the Alpine Peaks Senior Living Christmas party in style. Would you do us the honor?” They were playing “White Christmas,” Dottie’s favorite. Her face was a picture—she looked eight years old, not eighty.

Nick whispered, “Better give the people what they want, Grams…” Great, he hadn’t seen me. Being in the shadow of the door behind him, and dressed as a food, definitely made me less recognizable.

Hand in hand, they walked up to the stage.

“And no excuse for you, Nicholas.” Dean was keeping the lead guitar line going on loop. He nodded over at where Nick’s bass was propped up. “Figure it out as we go.”

I was worried that although she’d told me she used to love singing, maybe when faced with it, this would be too much for Dottie, but as Nick helped her up to the mic, her face lit up almost as much as the room. Phew, we didn’t have to resort to emergency plan B. No one wanted a warbling pumpkin.

Dottie steadied herself with a deep breath, leaned into the mic, and…started to sing. “White Christmas.”

Wow. I knew she would be good, but I didn’t expect her to give Adele a run for her money. Dottie’s body might have gotten small and frail, but hearing her sing was like getting a glimpse of her when she was my age. And as she got more into the song, waltzing around the stage, her fragile arms and legs suddenly a lot surer of themselves, it was like the clock had been rewound.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Well, I could, but only because Nick looked so drop-dead gorgeous next to her. He was smiling, laughing, even joining in with her dancing. And he wasn’t the only one—the normally quiet, calm hall was full of everyone who could, getting up to dance, and those who couldn’t were swaying in their seats.