Lisa wore a slight frown as she got out of Hannah’s truck at Jordan High. It was clear that she didn’t like what she felt compelled to do. “I feel like I’m spying on Herb by coming here,” she confessed as their boots crunched through the freshly fallen snow as they walked toward the entrance of the school auditorium.

“Do you want to forget about it and go home?” Hannah asked her.

“No. I’d just sit there worrying about where Herb was and what he was doing. And thanks to your mother, we do have a perfect excuse for dropping in uninvited.”

“That’s right.” Hannah pulled the heavy door open, and they stepped into the lobby of the auditorium. “We have to pick up the Christmas gift bags from Tory Bascomb. She told Mother she’d leave them on the table in the back of the theater.”

Lisa still looked concerned. “Do you think Herb will think it’s strange if we sit down in the back and watch the ending of the play?”

“Absolutely not. He’d be hurt if you told him you were here and you didn’t stay to watch his Santa Claus appearance.”

“Right,” Lisa said, but she didn’t sound convinced as she followed Hannah through the inner doors to the auditorium.

The Jordan High auditorium served dual purposes. It was a gymnasium for physical education classes and a basketball court during basketball season. When a theater setting was required, it was a simple matter to pull the velvet curtains partially closed and lower the wall-like curtains that were stored near the ceiling to form a stage at the front center of the court. The unused area at the sides and back served as a large backstage area where the actors could wait for their cues before they appeared onstage. The footlights were cleverly concealed below the floor at the very front, and the stagehands simply released the fasteners that held that section of flooring in place and engaged a lever so the lights swiveled up above the surface of the floor.

Since a rehearsal of the Christmas play was in progress, the basketball court that had been in use the previous night had been turned into a stage setting. The audience area was illuminated only by the lights from the stage, and Lisa and Hannah were quiet as they took seats in the back row to watch the end of the rehearsal.