She groaned as she rolled over. She’d fallen asleep on the couch again. The last thing she remembered was watching rerun after rerun of The Office—which was about the only thing that could cheer her up these days.

“Go away!” She tried to go back to sleep, but the next thing she knew, she heard Seth singing Christmas carols outside her door. Deck the halls with boughs of holly...

“What are you doing?” she called. He couldn’t even sing!

“Just sending a little Christmas cheer your way,” he called back. “I managed to sleep for a few hours, so I happen to be in a good mood. You?”

She sat up and stared daggers at the door. “No, I’m not in a good mood. And I don’t want any Christmas cheer. What’s wrong with you? Can’t you just leave me to my depression?”

He laughed. “Nope. It’s that time of year. If I have to enjoy it, so do you.”

She suddenly remembered reading that his wife had died at Christmastime not too long ago. Was that why he hated the holidays? “What do you want from me?” she asked.

“I made breakfast. The least you can do is help me eat it.”

“No breakfast for me.”

“You have to be hungry.”

“Hunger has nothing to do with it. I’m getting fat.”

“Because you’re eating junk food. If you eat real food, you might be able to lay off that stuff.”

She doubted it, but she’d do anything to stop him from singing when he began to belt out Joy to the World.

“Okay! Stop it,” she yelled. “I’m coming.”

“Great. See you in ten minutes. Otherwise, I might have to come back and sing The Twelve Days of Christmas, and you know how long that song is.”

She managed a grudging smile. “I’ll save us both the agony. But you’re going to have to give me a minute. You woke me up. I haven’t even showered.”

“Just pull on that ratty robe and come over,” he said.

“Ratty? Did you just call my robe ratty?”

“You have ten minutes before I start singing again.”

She frowned at the empty box of Andes Chocolate Mints she’d found in a cupboard and devoured last night. She needed to have some groceries delivered.

“See you soon!” he called just when she’d thought he left.

“Are you going to do this every morning?” she asked.

“I might. But today we have something important to discuss.”

She wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that. “What could we have to talk about that’s important?”

“I’ll tell you when you come over.”

“Is it something I’m not going to like?” she asked, getting to her feet.

“I’d rather not answer that question. It’s going to be okay. Just come over.”