“Hello, Jeff,” Christina responded. She pulled herself together. “You have a wonderful daughter.”

“That’s true. We do.” He turned and gave Delia a significant look.

Delia came to stand next to Jeff. “And we’re giving her the best Christmas present of all. We’re back together. We’re not getting divorced! Jeff will be here for Christmas.”

Tears came into Christina’s eyes. “How wonderful for Wink.”

“And for us,” Jeff said, squeezing his wife close to him.

“But we have a problem,” Delia cooed.

Great, Inner Christina moaned. Now what?

“How can I help?” Christina asked.

Jeff set the huge box of Legos on the counter. “I bought this because it’s the biggest thing in the shop. Delia tells me Wink doesn’t want the biggest thing in the shop.”

“That’s right,” Delia chimed in. “Wink would like the most interactive thing in the shop.”

“So what would you suggest, Christina?” Jeff asked.

“Why not surprise her with some board games she can play with her parents?” Christina suggested. She led them to the shelves stocked with board games. “For example,” she said, pointing to each game as she spoke, “Wink might like Hey, Pa! There’s a Goat on the Roof, or Qwirkle, or Carcassonne.” When Delia and Jeff didn’t respond, Christina continued, “We’ve also got Rummikub and Sequence and Llama Drama and all these old favorites like Scrabble Junior and Twister and Clue.”

“They look great!” Jeff said. “We’ll take them!”

Christina blinked. “Which ones?”

“All of them,” Jeff said.

“Plus any others you think Wink would like,” Delia added. Seeing Christina’s hesitation, she explained, “We only have Monopoly at Father’s house. We really need to stock up.”

“Well, yes, of course,” Christina said breathlessly. “First, let me credit you for the return of the Lego set. Then we’ll start on the games you’d like to buy.”

It took almost half an hour to ring up the game boxes and put them into Christina’s Toy Shop bags.

When they were finished, Christina said, “That will be four hundred and twenty-three dollars.”

“Oh,” Delia said, tugging Jeff’s hand, “let’s get her the lighthouses and ferries, too. She can take those back to New York to remind her of the island.”

The total amount of their purchases rose considerably, but Jeff Lombard’s credit card zipped its acceptance immediately.

“Thank you, Christina,” Delia said. “You were so helpful.”

“Yes, thank you,” Jeff added.

“Thank you,” Christina said weakly.

Both Delia and her husband had their arms full of packages. Christina hurried to open the shop door for them.

“Merry Christmas,” Christina said as they left.

“Merry Christmas!” they answered.

As Delia went out the door, she turned and winked at Christina.