“That’s what we want to know!” Harriet snapped. “You had a date with Andy Bittlesman last night.”

“What Harriet would like to know, as would we all,” Mimi softly refereed, “is whether you were able to convince him to keep his father from raising the rents.”

For a moment, Christina couldn’t speak. Literally. The peanut butter was sticking her mouth shut. She took the moment to consider her answer.

“We didn’t talk about his father or the rent hikes,” Christina admitted. “It simply wasn’t the right time.”

“What, you can’t talk about money at your house?” Harriet demanded.

Christina’s jaw dropped. “Wait. What? How did you know where we ate?”

“Oh, come on, Christina. It’s a small town. Andy Bittlesman is big gossip. Word gets around.”

Christina waited to hear whether or not someone saw them kissing at Brant Point. But it was Jacob who spoke up.

“Christina, please forgive us for prying into your affairs. But you know we’re all worried about that rent hike. I think we’re more anxious than usual.”

Jacob was such a sweet, courteous man. Christina felt awful, as if she had failed him, and the others, by not pushing about the rent hike.

“I know you are,” Christina said. “I am, too. I’m just trying to be diplomatic about it.”

“We don’t have much more time, you know,” Mimi said. “It’s the middle of December. After Christmas, we’ll have a brief rush when people spend their Christmas money, and then January will be a vast frozen wasteland.”

“And the lights will be off in our shops,” Harriet said bitterly.

“I’ve been talking with a real estate dealer, a friend of mine,” Jacob said. “I was hoping to find someplace else in town where we could have our shops. So far, nothing. This island is becoming so popular, every square inch of space in the town is priceless.”

Mimi started to cry. “I’ve had my shop here for thirty years!”

“You,” Harriet almost snarled at Christina, “will probably marry the rich guy and forget all about us.”

Christina was shocked. Harriet and Jacob were desperate, and beloved Mimi was crying. Really, what had she been thinking? She hadn’t been thinking, she’d been caught up in a dream world where she could marry the man she loved. The truth was she was a shopkeeper, only able to run her shop because she’d inherited a house on the island and didn’t have to pay rent or mortgage. Andy was like a glamorous fantasy, but of course they wouldn’t last, while Mimi, Jacob, and even Harriet had been her buddies for years. She wouldn’t desert them.