“We’re acquaintances. That’s all. I met her at Christina’s tree decorating party and we know some of the same people from school.”

“I can’t believe this!” Harriet exploded. “How come you two are hooking up with that family? It should be me.” She was on the verge of tears.

“Harriet,” Christina said. “It doesn’t matter what we do with anyone in that family. We still have to agree to pay ten percent more for our sheds, and that is the cold hard truth.”

“Maybe I could hook up with Oscar,” Mimi said.

Everyone stared in horror.

“Just kidding,” Mimi told them. “Just a little desperate attempt at humor.” Sighing, she leaned against a counter stacked with merchandise. “Look, everyone, we might as well go back to work and be glad we’re too busy to eat lunch. Christina did her best but she’s right. We’ve got to decide what to do. But not now. Now we’ll enjoy Christmas. And we’ll have fun tonight at my party, right? Wear your ugliest Christmas sweater.”

“As if I even have one,” Harriet scoffed.

—

Christina stepped from her warm shower into a bathroom swirling with steam. She was determined to enjoy Christmas tonight. She wouldn’t allow herself to worry about the hike in rent.

Last year at the January sale at Vis-A-Vis, she’d bought a sensational red silk dress and tonight was the perfect time to wear it. She could wear her highest heels, because no snow or ice had yet turned the sidewalks and streets into hazard zones.

She tied her long brown hair back with a green Christmas ribbon. She frosted her lips with her most shimmering red lip gloss. She looked good.

“Wow!” Andy said when he came to the door. “I don’t know whether to put you on a pedestal or ravage you.”

Christina laughed. “Just don’t smear my lip gloss.”

“Oh, you can always redo your lip gloss,” Andy teased, and took Christina in his arms and kissed her firmly.

Christina’s legs went weak and her heart did flips. She pulled away. “We have to go. We don’t want to be late for the concert.”

In the car on the way to the performance, they chatted idly about their days. Neither of them mentioned her unpleasant meeting with Oscar. The church was packed and decked out with Christmas wreaths, and entering the nave lifted her heart. She knew everyone in the chorus, or almost everyone, and that added a special pleasure to the event. It was good, Christina thought, that she and Andy would spend most of this evening with other people. That way they would have no time for a serious talk.

And really, she didn’t know what she wanted to say.