“I’m meeting them at the skate house and then we’re all heading up the mountain before dark.”

“I’ve got more than work problems,” he said, shutting down his computer. “I’ve got a Santa problem. What the hell are we going to say to Angelica tomorrow when she sings her solo in the Christmas pageant, and her mom’s not there to see? I’m planning to film the whole thing, but it’s not the same.”

Darcy leaned against his desk. “I had an idea about that. I wanted to run it by you.”

“You figured out a way to pull off a Christmas miracle?”

“Not quite, but I thought of something that might help. Er, if you don’t mind me stepping in.”

“Mind? I love that you’re stepping in.”

She smiled. “You know how I’m a rabid Jezebel fan, right?”

Jezebel, the hip-hop star who had filmed a reality show in Avalon the year before, had become an unlikely local hero. “You and about a million others.”

“I watched every episode of Big Girl, Small Town. Do you recall that she was doing community service as part of her conditions of parole?”

“I didn’t tune in to the series, but yeah, I remember the backstory. The show followed her community service project with inner-city kids at Camp Kioga. That’s how the summer program got started.”

“Prior to her release, she did time at Bedford Hills.”

Now a glimmer of light came on in his work-fogged brain. “The same facility where Maya is.”

“Jezebel’s filming a Christmas special there, starting tonight and going through tomorrow. I read about it online. I asked if someone could help us set up a video call so Angelica’s mom can watch her sing tomorrow.” She pulled a tablet device from her bag. “Jezebel is going to provide a device just like this one. There’s an app called RealTime. Her friend in Avalon—a woman named Sonnet—do you know her?”

“Oh yeah,” he said. “Long story. Remind me to tell you sometime.”

“She seems really nice. She and her husband are going to help us out. Tomorrow at ten in the morning, we’ll connect, and Angelica and André will get to see their mom. It’s not the same as seeing her in person, but it’s something.”

His heart felt squeezed with emotion. “How did you get to be so awesome?”

“You think I’m awesome?”

He had a lot more thoughts about her. But that conversation would have to wait.

“I’ll see you at the house,” he said. “I’ve got a last-minute errand.”

He reached for a stack of files. She put her hand on top of them. “Uh-uh,” she said. “Christmas Eve, remember?”

“Are you going to be that girlfriend who won’t let me get my work done?”

“Who says I’m your girlfriend?”