“Have you told your father?”

“No. Not yet.”

There. The elephant in the room. Dad and the modern age, as her mother would say.

“Would you like me to tell him for you?”

“No, no. I’ll tell him. Tonight. At dinner.”

Lauren had so many things to check off her to-do list and only a matter of hours in which to do them. Explaining her decision would take time, and right now, she didn’t have a lot to spare.

“Are you sure? Maybe you could tell him after the holidays,” her mother suggested. “Might be easier on you too, dear.”

She glanced at her watch. “Actually, I need to tell him tonight. I have to”—she was going to say “leave” but decided she’d tell her parents face-to-face at dinner tonight. “I need to make a couple of pit stops before I head home, so I’ll be a little late.”

“Of course, dear, and don’t forget your dad’s cereal,” her mother added, resuming her cheerful tone. “I’ll hold off serving dinner until you’re home.”

“Thanks,” Lauren said, and ended the call.

Where to begin, she thought, as she glanced around the store. Though it wasn’t quite closing time, Lauren decided to close early, given the errands she had to take care of before heading home. An hour wouldn’t matter one way or the other. She seriously doubted they’d have an onslaught of customers this late in the day. Hurrying to the entrance before she could change her mind, she flipped the sign over, letting possible customers know they were closed for the day. She checked the shelves of shirts, smoothed a bright red one on top of the pile, tucked a few stray branches back in place on the artificial tree in the window, then shut off the gas fireplace. She’d make sure to leave a note for Maggie, telling her she could bump the thermostat up as high as she needed to keep warm. Lauren kept the temperatures as low as she could, using the gas fireplace to make up the difference, plus she always dressed in several layers to stay warm. Maggie was doing her a huge favor. No way would she ask her to play miser in regard to the store’s enormous electric bills. The building was old, and the insulation all but gone. Someday, she would make the necessary repairs to the building, but for now, she’d live with tossing an extra bit of cash toward the utilities.

In her office, she recorded a new message for the answering machine, tidied the desk, and wrote another note for Maggie, reminding her they didn’t have Internet service at the store, and if she needed to go online, she could use the pharmacy’s next door, explaining she had Wilbur’s permission to do this and leaving the password—which reminded her, she had to stop off at the cable company for the boxes she’d ordered. While she wouldn’t have time to install the service here, she would do so at home. After she told her dad about her new contract.