Nic wasn’t sure if she was excited or scared. She sat beside Abby on the sofa, trying to appear as nonchalant as she could, all the while listening to her hammering heart. There was soft music in the background, the fire was blazing, the lights on the tree were twinkling, and the stockings were all bulging with goodies. There were a few gifts under the tree, and she spotted the two small boxes that she and Abby had put there for each other. There was a larger box that Bill picked up first and brought it over to Sandra.

“Got you something.”

Sandra turned and winked at Abby. Abby gave a quiet laugh, then leaned toward Nic. “So other than the makeup sex, he’s getting her gifts too,” she whispered to her.

More gifts were handed out. Nic was surprised that, besides the gift from Abby, there was another one handed to her. Bill gave her a smile.

“We got you a little something, Nic,” he explained.

“Thank you.” She nudged Abby. “I didn’t get them anything.”

“And they didn’t expect you to. Open it.”

She paused, looking around. Everyone seemed to be opening something. Sandra’s gift was an appliance, an Instant Pot pressure cooker. Holly had pulled out a colorful sweater from a box that looked similar to hers. Aaron was laughing at a pair of fuzzy house shoes. Abby held her gift on her lap, waiting on Nic. She finally tore off one corner of the wrapping paper carefully, and Abby laughed.

“Rip into that sucker. Tear it up,” Abby encouraged.

Nic did just that, ripping the paper off the box. She was conscious of Abby watching as she opened it. Inside she found, not a sweater like Holly had, but a navy sweatshirt with a mountain peak and Red River written across the top. Also in the box was a long-sleeved T-shirt, again advertising Red River. She looked over at Sandra.

“I love it. Thank you.”

Sandra smiled at her. “Just a little something.”

Then Abby was leaning against her. “Open your box.”

She grinned at her. “Wonder what it is.”

Abby laughed quietly. “Yeah. I hope you like it.”

“Open yours too.”

And they did, opening them nearly simultaneously. She was aware of the others watching them, and she smiled with fake surprise at the necklace she found. Abby did as well, laughing as she held it up.

“It’s beautiful, Nic.” Abby leaned closer, kissing her. “I love it.”

“Let me see,” Sandra said as she came closer. They showed her their necklaces and Sandra nodded approvingly. “This is so unique,” she said, pointing to Nic’s. “Where did you find it?”

“At that silver shop in town,” Abby explained. “It fits her, don’t you think?”

“Yes, it does.” Sandra then inspected Abby’s heart-shaped necklace. “That’s beautiful. And it suits you too. Perfect gifts.”