Sharon shrugged. “Her knees are dirty. Maybe she’s crashing the place. Looks like she’s got a tray from the cafeteria, though.”

Abby shook her head, pulling her gaze from the woman. “Anyway, no. When I said hire someone, I didn’t mean a complete stranger. I meant, you know, maybe a friend of a friend or something like that.”

“And they wouldn’t be a stranger to you?”

She took another bite of her sandwich. “You think I’m crazy?”

“You think?”

Chapter Three

Abby paced in her small office, cell phone in hand. “What about Jessica?”

“Jessica? Christine’s ex?”

“Yes.”

“First of all, Christine would never speak to you again,” Beth said.

“It would just be a fake date!”

“Second of all, Jessica is psycho. You do not want to spend ten days with her. You’d be better off with Holly.”

“God, how hard is it to find a fake date?” she groaned.

“Okay, I wasn’t going to come right out and say it, but, Abby, this plan of yours is really kinda weird.”

“Oh, Beth, I know. Don’t you think I know? I only have four more weeks. Isn’t there someone you know who would go with me? Free room and board. Free skiing. A white Christmas. Don’t you know someone? Anyone?”

“I told you I would go with you.”

Abby laughed. “Yes, but you haven’t asked Jenna. I’m fairly certain she would nix that idea.”

“Yeah, she would. Speaking of Jenna, I should go. We have a lunch date and I’m up to my eyeballs in reports.”

“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “Talk to you later.”

“Bye, Abby. Oh, and don’t forget, we’re putting up our tree on Saturday. Come over if you want to get in on the holiday cheer. There’ll be eggnog.”

She sighed again. “Maybe.” She knew she probably wouldn’t go though. She simply had no holiday cheer yet and she wasn’t in the mood to get any. Besides, she hated eggnog.

She placed her phone on her desk and went to stand by the window. She looked out over the courtyard, watching a few people milling about. It was only ten thirty. Too early for the lunch crowd.

Maybe her friends were right. It was a ridiculous plan, wasn’t it? Maybe she should just go alone and deal with Holly—and whatever came up—like an adult. Maybe she should make amends with her brother. They both lived in the Metroplex. How had they avoided seeing each other for nearly two years now?