Annabelle hugged her to her chest. “I love her!”

“There’s more!” She reached in the bag and pulled out another box. This one wasn’t wrapped—a box of Godiva chocolates. “Here you go, Kate. I know how much you love chocolate.” She placed it on the table in front of her.

“Thank you, but we didn’t get you anything,” Kate said.

Sabrina smiled at her. “No worries, your friendship is enough. You and Simon have been so kind over the past few months. This is my first Christmas without my father. It’s been hard . . .”

Kate gave her a strained smile back. “Yes, well, thank you so much for the gifts—it was very thoughtful,” she said, her manners intact. “I’m sure you’re eager to get to your own celebration.”

A nervous laugh escaped Simon. “Sabrina, thanks for stopping by. I’ll see you to the door.”

The sound of low voices drifted in from the hall, but it was difficult to discern what they were saying. Everyone sat in strained silence, waiting for Simon to return. Finally Kate stood and smoothed her skirt. “What’s taking him so long?” she asked, striding toward the hall just as he came back in. Her eyes were slits.

“Nice of you to join us. What took you so long?”

Simon shrugged. “I was just seeing her out.”

Kate pointed to a bulge in Simon’s pocket. “What’s that?”

He sighed. “Can we talk about it later?”

Blaire looked at Harrison, wondering if he was feeling as uncomfortable as she was.

“What did she give you?” Kate’s voice rose.

Pulling something from his pocket, he handed it to her. “It was her father’s. She thought I’d want to have it.”

Kate took it and opened the small box. Her mouth dropped open. “A ring? She gave you a ring?”

“I told you it was her father’s. You know how close I was to him.”

Blaire could tell Kate was ready to explode, and she couldn’t blame her. That woman had a hell of a nerve.

“We’ll discuss it later. I’m going to see to dinner.” Kate’s voice had an icy edge to it. “And Hilda,” she said, looking back as she left the room, “get rid of that candy. It’s not safe for me, which Sabrina probably knew.”

After she left the room, Harrison walked over to Simon, and the two of them spoke too low for Blaire to hear. She imagined he must be taking Simon to task over what had just happened. Blaire was still so angry she could spit nails.