“Got the call?” Then I realized what had happened. “Beth, we asked the hotel staff to try to place a call to you this afternoon, and they must have kept trying until they finally got you.”

“They got me, all right. They scared me half to death.”

“Everything is okay. Mom and Dad are sleeping.”

She let out a big sigh. I knew Beth well enough to know how worried she would have been, but it wasn’t like it was anybody’s fault.

“We were just calling to wish you a merry Christmas,” I said.

“It’s not too late,” she replied. “It’s still Christmas here.”

“What time is it?”

“Five. I’m just getting ready to go and have Christmas dinner.”

I felt a rush of sadness. I could picture her sitting all by herself and—

“Tad drove down from Vermont to spend the afternoon with me,” she said. “He’s going back in a few hours, but we’ll have dinner together!”

That was better!

“Hold on and I’ll wake up Mom and Dad,” I said.

“No! Mom shouldn’t be disturbed. She needs her rest.”

“Not as much as she needs to talk to you.”

“You could just call back later,” Beth suggested.

“It took sixteen hours to get this call through.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Besides, Mom would shoot me if I didn’t wake her up. You know that. Hold on.”

I put the phone down, flicked on a light, and ran to my parents’ room. I knocked on the door and pushed it open.

“Mom…Dad…”

“Sam, are you okay?” my father asked.

“I’m fine. It’s the phone. Beth is on the phone.”

“Beth? It’s the middle of the night…is something—?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” I said. “They just put through our call from this afternoon. Pick up the phone.”

I ran back to my room. Behind me I saw the light from their bedside lamp. I grabbed the phone in time to hear them say hello and exchange Christmas greetings. Beth explained about Tad being with her and he chimed in a “Merry Christmas!” in the background. Tad had just come up a few notches in my books, and I figured he’d also won brownie points with my parents, as well.

“What’s the weather like?” my father asked.

“It was a sunny day, but pretty cold,” Beth said. “Apparently it snows at Christmas. Who knew?” she joked.

“Not anybody here,” my father replied. “We had blue skies and temperatures in the mid-eighties. Christmas in Paradise.”

“All right, that’s enough, you don’t have to rub it in!”

“So you and Tad are going out for dinner?” my mother asked.

“Not really out,” Beth said. “All the restaurants are closed.”

“You’re not going to order in pizza, are you?” my mother asked.

“No, we’re staying right here at the university.”

“Cafeteria food? How awful.”

“No, it’s going to be a really nice meal,” Beth said. “Most of the university is closed down for the holidays but they leave one cafeteria open, and they’re serving a full turkey meal with cranberry sauce and the works.”