“Oh, just yourself, there’s no need to bring anything.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

I sighed. “Sounds great. Thanks again, Jane. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem. I’m glad you’ll be joining us.”

Jane wasn’t the only one looking out for the new girl. The other women in the office had taken to me as well. They saw me as a little lost lamb, a motherless child who needed someone to keep an eye on her and make sure she was all right. They weren’t pushy or overbearing; in fact, they were quite subtle in their surrogate parenting. Casual questions about how I was settling in were always followed up with, “Well, if there’s anything I can do … ”

There were, of course, the offers of blind dates and invitations to Christmas parties and weekend barbecues where single nephews or sons would also happen to attend. It seemed as though they all knew someone I’d just love to meet, and suddenly my social calendar really was full—not that any of these eligible bachelors ever ended up being someone I was interested in or who was interested in me.

All these social engagements ate up the days before Christmas, and before I had time to even consider shelling out thirty dollars for a tree, it was Christmas Eve. I spent the afternoon at the mall, strolling peacefully among the throngs of harried shoppers and looking for a nice gift to bring to Jane’s family as a thank-you. I found the perfect thing in a candle store: a silver pillar with a red ornament-shaped candle. Half off, too, so I splurged for gift wrapping.

When I got home my answering machine beeped at me. At first I didn’t know what the noise was. I had never missed a call before, because so few people knew my number, much less had a reason to call me. Jane’s bubbly voice greeted me when I hit the button.

“Hi, Grace! It’s Jane Upton here. Listen, I completely forgot to invite you to the Christmas Eve service at our church tonight. It’s at 8:00, we’ll all be going, and we’d love to have you join us. It’s not fancy or anything, you don’t have to dress up, and it’s only an hour, so it won’t drag on forever.” She chuckled, as if to indicate that she was completely aware that most people expected a Christmas service to drag on forever. “Anyway, if you’d like to come, we could pick you up, or you can meet us there. Give me a call and let me know if you’re interested, and I can give you directions to the church, or you can give me directions to your place and—whatever, I’m babbling, I always do that on machines. Sorry. We’ll be leaving here around 7:40 or so. Talk to you later. Bye!”