On Christmas Eve morning, the doorbell rings. I’m in the shower so I consider ignoring it, but I have made a decision to start living again. I’m pretty sure it’s Olivia at the door.

For almost a week now, she has been trying to get me to change my mind about going with her to the mall to see Santa. I don’t see why I should? Santa stopped making my wishes come true a long time ago. But at least Olivia will be proud of me for going to the door. I’m not ready for more than that.

I groan as I turn off the water and wrap a towel around my body. Air cools my skin as I make my way down the stairs, leaving behind wet footprints.

I don’t bother to peer into the keyhole since I already know who it is. But I’m wrong. The bleached blonde woman with breasts bursting out of a red dress, and bright red lipstick is not my sister. She’s my ex-husband’s girlfriend. They started dating two months after we broke up, when the divorce was not even final.

A wave of jealousy sweeps through me followed by a cramp that twists my stomach.

“What are...what are you doing here?”

I’m sure she came to rub salt into my wounds. I’m actually surprised she hadn’t shown up months ago.

In high school, Brianna Adams used to be one of those mean girls. I was one of her favorite targets.

“May I come in?” she asks, batting her long lashes.

I tighten my towel around my body with trembling hands. “What do you want?”

“Celine, I’m here to tell you I’m sorry.”

A sarcastic laugh falls from my lips. “For what exactly?”

She shrugs. “I wasn’t that kind to you in school. Kids do stupid things.”

A cold smile spreads across my lips. “That’s all you’re sorry for?”

Brianna glances behind her. Is she worried that the neighbors are gossiping about her? I hope they are.

“Look, I thought we could leave the past behind us. And I need your help with something.” She looks down at her hands. I see the ring before she tells me.

Something explodes inside my heart. I slump against the doorframe. “You’re—”

“Dennis proposed to me this morning.” She lifts her hand to the light.

Some things never change. She’s still a bitch. She has come here to rub her engagement in my face.

“Please leave.” I make a move to close the door. I need to lick my wounds in private. She reaches out a hand to stop the door from shutting in her face.

“Look, this is a small town. We’ll bump into each other at the grocery store or other places. I thought we could make up and be friends. It would make things less awkward.”

“Never.” I push the words through my clenched teeth and slam the door in her face, then lean against it for support before I faint. Through the rush of blood in my ears, I hear her final words from the other side.

“I wanted to ask if you could bake my wedding cake.”

“Fuck off,” I whisper and sink to the floor.

I’m not the kind of person who swears a lot, but the words come out naturally when I’m pushed to my limits.

After sitting on the cool floor for what feels like an hour, I pull myself to my feet and go upstairs to call Olivia.

“What a bitch,” Olivia says, agreeing with me. She hands me a bright red candy apple.

“I guess she couldn’t help herself. She knew that telling me before Dennis did would hurt me the most.”

Olivia swings an arm around my shoulders. “I’m sorry, sis. Don’t worry, when I see that bitch, I’ll give her a piece of my mind.”

“I know you will.” I lean into her. Since childhood, my baby sister has always had my back. She’s the tougher one of the two of us.

“But I’m glad she got you to come out with me,” Olivia pauses. “Should we watch Santa from Sandy’s Café? Hot chocolate would be nice.”

“Why not,” I say as we make our way through the throng of people who have come out to do last-minute Christmas shopping and to take their kids to Santa’s Factory, a pop-up store which this year is right across from Sandy’s Café.

Santa, with his white beard and big belly, is already there, surrounded by kids of all ages as well as their parents, who are snapping photos of their kids on Santa’s lap.

“Perfect spot, isn’t it?” Olivia asks as we take our seats by the window. “Sometimes I miss being a kid. There are so many dreams I wish Santa could make come true.”

Our conversation is brought to a halt by a female waitress dressed in a Santa’s elf costume.

“Hey, girls, the usual?” She looks from me to Olivia.

“Yes, please, Holly,” Olivia says.

Holly Sulton is a forty-something-year-old woman who has been working at Sandy’s Cafe for as long as I can remember. As I smile up at her, I’m glad she doesn’t look at me the way most people do in this town, like she feels sorry for me.

“Great. Coming right up.” She walks off and I turn back to Olivia.

“If Santa were able to make one of your wishes come true, what would you wish for?”

“As you know, I’ve always wanted to travel the world. I’d ask Santa to make it possible for me to travel to Europe or Africa.” She shrugs. “How about you?”

I take a breath. “I’d ask him to make the pain go away.”

Olivia takes my hand in hers. “I wish the same for you.”

Our hot chocolates arrive. We drink them while watching the blinking Christmas lights outside the window, listening to Christmas carols playing on repeat from hidden speakers, and watching Santa do his work. The sight almost makes me forget my pain.

When the hot chocolate is finished and we have paid, Olivia pulls me out of my chair.

“Do you want to sit on Santa’s lap?” She winks as we make our way out of the cafe.

“You’re joking, right?” I laugh in spite of myself. “I am thirty-three.”

“No, I’m serious. Let’s join the kids.” She hooks her arm through mine and pulls me toward the crowd of happy kids. We pass an older woman who’s also dressed in an elf costume carrying boxes of presents. She places them next to Santa. He looks up at her with a smile that causes my heart to turn over and my pulse to race.

As kids push against us, Santa looks up again. Our eyes meet briefly and he smiles. I don’t know what it is, but something about him makes me catch my breath. I shake my head.

“This is ridiculous,” I say to Olivia. “Let’s go to my place and watch a movie.”

“Come on, Celine. Let’s wait for our turn.”

I shake my head. “No, silly. Let’s go.”

I manage to drag Olivia out of the mall even though she was determined to stay. It’s 6:00 p.m. when we arrive at my place to find a large square package on my doorstep.

“Looks like Santa is determined to treat you this Christmas,” Olivia picks up the package and hands it to me. “Open it.”

“I don’t think so. Maybe it’s Brianna playing a sick joke on me.” I ignore the package and open the door, my stomach clenched tight. I’m finding it hard to believe someone has sent me a gift.

As soon as the door closes, Olivia sits me on the couch and bugs me until I open the mysterious package.

“Oh my God,” she says when I lift an evening gown from the box.

The knee-length tulle cocktail dress is black with sequins scattered on the hem. Even though it looks simple, I can tell from the feel of the material that it’s expensive.

“Who would send me this?” I rake my head for a plausible explanation, but nothing comes to mind.

“Read the note.” Olivia reaches into the box to remove an ecru-colored card.

“There’s something else,” I say, pushing aside the wrapping paper. I lift out a smaller velvet rectangular box. I open it, and my mouth falls open.

“A diamond necklace? Wow, you are one lucky lady.”

“No.” I put the gifts back into the box. “These can’t be for me. Someone made a mistake.”

“Your name was on the package.” Olivia waves the card in the air. “Let’s confirm it’s yours, shall we?”

My heart racing, I take the card from her and read it.

Celine, be my Christmas dinner date. I’ll pick you up at 8:00 p.m.

I turn the card over in my hand, confusion making my head spin. “It says the card is from an old friend.”

“This is so exciting.” Olivia claps her hands the way she used to on Christmas morning when we were kids, then her face grows serious. “Please tell me you’re going.”

“You’re crazy.” I remove my wig and toss it onto the coffee table. “Of course not. I don’t know who this person is. How can I go on a date with a stranger?”

The truth is, I am intrigued. No one has ever done anything like this for me before.

“Come on, sis. Have a little fun. You deserve it. People go on blind dates all the time. And the note does say it’s from an old friend.”

“I don’t have guy friends.” That’s, of course, if it’s from a man.

“Well, whether you decide to go or not, your date will be here tomorrow at eight. You might as well wear that pretty dress.”

Long after Olivia leaves my house, I continue to think about the gifts I received. Finally, at midnight, my curiosity gets the better of me and I decide I’ll do it.