December 16
As Rosalind rode the bus to her office in the morning, she saw the city decked out in its Christmas finest as though she were looking through the eyes of a child, marveling at the wondrous sights and sounds of the holiday season. Her happiness was such that she felt like Ebenezer Scrooge on the morning after he was visited by the three ghosts of Christmas.
When she arrived at her office, she immediately touched base with all her authors, and at the end of each conversation, wished them all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. At noon she invited Sara to lunch, something that she usually only did on the young woman's birthday or when Secretary's Day rolled around in April.
Over their meal, the two women first discussed the company Christmas party, which was to be held in two days, and then the conversation shifted to Sara's recent wedding. Normally, Rosalind wasn't interested in the personal lives of her coworkers, but for once the editor was not bored by her underling's talk of domestic matters. Rosalind was deliriously happy and felt quite magnanimous: she wished everyone in the world could be in love.
After she and her secretary got back from the restaurant, Rosalind phoned the number from the real estate ad in The Boston Globe and pretended she was interested in purchasing the beach house.
"The one in Nantucket?" the agent asked.
I knew it! she thought.
"I'm sorry, madam, but that house was recently sold."
The editor kept the realtor on the line, hoping he would tell her the name of the new owner, but all she could get out of him was that the three-story colonial was purchased by someone from New York.
Throughout the afternoon, Rosalind toyed with the idea of taking a weekend trip to Nantucket but finally decided against it. As much as she wanted to hurry things along, she decided to let Brett set the pace of their reconciliation.
Accordingly, she took no action other than going home after work and opening the next drawer in the advent calendar. Inside was yet another piece of folded cardboard. This time it was a U.S. postal change of address card, blank except her name was printed on top.
