“Excellent,” Damian said with an elfish smile. “Well, are you going to stand here for a while, or may I escort you inside?”

“I think it’s best I go in.” She looked down at her forest green dress and the heels she’d worn to match. “I’m not exactly dressed for the elements.”

Damian offered Theo his arm and she took it. She towered over the man as they walked side by side into the hotel.

There were mats just inside the big double doors, and the tile beyond gleamed. There were more crystalline lights strung throughout the main lobby, and an eight-foot-tall Christmas tree greeted the two of them as they neared the front desk.

“Oh, my …”

“That wasn’t here yet when you visited two weeks ago,” Damian said with another smile.

“Very well done,” Theo told him. “It’s absolutely gorgeous.”

“I’m surprised Jordan didn’t tell you about it.”

Theo turned when she heard her mother’s voice. “Mamie. Hello. You look nice.”

Mamie was dressed in a pair of black slacks and a bright red sweater. Her cheeks were flushed, the color of her skin nearly matching her top. She was fanning herself with a thick sheet of paper, and her dark blonde hair was damp at the roots.

“It’s hot as hell in here,” she complained. She turned and looked down at Damian. “What is the temperature set at?”

“Seventy,” he answered quickly.

“I’d lower it a couple of degrees,” she ordered. “And I’d love an iced tea.”

“Certainly,” Damian told her, hurrying to the front desk and speaking to one of the three employees who stood there. Theo watched as one of them hurried off toward the kitchen and knew Mamie’s iced tea would arrive momentarily. Damian himself headed the opposite direction to reset the thermostat.

“Jordan told me he’d delivered the tree himself,” Theo told Mamie, picking up the conversation again. “He hasn’t seen it decorated. It looks magical.”

“They did well,” Mamie said, her eyes giving the tree a look from the bottom to the top. “They quit just before it looked like Christmas threw up in here.”

Theo stifled a laugh. That was high praise indeed coming from Mamie.

“I thought you’d be with Patty.”

“No. Birdie is bringing her. I’d feel sorry for that poor woman if we weren’t paying her so much goddamned money.”

“She’s gonna be earning every single penny,” Theo reminded her.

“That’s for sure,” Mamie agreed. “Everything was brought to the bungalow earlier today. The place was in order when we got here.”

Theo knew that was Mamie’s way of thanking her for emptying out the place and making sure it was clean.

“What else needs to be seen to?”

“I think it’s all been taken care of.”

The man Theo watched leave his post at the desk hurried toward them holding a glass of iced tea on a tray.

“Ma’am, your tea.”

Theo glanced over and saw a sugar bowl with a shiny teaspoon sitting next to it and a small plate with three lemon slices accompanied the glass.

“It’s about time,” Mamie told him, taking the glass and shooing the rest of it away.

“Thank you,” Theo told him as he faded into the background.

“You’re like Miss Manners. Always so polite.” Mamie said it as if it were a put down. She brought the glass to her lips and drank half of the contents in two long swallows.

“Well, I’ve been called worse.”

“Merry Christmas, Mamie,” Jordan said as he met them in the entry way. He was dressed in a dark gray suit with a tie nearly the same shade of green as Theo’s dress. He’d chosen his wool coat and Theo could see the snowflakes that were melting on his shoulders.

“May I take your coats?” A woman walked up to the group, a smile on her pretty face.

“Yes, thank you,” Theo told her.

“You’re a little late,” Mamie said, downing the rest of her tea. “My daughter’s been standing here for almost ten minutes.”

That was an exaggeration, but Theo knew it was best to keep her mouth shut.

“I’m so sorry,” the woman said, taking both Theo and Jordan’s coats for them. “Would you like more tea, ma’am?”

“Bring it to the dining room.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Mamie looked over at Theo. “You’ve been busy with the funeral so you might not know this, but there are place cards at the main table. Don’t be late.”

She moved away from the lobby and Theo took a deep breath.

“Let it out,” Jordan reminded her after a moment. He took hold of both her hands and held her arms up at her sides so he could see her dress. “You look stunning.”

Theo let the air escape from her lungs. Then she smiled up at him. “You saw me after I got dressed.”

“You looked stunning then, too.”

“Thank god for you, Jordan Reilly.”

“Oh, lord,” they heard someone say. “It’s like a love fest with the two of you all the damn time.”

Theo turned to see Delaney as she stepped inside the hotel. She wore a sweater dress the color of pearls and a pair of flats nearly the exact same shade. The hem of the dress hit her mid-calf, and when she took her coat off, Theo noticed the sleeves were quarter length. Around her neck Delaney wore a scarf in an intricate pattern in black, crimson, gold and green. Her long braids were down, the longest of them skimming her waist.

“You want me to give you some love?” Theo asked her friend with a playful grin. “You are absolutely exquisite.”

Delaney couldn’t help but return Theo’s smile. “Yeah,” she said tipping her head to the side. She tapped her cheek with a finger. “Right here.”

Theo happily leaned over and pressed a kiss to Delaney’s smooth skin.