‘Thanks.’ She put it on the table.
‘Hey!’ Bill chided in a wounded voice. ‘Aren’t you even going to look at it?’
‘It’s Christmas, Bill—’
‘And the whole world grinds to a halt,’ he moaned.
‘Just for one day,’ she smiled.
‘One?’ he said disgustedly. ‘It seems to get longer every year. Most places make no distinction between Christmas and New Year now.’
‘Grouch!’ she teased.
‘Four days non-stop of Marilyn’s mother and you’d be a grouch too,’ he grimaced.
‘Never mind, it will soon be over.’
‘You’re mighty cheerful for someone who’s supposedly spending Christmas on her own.’ He looked at her with questioning eyes.
Callie told him what he wanted to hear, that far from being alone she was going to be with Logan. ‘Would you like a Christmas drink?’ she offered.
‘Whisky?’ he asked hopefully.
‘With water or without?’
‘With, please. I guess he likes whisky,’ Bill said thoughtfully.
‘Hmm?’ Callie asked vaguely as she prepared his drink.
‘The new man in your life,’ he sipped his whisky appreciatively, ‘he drinks whisky, right?’
‘Right.’ She sat down opposite him, sipping her own Martini. ‘But he’s never been here—well, not after the first time anyway,’ she blushed. ‘I just got the whisky in because—well, because—’
‘In case he did come in again,’ Bill mocked.
‘Yes.’ Her blush deepened.
‘And do you think he’s going to?’
‘Probably later tonight,’ she revealed shyly, knowing that until Logan had told his mother their plans that she couldn’t even tell her best friends she was going to marry him.
‘Lucky you. I take it it’s the same man?’
‘Yes.’
‘Marilyn will be pleased.’
‘Marilyn already knows,’ she taunted. ‘I told her yesterday on the telephone.’
‘She could have told me,’ he moaned. ‘So I suppose my report gets put aside until after the holiday?’
‘Oh, at least until then,’ she confirmed, thinking of her wedding in the New Year.
‘So much for slaving long into the night—’
‘Oh, Bill, you didn’t!’ She frowned her dismay, glaring at him as he grinned at her. ‘No, you didn’t,’ she sighed. ‘When will I learn not to take you seriously?’
‘Never, I hope. I get a lot of laughs out of you,’ he added.