Page 134 of Holly Jolly July

into it myself. I guess being in a small

town and baking Christmas cookies doesn’t

turn off my inner lawyer, after all.

JAMES

Wow. Thank you. I have no idea what to say.

ANNIE

You don’t have to thank me. It’s the least

I can do, considering this time of year

is hard enough on you already. You don’t

need that extra stress on top of

everything else.

JAMES

What you said about me being divorced, I—

ANNIE

I’m sorry I had to bring that up. I

heard about what happened, about how your

wife left you on the night of the Christmas

party and that’s why you haven’t come backto it, and why you hate Christmas so

much.

JAMES

Who told you that?

ANNIE

I don’t mean to dredge up the past,

especially since we’re here together.

And aside from those businesspeople

harassing you I’ve had a great time.

JAMES

I’ve had a great time, too, but Annie—

ANNIE

I just hope that you can see how

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