Page 37 of Wishing for Christmas
“Okay, first question,” Janie said. “What is your partner’s favorite Christmas dessert?”
Clara’s mind drew a blank. It was just another annoying reminder that they hadn’t spent a Christmas together yet. She chewed on her fingernail. They’d talked about Christmas plans plenty, but did he ever mention a dessert? She set her marker on her lap and rubbed a nervous palm up and down her thigh. They had talked about making cookies. Maybe that was it. But what kind of cookies? She needed to write something down. Everyone else had finished writing, and they were all waiting for her again.
“Is everyone about ready to move on?” Janie asked, looking straight at her.
Out of time, Clara wrote downherfavorite Christmas dessert—those peanut butter balls she and Grams always made. She remembered how they’d form the creamy dough into perfect drops before covering them in a thick layer of melted milk chocolate. Clara would shake the red and green sprinkles over the top before putting them in the refrigerator to set. Maybe a favorite Christmas dessert was something they had in common. She shrugged. It was worth a shot.
“Number two,” Janie continued. “What is the name of your partner’s favorite pet—ever?”
A pet? Brent didn’t have a pet. But had heeverhad a pet? Probably. What about when he was a child? She had to come up with something.Come on, Clara, think. Her mind raced with hundreds of potential pet names.
Clara squeezed the marker tight in her balled-up fist. Why couldn’t they ask an easy one, like his middle name? She knew that—Robert. Or what about his major in college? Easy—engineering. But a pet’s name? It was so specific. So personal. Sadly, it was exactly the sort of thing you should know about the man you were going to marry.
She racked her brain to come up with a name she could imagine Brent giving to a pet. It would be practical, masculine, something like . . .
Hank! She faintly remembered him mentioning a Hank once. Well, it was something. She wrote it down.
“Finally,” Janie said, “what would your partner say was the best gift he ever gave you?”
Clara pressed her left hand to her heart, her shoulders rolling back. Now, this was one she could answer. He had only ever given her one gift, and it sat right there, sparkling on her finger. At the very least, she would get this one right. She nodded with confidence as she quickly wrote downengagement ring.Maybe that was her most valuable possession. She made a mental noteto try logging into her social media account with that as the answer. On second thought, she wouldn’t have had the ring yet when she created that password, right? She let out a frustrated sigh.
Her eyes scanned the room. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. It was just a game, something she needed to keep reminding herself. How they scored on this didn’t mean anything. Still, she was a little worried about those first two answers.
“Okay, y’all, let’s see how the ladies did,” Janie said. “Couple number one, please reveal your answers.”
The wife of the young couple turned over her board to reveal her answers. A loud gasp went through the crowd, followed by a stunned silence. Then, an explosion of laughter from everybody in the audience. The good-humored bride had somehow managed to infuse some adult content into the otherwise G-rated game. Her husband turned to read her board, and his face went crimson. His mouth dropped open, and he threw his hands over his face. Then, he picked up his own board and turned it around. He had answered one of the questions more innocently than his wife had. Still, as somebody shouted from the crowd, the two answers were similar enough when youreallythought about it. Both wife and husband were in hysterics now, along with everybody in the audience. The entire room was filled with laughter and whooping.
Janie snickered. “All three answers, correct . . . sort of. Nicely done, couple number one.” She moved on to the older couple as the laughter continued around them. “Couple number two, show us what you’ve got.”
Clara would have been laughing herself if she hadn’t been so worried about her own performance. Couple number two flipped their boards, showing another perfect match. The cheers fromthe crowd swelled around them as the cocky husband performed some more of his moves.
She bit her lower lip as Janie approached them. “Couple number three, Clara and Brent, please show us your answers.”
Clara squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath. Here went nothing. She flipped her board to reveal her answers.
1. Peanut butter balls
2. Hank
3. Engagement ring
She waited. Her heart pounded.
Behind her, Brent turned over his board. Silence followed. Clara thought she could hear a cricket chirp.Crickets.She didn’t need that reminder. The cheerless quiet around them told her everything she needed to know—she had failed, badly.
Janie put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. Whispers sounded from the audience.
She and Brent turned toward each other again to compare their answers. He looked at her board with a grimace, then showed her his.
1. Gingersnaps
2. Ruffles
3. Blue star
She got every single one of them wrong? Clara stared down at his board, trying to understand the meaning behind any of the things he had written. None of those answers made any sense.Neither one of them spoke. The entire room remained silent; all eyes focused straight on them.
Janie finally let out a nervous laugh. “Well, it looks like these two need to get caught up after a long year apart, don’t you think?”
