The Best Christmas Ever by Cheryl Wolverton

mean? She certainly hasn’t acted like a cowed individual.”
    Bill sighed. “Guilt manifests itself in different ways, Justin. Just because she’s not walking around with the ‘woe is me’ look Amy wore whenever she felt sorry for herself doesn’t mean—”
    “Let’s leave Amy out of this.”
    Bill nodded. “I’m sorry, Justin. What I mean is,well—” he shrugged, averting his eyes to the window and staring out “—Sarah feels guilty about her boyfriend dumping her, I think. Add that to the way she keeps messing up every relationship she’s involved in—”
    “She hasn’t messed up any relationships that I know of,” Justin said, defending her.
    “What would you call what happened between the two of you?”
    Justin paused. “Well, one mistake, then. She shouldn’t have tried to take my daughter from me. But that’s water under the bridge. Why does she blame herself for the breakup with her fiancé? What happened?”
    Bill shrugged. “All I can say is, it wasn’t Sarah’s fault.”
    Justin accepted Bill’s vague answer and respected Bill’s ability to keep a confidence. Maybe that was why so many of Bill’s friends confided in him. Yet why did he bring it up if he wasn’t going to tell him? Justin wondered, frustrated.
    “Look, just be careful about hurting her. Like when you go home today to discuss that she forgot your daughter. She’s already blaming herself for everything that has gone wrong in the past decade, as far as I can tell. Don’t add to the load.”
    Justin was shocked. He’d never pictured Sarah as the sensitive type who would carry around extra baggage like that He’d always thought of her as a “full steam ahead” type who did what she wanted and didn’t really care about what she left in her wake. He remembered his curt words to her the first couple of days and wondered now if she really had been feelingguilty over everything between them these past years. Was that why she’d come to him?
    “So, have you decided to date her?”
    “Date?” Justin sputtered.
    Bill grinned. “Yeah, as in ‘let’s go out and see a movie’?”
    Justin shot Bill a frown. “Of course not. She’s my sister-in-law.”
    “Hey, I just wondered. You look so different.”
    Did he look different? He’d enjoyed having Sarah in his house this last week. She was sweet, kind and fun to talk with. But he wasn’t in the market for a wife. Especially if what Bill said was true. For he wasn’t going to marry someone else who came to him out of guilt.
    Deciding to change the subject, he looked Bill up and down. “So, how’s life been treating you? Looks like you’ve gained a little weight since you married.”
    Bill’s grin spread across his face and he locked his hands behind his head. “Ah, yes, the little woman keeps me well-fed.”
    Justin stood, straightened his coat and came around the desk. “I’d like to hear what your wife would say about being called ‘little woman.’ Come on. If we’re going to lunch, we’d better get out of here. I have a meeting at two-thirty.”
    Bill chuckled and crossed the office with Justin.
    He watched Bill’s smile, the ease in his walk, how relaxed he was. Bill had certainly mellowed since marrying. A deep part in Justin yearned for that same thing that Bill had.
    Would he ever find it?
    * * *
    Sarah paced the living room.
    Mickie was on the swing in the backyard. Dinner was ready. But Justin wasn’t home.
    She had blown it today.
    She’d thought being a baby-sitter would be a piece of cake.
    And then she’d blown it.
    How could she have forgotten Mickie? Justin’s words came back to her. You might remember that next time you plan to pick Mickie up. It wasn’t so much the words as the tone. He blamed her, as he should. But it had hurt just the same. She cared for Mickie, too. She hadn’t meant to forget Mickie.
    It was just that she was tired. So very tired. She’d been trying so hard to be a good housekeeper and everything that Mickie