"Nothing. It's nothing. Don't-"

"No, tell me, please."

She sat very still, then lifted her head and smiled sadly. "Have I always been such a loser? Did I ever do anything right?"

"Linda. What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Just that no one really gives a s.h.i.t about me. Except you. And then ... maybe not you either. But how could I blame you? I'm such a pain in the a.s.s."

"You're not."

"I will bet you that not one other person noticed I'm missing from my own party."

"That's not true. Not true at all. Caroline was looking for you. And a lot of other people asked me where you were."

She shrugged.

"Linda, everyone likes you. You have tons of friends. Everyone goes on and on about how much fun you are, and you give these great parties."

"Yeah, my great parties."

"Did something happen? Something must have happened."

She stared ahead, her eyes glazed over.

"Wolfgang?"

"I don't think I want to talk right now."

"Tell me. What happened? What did he do?"

"Not now, Gwyn."

"Okay ... okay. Then we'll just sit here."

She took a deep breath, let it go. "I'm glad I have you, Gwyn. You know that? I don't say it very much, but I am."

"I know." I moved in close and put my arm around her. "I love you, Linda. I do. Please believe that. And everything's going to be okay. From now on. I won't let anything bad happen to you-not to either of us."

This only made her cry harder. She stayed tucked under my arm for several minutes, and then finally shook herself loose.

"I'm better now," she said, sniffing. "I'll just go upstairs and fix myself a little, then I'll be back down."

"All right," I said.

She rose to leave.

The first thing I did was go look for Wolfgang. I found him near the bar, flirting with Sylvia of all people, though she didn't appear to be paying much attention. Instead, she was craning her neck in the direction of Trevor and Bob.

I turned away in disgust and cruised the room trying to find Caroline and Nate. They were seated on one of the couches near the Christmas tree, the lighting lower on that side of the room. Caroline scooted closer to Nate to make room for me. "Enjoying the party?" she asked. "You look tired."

"I am. I have a stupid cold. I hope I don't give it to you."

"I'm not worried. Hey, is that the infamous Sylvia? The brunette?"

"In the flesh."

"Kind of the painted lady, isn't she? Puts that makeup on with a trowel. I haven't seen Trevor talking to her much. In fact, I think he moves around the room just to avoid her."

"Yes, but what does that mean? He knows I'm watching him."

"True. But maybe it means he's telling the truth. Maybe he's not interested in her."

"No, maybe he isn't. But she's not the only woman he knows. And maybe he doesn't want to make it too obvious. Oh, who knows? Who cares?"

"You care." Caroline leaned in close. "So, how's it going with-you know? Anything happening yet?"

I shook my head. "Not a lot yet, but I'll tell you when we're really alone. I'm a little paranoid. I feel like everyone can hear me, no matter how softly I talk."

"From what you told me about-you know-maybe they can." She looked suspiciously at the couple seated across from us. "I did talk to Linda, finally. It took me a while to find her."

"I don't think she's in a people mood tonight," I said. "These parties really wear her out. All the planning involved." I motioned toward Nate, who seemed content to gaze around the room while Caroline and I conversed. "Is Nate having a good time?"

"I think so. But he's all talked out. He was on duty since early this morning. Needs some quiet time, I guess."

"So it's going good?"

"So good it's scary. I hate feeling this way." She leaned in closer still. "He's a great kisser. But that's all I know so far. I'm not going to rush into anything with him. And he's not pushing me."

"He seems really nice."

"Yeah, he does. But he hasn't gotten to know me yet. I don't know if I can keep my apartment clean for much longer."

I laughed. "If he takes the time to get to know you like I do, he'll adore you."

"Whatever," she said, but grinned. "I saw you talking to Josh when we walked in. How did Trevor handle that?"

"How would you expect?"

"Hand to hand combat, right?"

"Trevor plans to go out and challenge Josh on a snowmobile. I did, of course, try to talk him out of it."

"The whole idea is hilarious. A bunch of drunk guys out tearing around the property. Wolfgang's idea?"

"Who else? Maybe Nate can put a stop to it."

"Private property. As long as they don't go out on the public roads, he can't do much. And I don't think he'd want to. He'd be the guy on the outs with the host, and he doesn't want to ruin Wolfgang's party. Maybe he can keep an eye on things. I sure hope Wolfgang thought to update his liability insurance though."

The hors d'oeuvres trays were moved out and replaced with a hot buffet. Trevor filled a plate, but I wasn't hungry.

"I'm getting tired, Trevor. Why don't we just go home afterwards? Okay?"

"No, but I'll take you home if you want."

"Earlier tonight you said you didn't even think you'd go."

"I changed my mind."

"Why is this so important now?"

"It isn't. I just don't want to be the only one not out there."

"It's a stupid idea and you're not even sober."

"I'm sober enough. Don't bother to argue. I'm going."

The trio of jazz musicians kicked it up a notch, and a few couples moved onto the area set aside for a dance floor. Though still angry at Trevor, I accepted his invitation to dance when the tempo again slowed.

"No talking," he said.

"But-"

"No, if we don't talk, we won't argue." He pulled me close, his fingers pressing lightly in at my waist, then moving upwards, rippling along my spine. I began to relax, feeling much more forgiving.

He looked down at me. "Better now?"

"Yes." Moments later, I spotted Sylvia watching us, and pulled Trevor closer still. "Can I ask one favor?"

"What?"

"Don't dance with Sylvia if she asks."

"What makes you think she'd do that?"

"That's easy, she hasn't let you out of her sight since we walked in. It's perverted the way she stares."

He glanced at her, then laughed. "She's not watching me. She's talking with Bob. You're imagining things."

"Yeah, sure I am."

As the music died away and Trevor led me off of the floor, Sylvia suddenly appeared in front of us.

"Oh, hi, you two. Glad I ran into you. Gwyn, could I borrow Trevor for a minute? Bob refuses to dance with me anymore. He says his feet hurt."

I started to open my mouth, but before I could answer, Sylvia quickly pulled Trevor onto the dance floor.

He looked back at me, raising his brows as if to ask, What am I supposed to do?

I watched as Sylvia attempted to draw Trevor tightly into her arms. It was several seconds before I noticed Josh standing beside me.

"Aggressive lady," he said.

"What?"

"Sylvia Breslin. Over there, the one practically wearing your husband."

"She doesn't bother me."

He chuckled. "Oh really."

I began to walk away.

He caught my arm. "I'm sorry, Gwyn. I am. I shouldn't make fun."

"You're right. I hate her."

"Understandable."

I glanced up at Josh, but he was watching Sylvia and Trevor.

"You know," he said, "she's planning to snowmobile after the party. She told me. Listen, I'll foil her plan, make sure she's not on the back of your husband's snowmobile. I'll take her on mine. Unless Trevor stops me. You'd like to know if he does, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, I would."

"Want to dance?"

"Love to." Though he held me at a comfortable distance, I purposely drew him closer. "Not to be nosy," I asked. "But why didn't you bring a date tonight?"

"What you're really asking is, am I here alone because of you."

"No."

"Gwyn? Truth?"

"Well, no. It's just that I know lots of women who would have loved to be your date. Half the women in this town."

"I'm here alone because I didn't know if I'd actually be able to make the party. I wouldn't want to cancel and break some woman's heart."

"Yes, that's true."

Josh brought his lips close to my ear. "Trevor's watching us. I don't think he likes me right now."

"So? That's his problem."

"We'll teach him."

I began to giggle in spite of myself. "We've known each other a long time, haven't we, Josh?"