“I keep writing my name and phone number in public bathrooms, but no one calls.”

“That’s pathetic. Fred has a friend I want you to meet. He’s a really nice guy. A surgeon. Why don’t you come on New Year’s Eve? He’ll be here.”

“That’s not a night for blind dates. Besides, I don’t want to leave the kids.” It had been her battle cry for years.

“Are you kidding? They’ll probably all be out with friends. They don’t want to spend New Year’s Eve with you. At least I hope not.”

“I don’t know their plans,” Annie said vaguely. She didn’t want to meet a stranger on New Year’s Eve. It would be too depressing. Annie had had too many blind dates over the years, and none of them had panned out. Friends had been fixing her up with losers for years.

“Well, keep it in mind, because they’re going to ditch you for their friends, I promise. I’d be surprised if they didn’t. You can spend the night with us.” Whitney and Fred gave a New Year’s Eve party every year, but it was never fun for Annie. Everyone was married, except for the creeps they set her up with. And as much as she loved Whitney, and had for years, being the wife of a doctor in New Jersey didn’t make for an interesting social life. Annie always wound up feeling like the odd man out at Whitney’s parties, or a freak for being single at forty-two. People just didn’t understand how busy she had been for all those years. And now that the kids were grown up, she was busy with her business. She had no time to go out looking for a man and no longer really cared.

“You’ve done what you promised your sister. Now give yourself a break. Come to New Year’s Eve.”

“I’ll let you know,” Annie said vaguely. She had the unpleasant feeling that Whitney was going to insist. She usually did. “So who’s coming to Thanksgiving?” she said, trying to change the subject and distract Whitney from her own nonexistent personal life.