Annie came in to say goodnight to Kate a few minutes later and was surprised to find her lying on her bed, still dressed, talking on the phone. She sounded animated and looked happy, and Annie discreetly left the room. She went to say goodnight to Ted, and he kissed her and thanked her for the wonderful Thanksgiving. He seemed grateful to be home. And when she went back to Kate’s room, she was off the phone, with a mysterious expression. She looked like the proverbial Cheshire cat.

“New romance?” Annie asked her. She didn’t like to pry, but she tried to keep abreast of what was happening in their lives. Kate nodded vaguely in answer and didn’t meet her eyes.

“Maybe.”

“Do I know him?”

“No. Just someone I know from school. It’s not a big deal.” But her eyes said something different. Kate had always been very private and somewhat secretive, and more inclined to serious relationships than casual ones. She had gone out with the same boy all through high school, but they broke up when he went to college on the West Coast. She hadn’t had a serious boyfriend in three years, but something told Annie that this one might be. Katie looked dreamy eyed as she kissed her aunt goodnight.

“Happy Thanksgiving,” Annie said as she kissed her niece, and Katie just smiled.

Chapter 4

As it had been for several years now, it was an adjustment for Annie when her nieces and nephew left after the Thanksgiving weekend. Ted went back to his apartment, and Kate to her dorm on Sunday night. The house felt like a tomb, and the only thing that cheered her was knowing that they would stay with her again over Christmas, which was only a month away. After so many years of living with them, and as her main focus and only personal life, she lived for the times when they were together. She hated to admit it to anyone, even Whitney, but it was true.