Sweet Revenge

take the boxes while eyeing the coat with a mixture of envy and amusement. “Did Santa come early this year?”
    “Just a little gift to myself for a successful eight-monthrun in
Windows.”
She touched the collar before taking off the coat and tossing it over a chair. “Phoebe, you look wonderful.” It was a lie, but a kind one. Still, Celeste thought her friend looked better than she had a few weeks before. The sallowness was less pronounced. Adrianne had brought in a hairdresser just that afternoon to color and style Phoebe’s hair. It looked nearly as rich and full as it once had.
    “It’s so sweet of you to come. I know you must have been invited to a dozen parties.”
    “Ranging from obnoxious to boring.” On a sigh Celeste dropped down on the sofa and stretched out her firm, still shapely legs. “You know very well there’s no one I’d rather spend Christmas Eve with than you and Addy.”
    “Not even Kenneth Twee?” Phoebe asked, managing a smile.
    “Old news, darling.” Grinning, she tossed both arms over the back of the couch. “I decided Kenneth was entirely too staid.” Sensing Adrianne behind her, she lifted a hand. “You’ve outdone yourself with the tree this year.”
    “I wanted something special.” She took the offered hand. Celeste felt the nerves like thin little wires.
    “You’ve succeeded.” Celeste scanned the spruce. On each branch was a different hand-painted ornament. Elves danced on the limbs, reindeer flew, angels glittered. “Those are the decorations you had commissioned for the battered children fund drive?”
    “Yes. I think they came out really well.”
    “It looks like you bought them all up yourself.”
    “Not quite.” Laughing, Adrianne walked over to fuss with the positioning of a teardrop ball. “The project exceeded the goals. In fact, it did so well I’m thinking of making it an annual event.” Satisfied, she turned back. Behind her the tree tossed out glittering light. “Well, how about some eggnog?”
    “My dear, you read my mind.” Celeste slipped off her shoes. “I don’t suppose your Mrs. Grange has any of those holiday cookies left?”
    “Baked a fresh batch this morning.”
    “Bring them on.” Celeste patted her flat stomach. “I renewed my membership at the gym.”
    “I’ll be just a minute.” She cast one worried look at her mother, then hurried off.
    “Adrianne’s hoping for snow.” Phoebe stared at the window, letting the colored lights Adrianne had strung around the frame blur in her vision. “Do you remember that first Christmas, right before we left for Hollywood? I’ll never forget Adrianne’s face when we lit the tree.”
    “Neither will I.”
    “I gave her a ball once, one of those little glass balls that you turn over to make a snowfall. I wonder what became of it.” Absently, she rubbed at a headache behind her eyes. She seemed to get them constantly. “I wanted her to go out tonight, be with young people.”
    “Christmas is best when you spend it with family.”
    “You’re right.” Phoebe shook her hair back and determined to be gay. “She’s so busy these days, with all her charity work and socializing. Then she spends hours with her computer. I have no idea what she does with it, but it makes her happy.”
    “Now if we could only put our heads together and match her up with some wonderful, wildly handsome man.”
    With a laugh Phoebe stretched out both hands. “That would be great, wouldn’t it? Before you know it, we’d be grandmothers.”
    “Speak for yourself.” Celeste lifted a brow as she patted the back of her hand under her chin. “I’m years too young to be a grandmother.”
    “Christmas cheer, anyone?” Adrianne carried in a large tray. “What are you two giggling about?”
    “Giggling’s undignified,” Celeste pointed out. “Your mother and I were sharing a sophisticated chuckle. Oh, God, are those snickerdoodles?”
    “Just the cookie for the sophisticated palate.” Adrianne handed her one, then poured the eggnog. It was spiced with nothing more than nutmeg. “To another Christmas with my two favorite people.”
    “And to dozens more,” Celeste added before she sipped.
    Dozens more.
The words screamed in Phoebe’s mind, taunting. She forced a smile and held the cup to her lips. How could she celebrate the thought of years when each day was a torment to live through? But Adrianne wasn’t to know. Shifting her eyes, Phoebe saw that her daughter was watching her, the