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RunningMan: I’d like to spend Christmas with you.
Editchick: You would?
RunningMan: What do you say, Noelle? After a year of phone calls and IMs, don’t you think it’s time we finally meet face to face?
Editchick: What about all those poor kids waiting for Santa Claus? Won’t you be missed?
RunningMan: Even Santa deserves a day off. Is that a yes?
Editchick: When and where?
RunningMan: I’ll make the plans, book us a hotel somewhere nice. Leave it all to me. You won’t have to do anything except pack.
Editchick: Sounds wonderful. I guess I’d better call it a night. I’ve got work tomorrow and it’s getting late.
RunningMan: Goodnight, Noelle.
Editchick: Goodnight, Tom
* * *
Noelle stared at the computer screen, wondering what exactly she’d just done and trying to still the initial panic she felt at agreeing to spend Christmas with a virtual stranger.
He’s not a stranger. He’s Tom.
She logged off her computer and unplugged the Christmas tree lights in her living room before starting her nightly routine. She checked the downstairs windows and doors, making sure they were locked, and then headed upstairs to her bedroom. The hardest thing after Troy’s death had been learning to sleep in their old house alone. The second hardest thing had been celebrating the holidays—any holiday—alone. Although Christmas certainly seemed to top the list.
She wondered if she’d ever have survived her husband’s untimely death at all without Tom’s companionship. Her grief counselor had introduced them—via Internet—shortly after Troy passed away. Their common bond was the fact that they’d both lost someone they’d loved—a spouse—to cancer. Tom had become her anchor this past year, never failing to contact her, whether by IM or email or phone call.
Although he seemed to be on the road constantly and he kept some erratic work hours, she was impressed and amazed by his devotion to their long-distance relationship. If anyone asked her who her best friend was, she would say Tom without hesitation, despite never having seen his face. Hell, she didn’t even know his last name.
Now she was going to be spending Christmas with him. It didn’t seem possible that at last she would be meeting the man who’d come to mean so much to her. She worried briefly that perhaps the real man wouldn’t meet her expectations, especially given that she was certain she’d fallen more than a little bit in love with him.
She picked up her cell phone as she climbed the stairs and checked the clock. It was past eleven. Julia would probably kill her for calling so late, but she really needed to talk to someone.
“Hello,” Julia’s drowsy voice answered.
“Were you asleep?” Noelle asked.
“Not quite. What’s up?”
Noelle smiled. In addition to being her sister-in-law, Julia was a dear friend, never too busy to talk to her, a fact that Noelle had relied on heavily during the first few months after Troy’s death. Julia had married Noelle’s older brother, Ross, and the two of them had never failed to provide comfort and a shoulder to lean on when Noelle needed them, helping her through some of the darkest days of her life.
“Tom wants to spend Christmas with me.”
“Get out!” Julia said excitedly. “That’s terrific.”
“Really? You don’t think I’m making a mistake?” Noelle was relieved to be able to voice her fears.
“Dear God, no,” Julia answered. “I’ve been telling you for months to set up a meeting with the man. It’s time to move on, Noelle. Stop running away from the future. Give yourself a chance at happiness.”
“I had happiness. Maybe I’ve already had my lifetime allowance of that emotion.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Tom seems like a really great guy and he’s been a devoted friend to you this past year even if he does seem a bit conservative and stuffy.”
“He’s not stuffy,” Noelle replied, all too aware of where this conversation would lead.
“Oh please,” Julia teased. “I guarantee you he voted for Evan Rhodes in the presidential election. It’s probably Tom’s fault we’re about to be saddled with that Republican in the Oval Office for the next four years.”
