Seven Days to Christmas...
Unlike her two sisters, Marie Sedgwick was not in a holly jolly mood this holiday season. This time of year had been her favorite since she was a little girl, but the sparkle and shine had dulled about twenty-five years before. On Christmas Eve, no less. Since then, she'd tried her best to get the joy back she'd once had, and up until now, she'd thought she'd done a pretty darn good job. Or had faked it well, in any case.
As she drove her silver SUV down the cobblestone street, heading toward her office, early morning sun smacking her face, she grinned and waved at passersby doing a little shopping or gathering on the sidewalks under the store awnings, even though her stomach was eating itself and she had a constant state of anxiety fluttering behind her ribs.
