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empty. Hannah swiveled around to locate Lisa and spotted her going out the door and into the lobby of the auditorium.
    There was only one thing to do. Hannah got up quickly and hurried after Lisa, grabbing the box of Christmas gift bags from the table as she rushed past. The outside door was just closing, and Hannah raced after Lisa, almost slipping on the ice that had gathered on the sidewalk.
    â€œWait up, Lisa!” she called out, and Lisa stopped under the streetlight that illuminated the parking lot.
    There were traces of tears on Lisa’s face. Hannah could see them glittering in the light as she approached. Lisa hadn’t been fooled for a moment by the stage kiss. And neither had anyone else.
    â€œShe kissed him! Like that ! And she did it right in front of everyone!”
    It was useless to deny the truth. Lisa was right. Phyllis had kissed Herb. “I know,” Hannah said, reaching out to pat Lisa’s shoulder. “But Lisa . . . Herb didn’t kiss her. He was expecting a stage kiss. And he wasn’t the one who kissed her. Phyllis kissed him . Just think about that for a moment. Herb was probably just as shocked as you were. He wasn’t expecting it. And there really wasn’t anything he could do about it.”
    â€œHe could have moved. Or he could have pushed her away. He didn’t do anything like that! He just stood there.”
    â€œMaybe he was too shocked to move or push her away.”
    â€œI really doubt that! They were an item in high school. And maybe, just maybe, Herb was enjoying it!”
    Hannah remained silent. She knew that there was no way Lisa was going to accept any excuses for Herb right now. She was far too angry. The best thing Hannah could do to defuse the situation was to distract Lisa and give her something else to think about.
    â€œCome on,” she said, leading the way to her cookie truck. “Let’s take these Christmas gift bags back to The Cookie Jar and see how many pieces of candy they’ll hold. We need to figure out how much we need so that we can make out our work schedule. Christmas is a big busy season for us with all the family gatherings and parties.”
    â€œYou’re right,” Lisa said, nodding quickly. “We had a lot more dessert-catering jobs than we expected last Christmas.”
    â€œThat’s right. We worked late every night the week before Christmas to fill all those orders.”
    â€œAnd we had to turn down a couple because we just didn’t have the time,” Lisa recalled. “I’m really sorry, Hannah.”
    â€œSorry for what?” Hannah stopped in the act of buckling her seat belt to ask.
    â€œI’m sorry I volunteered us for even more work by telling your mother we’d make the candy. I should have asked you first.”
    â€œDon’t be silly. We’re partners. I don’t ask you every time I accept an order, do I?”
    â€œWell, no. But . . .”
    â€œThen you don’t have to ask me,” Hannah said before Lisa could go on. “I was just thinking I’d like to try something really different this Christmas.”
    â€œWhat did you have in mind?”
    â€œSomething with butterscotch. We’ve never done anything with butterscotch. I wonder if we could make butterscotch fudge with pretzels in it. Chocolate-covered pretzels are great. Do you think pretzels and butterscotch would go together?”
    â€œI think so. Butterscotch is something almost everyone likes, and you need something salty with the sweetness. If the pretzels don’t work, let’s see what else we can come up with.”
    â€œOkay. We’ll experiment.”
    â€œGood! I love it when we experiment.” Lisa looked excited. “You never know what we’re going to come up with, and sometimes it’s wonderful!”
    â€œAnd sometimes it’s not,” Hannah reminded her.
    â€œI know, but usually something good comes out of