Sleigh Belles. Beth Albright

held on to it as tightly as she could.

      Dallas walked slowly back to the news van, and Daniel hugged her as soon as she stepped up into the back.

      “You were fine, ya know?” he said softly. “Besides, nobody really heard anything, those freakin’ bagpipers were so loud,” he added, laughing. She knew it was obvious that she’d been crying, and he was trying to lighten the mood. He knew she put so much pressure on herself, and the bubble had burst tonight. At least in her eyes.

      Dallas sat in the passenger seat and buckled up. “Let’s just head back, okay? I need to go home.” She had to reconcile to herself that tonight’s performance didn’t do anything to help her shot at the anchor seat. And she had to try to wrap her mind around the idea of Blake and...friendship? Even the thought of that was too crazy to process.

      “You sure you don’t wanna go back to the station?”

      “No, I really need to get off this ankle.” She gave him a small smile. She was tired. And she really didn’t want to face anyone at WTAL. She just wanted to get home to Wilhelmina, where she felt safe. Where everything still made sense.

      * * *

      Daniel let Dallas out in front of her house, and she made her way up to the front porch. It was dark. She had forgotten to leave the light on, and her few Christmas lights weren’t on any sort of automatic timer. The neighbor’s Times Square lights were glaring, as usual, so she used them to find her way up the stairs of her front porch and fumbled to put her key in the front door. Out of the shadows of the porch, a figure approached her.

      “Dallas?” The person reached for her arm, and Dallas nearly jumped out of her skin.

      “I’m sorry to show up like this,” the woman said softly. “I didn’t mean to scare you, but I really needed to see you. And since you wouldn’t return my calls, I had to come here.”

      “Mother!” Dallas had to take this in a minute. She hadn’t seen her mother in so many years and, looking at her now, she realized she would have hardly recognized her on the street. “You shouldn’t have come here,” she said as she opened her front door and flicked on the porch light, all of the Christmas lights coming on at the same time.

      “Please, let me come in. It’s freezing out here.”

      “Fine,” Dallas said after a slight pause. “But you can’t stay long. I have an early meeting tomorrow and I just got back from work.” She allowed her mother inside. LouAnn looked frail. She was certainly not aging well. She was already a small woman, but she had withered over the years. Her dry gray hair was unruly, sticking out from under her knitted winter hat.

      Dallas took her coat and hat, hanging them on a hook by the door before leading her mother into the living room. They sat awkwardly at opposite ends of the couch, both of them silent for a few moments.

      Eventually, LouAnn spoke. “Dallas, I want you to know I think it’s time we all get together this year, you know, for Christmas.”

      “Really? You think it’s time? Why not last year? Why not twenty years ago, Mother?”

      “Look, I know you’re still angry...”

      “Angry? Is that all you think I am? Let me clue you in. I’m infuriated. I’m appalled. I want nothing to do with you. Ever! You left me. You chose Houston over me—something no proper mother would ever even consider. I’m not just angry, Mother. I’m alone! And it’s because of you and your inability to take responsibilities. I was your daughter and you abandoned me. I’m not sure why you think you can turn up on my doorstep after twenty years of silence and think we’re gonna have a nice little chat. It’s laughable, really. Now, thank you very much for this little surprise visit, but I want you to go.”