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let her know right away, though, because if I can’t go, she wants to ask someone else.”
    “No,” Mary Vaughn said without giving it a second’s thought. “People spend Christmas with their families. It’s not a time to go gallivanting off with strangers.”
    “Jill’s not a stranger. She’s been my roommate for two years now.”
    Mary Vaughn could have corrected her with a reminder that the second year was just starting, but she didn’t waste her breath. Instead, she said, “You hardly know her family and I don’t know them at all.”
    “You’re just worried about how it will look if I don’t come home for Christmas,” Rory Sue accused. “You’re afraid that people will think you’re a failure as a mother. That’s it, isn’t it? All you care about is your image in that stupid town.”
    To Mary Vaughn’s regret, that was part of it. She hated that her own child, whom she loved more than anything, didn’t even want to spend Christmas with her. How pitiful was that? She simply didn’t want people in this town to feel sorry for her the way they once had. She’d spent her entire adult life trying to change the way people looked at her. But the other part, the most important part, was how lonely she’d feel. What would she do if Rory Sue didn’t come home? Sit in that big ole house of theirs and stare at the walls? Light up that little ceramic tree she’d inherited from her mother and drink eggnog until she forgot she was all alone? No, the bleak picture she envisioned simply could not happen.
    A couple of years from now Rory Sue might well be living on her own in some city far away. She might be unable to get back home for the holidays, or she might even have a family of her own and Mary Vaughn would have to go to some strange city to celebrate, but not this year. This year, Mary Vaughn wanted her daughter right here in Serenity. She wanted a traditional Christmas and she intended to have it, even if Rory Sue hated her for insisting on it.
    “No,” she said again, flatly.
    “You won’t even consider it?” Rory Sue pleaded.
    “No, absolutely not. And don’t call your father and try to get him on your side, either. I won’t have you trying to play us off against each other. That might have worked when you were ten, but it won’t work now. We’re older and smarter.”
    To her relief, Rory Sue actually giggled. “You really think so?”
    “I know so,” Mary Vaughn said emphatically. “I love you, and I promise we will have the very best Christmas ever right here in Serenity.”
    “That is so not possible,” Rory Sue retorted. “Bye, Mom.”
    “Bye, sweetie.”
    As she disconnected the call, Mary Vaughn resolved to find some way to make good on her promise, even if she had to start speaking to Rory Sue’s beloved daddy—and her very estranged ex-husband—to accomplish it. Jeanette had been avoiding Maddie all morning. She knew the subject of her involvement on the town’s Christmas festival planning committee was far from over. There was also bound to be a discussion about why Jeanette was so opposed to participating in anything related to Christmas. In fact, she fully expected Maddie to call in the big guns—Dana Sue and Helen—before all was said and done. When it came to something like this, the Sweet Magnolias were a team. Jeanette might be a member, but they could pull rank on her. When one of them fell out of step for any reason, the others rallied. She’d seen it happen more than once. She was dreading it. Last night’s encounter with Dana Sue had been a mild precursor to what today was likely to hold. And the more she’d thought about trying to convince Maddie to turn the project over to Elliot, the less she’d believed the suggestion would be taken seriously—especially if Maddie was matchmaking.
    “You don’t seem to be your usual perky self,” Mary Vaughn Lewis said as Jeanette smoothed moisturizer onto her throat and face.
    “Sorry,” she said, forcing a smile.