"Have you tried the zaatar spiced beet dip with goat cheese and hazelnuts?" Kaye asked, handing her friend a plate.

"I haven't. But I'm willing to try anything at this point." Rosemary's stomach rumbled a thank you, and Kaye laughed, attracting looks from the men in the room.

Grace shoved an appetizer in her mouth and rolled her eyes.

Kaye has a frienemy. I have to remind her to watch her back, especially around Grace. I've seen women like her before; they want to be the center of what's going on. To get that attention, they do whatever they can to make you look bad.

Rosemary relieved Kaye of one of the two mugs of sparkling pomegranate punch she held in her hand.

"Try the ricotta, and roasted grape crostini, if you get the chance. And, there's smoked salmon crisp if you want something else." Kaye loved to cook, the fancier the dish, the better. She searched the crowded room for an unoccupied seat. Newcomers occupied every available seat.

"Those are just a few of the items on the menu. Don't overeat; dinner is not far behind." Roland stood, offering his seat to Kaye. He held her plate and drink, allowing her to situate herself.

"Thank you!" She flashed her pearly whites at him.

Bowing before them with a wink, he hurried on his way to see if the co-host needed help with dinner.

Kaye crossed her legs and placed her plate on her knee; the plate wobbled, and the drink threatened to spill. Laughing at her lack of balancing skills, she set her cup on the end table.

In between bites, Kaye quickly caught up on the conversation, laughing and chatting with everyone who entered the room. Rosemary skipped over the subject of Grace's jealousy. It would be fodder for their conversations later.

Kaye's bright smile and sparkling eyes lit up her face. Her outgoing personality made her the center of attention. The attention she received never bothered Rosemary; the swarm of men hovering around Kaye became the topic of their discussions after the party.

"Why was he flexing in the middle of our conversation?"
"He wants to hang out sometime. What does that mean? Why is he being so vague?"
"Can you believe he sent me the poop emoji? I wanted the heart-eyed one."
"He asked if I was PMSing because I disagreed with him."

Rosemary surveyed the room of joyous partygoers. She spied Grace sitting with her lips pressed tightly together, eavesdropping on Kaye's conversation.

A bearded man sat beside her, and during their chat, the dishonest woman twisted Kaye's anecdote into her own. Rosemary's eyes widened, and her back stiffened when she heard the deception. Grace visited Recycled Treasures and ran into an old classmate, just like Kaye had earlier that week. She'd gone horseback riding and ridden a horse that kept returning to the stables, ignoring her prompting to turn around, just like Kaye had experienced. It was possible but unlikely. The woman was retelling Kay's anecdotes, she claimed them as her own.

Rosemary shook her head. Grace's social media is probably full of other people's stories.

Kaye's laughter bounced around the room, and Rosemary couldn't help but laugh with her; the musical tinkering in her friend's voice tickled her ears. Poor Grace wasn't amused. She sat with a scow. The man she was speaking with left her side to join Kaye's circle.

Rosemary understood how the woman felt; she'd seen it several times, many women were the clouds when her friend, the sun, was around.

After the dinner announcement, a line of guests carrying dinner plates formed at the buffet. The food displayed on the kitchen counter left room on the table for plates.

Rosemary filled her plate with helpings of rosemary-scented rolls, spaghetti with anchovies and bread crumbs, salt-baked striped bass with lemon herb chile sauce, mixed seafood salad, sautéed broccoli rabe with garlic and chile, almond nougat semifreddo with bittersweet chocolate sauce, cranberry meatballs, and, for dessert, a small dish of vanilla and cranberry pans cotta parfait.

Roland stood at the kitchen door conversing with a dark-haired, blue-eyed man who could pass for his brother - except Roland's eyes were green.

Even if he hadn't told them Kaye helped prepare the meal, Rosemary would have known. Ornaments paired with gherkins, black olives, a variety of cheeses, and solid jellies for cleansing on saucers arranged in between the dishes, were a sign of her involvement.

Rosemary's attention wandered back to the men readying the food, both stood over six feet tall. Captivated by their good looks, her gaze lingered longer than intended. The dark-haired stranger, uncomfortable with her prolonged stare, narrowed his eyes. Color filled her cheeks, and she averted her eyes.

"Hey! Are you listening?" Kaye asked, bumping Rosemary's shoulder.

"Are you speaking to me?"

"Yes, silly," She giggled, glancing in her male friend's direction. "Cute. Aren't they?"

"Who are you talking about?" Rosemary smoothed her skirt and refused to acknowledge the existence of the men.

"Roland and Emmett. The two guys you were ogling."

"I was not!" Roland is cute. Emmett, on the other hand, is breathtaking.

"You are too easy." Kaye laughed. "Let's fill our plates and grab a seat."

Emmett and Roland placed a round table in the square-shaped dining room. The circular shape encouraged conversation flow between all the seated guests, making everyone the guest of honor. Because of this arrangement, everyone laughed when someone made a joke instead of just the people sitting beside the jokester. Everyone felt included.

"Let's sit at the table," Rosemary suggested.

An oversized lantern hung above the round table, casting a festive glow over their party.

The guest, who didn't sit at the table, ate their food in the living room. Their chatter popped up sporadically and bled into the dining room.

The saporous Christmas feast excited her taste buds, and Rosemary didn't waste time consuming them.

"How did you like your meal?"

"It was delicious. As you knew it would be," Rosemary said, winking at her friend.

"Can I have your attention, please?" The speaker, later introduced as Dean, had a sophisticated crew cut with enough length on top to add a side part. He was attractive, like most of the men celebrating with them. "Now that we have eaten, we need everyone to hold off on conversing and to clean up so we can hold our meeting."

Several members helped clear the evidence of their feast. They placed leftover food in containers and the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Rosemary watched everyone scrambling to put the room back into order. She was amazed at how fast things got done without any communication. When the room was free of any trace of dinner, she took her spot at the table beside Kaye.

The large group crowded into the dining room, around the table. Extra chairs were brought from the living room and positioned behind the guests seated at the table. Several people opted to stand in the back of the room. Regardless of being packed like sardines in a can, everyone waited patiently for the meeting to commence.

Hal stood at the head of the table. The group cheered. Settling the lively group down, he opened the meeting in prayer. Afterward, he asked Anne to read the notes from their previous gathering. Soon after the reading, Roland and Emmett took their place at the head of the table.

"We need to discuss our next assembly on December twenty-third," Roland said.

"What's to discuss?" Someone from the back asked.

"Are we having a meeting? Are we throwing a Christmas party? Or do you want to cancel it altogether?" Emmett asked. "We need to vote on it."

"Some of you suggested skipping the meeting during the holidays," Roland reminded them.

"We understand how you feel. The holidays can be overwhelming. We need to come up with an idea we can all get behind - or at least the majority of us can," Emmett said.

"Bah humbug!" Someone called out, and several members chuckled.

Rosemary smiled.

Emmett, Kaye, and a couple of others whose names she did not know yet didn't laugh.

"Let's celebrate Grinch style!" Another person suggested.  "It'll go with the consumers' attitude toward the season."

The preponderance of the group cheered. The rest of the group laughed.

"I am sick of the commercialization of Christmas. Every year the season starts earlier and earlier. They sell Christmas items in August! August! What happened to back to school? Halloween? Thanksgiving?" Dean asked.

"It's all about the money!" Edith confirmed.

"The holidays don't have to be about money. It should contain the spirit that lies within you. How you share with those you come in contact with creates the holiday spirit for those around you," Roland responded. "The purpose of our gathering is to change people's attitudes about the season. We have to start with ourselves and how we display it."

"I think some people have too much Christmas spirit. I have a friend who usually begins his holiday countdown in May! This year he mentioned something about it in February, right after Valentine's Day. I almost deleted him!" Sam shared. He wore a look of disgust.

"Another commercial holiday!" Wally uttered.

"Yeah!" Irving backed him up.

"It sure is!" Loyal, a pretty redhead agreed. "But I love receiving chocolate," she said with a huge grin.

"Wow!" Rosemary whispered to her friend. "They are worse than me."

Kaye nodded her head in agreement. "They need to wash away the grit of this difficult year."

"Don't forget the attitudes you deal with while shopping- no one has any Christmas cheer!" Norman added.

"And what happened to holiday music? I don't want to hear about the latest shooting victim while I'm shopping," Anne spoke up.

Rosemary agreed with Anne. She enjoyed singing Christmas carols, even though singing was not one of her talents. The repetitive Christmas music lifted her spirits, especially when driving in holiday traffic.

"There's too much family drama taking place during the holidays. Where is the love?" Wally chipped in with a bit of sadness in his voice.

"Right!" Rosemary said.

"I'm tired of the endless questions family members feel they have to ask," Wally said. "How would they feel if I turned it on them and drilled them about their life choices? Some of them need to make changes."

"My favorite question is, what are you getting me? Who said I was getting you anything? Presents come from the heart, not because someone expects it," Irving said, shaking his head.

"Here! Here!" Several cheered.

"I have a better one!" Hal vocalized from the back, adding, "Did you find your special someone yet?"

"That's the question that gets me," Kaye said, joining the discussion.

Emmett looked at Kaye sympathetically. When he saw Rosemary watching, he looked away.

What is his problem?

"Everyone, calm down." Roland tried to gain control of the meeting. "It's hard to admit that at such an exciting time of year, you don't feel that great. But talking about your feelings can improve your mood and make it easier to deal with the tough times. It's part of taking charge of your mental wellbeing and doing what you can to stay healthy."

"And you have an idea to help combat those emotions?" Ellen asked.

"Did you know they conducted a survey on lonely people during the holidays? One in four fake a relationship during the holidays," Emmett informed them.

The group fell silent.

"They, like us, are tired of going home and being ambushed with relationship questions." He continued. "They found someone just for the holidays and brought them home to meet their family. It stopped the questions."

"On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... a headache needing medicine," Dean sang out.

Laughter again filled the room.

He had a pleasant voice. A part of Rosemary wanted him to continue singing.

Roland cleared his throat. "Don't you see that your attitudes contribute to the absence of the Christmas spirit?" He pointed out.

"What are we to do about it?" Hal asked. "We are frustrated."

"Emmett suggested we break up into teams of two. Having a partner during the holidays will help prevent loneliness. To keep the teams fair, we will pull the names out of the bucket. The bucket you put your names in earlier," Roland informed them.

"Fair? Who's drawing the names?" Vera asked. She sat across from Rosemary, with her elbows leaning on the table.

Roland looked around the room until his eyes settled on Rosemary. She looked behind her to see who he was looking for, and he smiled. Rosemary was pretty sure most girls melted when he smiled. She hated being the center of attention, so melting was the last thing on her mind.

"Our new friend... Rosemary will draw the names!"

"I'm fine with that," Vera agreed, setting back in her seat.

"Good. Once you have your partner, you are encouraged to build a relationship. When we return on December twenty-third, we will see how everyone's getting along."

Groans traveled throughout the room.

"There are rules: First, you must keep the partner drawn. No swapping allowed! So, guy-girl, girl-girl, or guy-guy, it is sealed. We are building relationships - friendships. "

The group as a whole checked out everyone around them.

"On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave me a relationship I didn't need." Dean sang.

You could hear the crickets when he finished singing; it was quiet -quieter than an empty library.

Dean's song choice gave Rosemary an idea to go along with their relationship-building plan.

"Second, you cannot complain about your partner in any manner."

"What if you uncover something you don't like about your partner?" Grace asked.

"Keep it to yourself. Find the things you have in common. Your likes will bring you together," Emmett said.

"On the third day of Christmas..." Dean began.

"Dean!" Emmett gave him a stern look.

"Why not use the song as the theme of the dates?" Rosemary spoke up.

"What do you mean?"

"Go on twelve dates. Base them on the days of the song Dean was singing."

"Oh! I love it!" Kaye exclaimed.

"I like it too," said Anne.

After taking a vote on the idea, Roland announced the third rule. "Thirdly: base your dates on The Twelve Days of Christmas."

"So your first date would be based on the first day of the song?" Asked Vera. "A partridge in a pear tree?"

"Yes," Rosemary answered. "You will have to get creative to make it work."

"This should be interesting for the guy-guy and girl-girl combinations," Dean laughed.

"Fourthly: you must go on twelve dates. Best wishes, everyone!" Emmett added, placing the bucket in the center of the table.

"Let's draw the names," Kaye encouraged, pulling the bucket from the center of the table and placing it in front of her friend.

"Happy twelve dates of Christmas, everyone!" Rosemary said, her excitement blinding her to the fact that all eyes were on her. Smiling, she stuck her hand into the bucket.