Maris sipped her latte and shrugged. “Cherry cheesecake, I think.”

  Shaking her head, Sabrina put the container aside and reached for the magazine again. “Nope. I think it’s called ‘fake cream cheese and artificial sweetener with a hint of red flavoring.’ You know, that generic red taste they put in stuff that’s supposed to taste like fruit.”

  Maris laughed. “Yeah. In Popsicles and red soda.”

  “And now in yogurt.”

  “Maris?” Darci’s yell sliced through the air, silencing the low murmur of voices in the office.

  Maris let out a low groan. “She calls.”

  “Has anyone seen Maris?” Darci sounded on the verge of panic. Though this was not an unusual emotion for her, she did seem a bit more piqued than she would for an average temper outburst.

  Maris made eye contact with Sabrina, then took her time standing up. Waving over the cubicle wall, she answered, “I’m here.”

  “I need you in my office. And Avery, where is Avery?”

  “I’ll find him,” Maris said in a soothing voice.

  There was the sound of a door slam; then the buzz of voices in the office resumed.

  Maris drained the last of her latte and pointed to the magazine. “I have a feeling she just read the article. You need to see it before she sees you.”

  Sabrina lifted her eyebrows. “That bad?”

  “I think so. Lord help us all when she starts plotting her revenge.” Chuckling, she added, “You just might want to pray for us, Sabrina.”

  “Ahem.” Avery Benjamin, producer of The Daily Dose, stepped into the cubicle, waving a copy of the magazine. “Have either of you read this?”

  Maris hefted her purse onto her shoulder. “I have. Sabrina’s reading it now, and judging from the pitch of Darci’s screech, I’m certain she’s seen it, too.”

  Avery loosened his tie and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s going to be a long afternoon.”

  “Maris!” Darci called again, then slammed the door.

  “Let’s go,” said Avery. He and Maris bustled away, leaving Sabrina to read the piece for herself.

  Seconds later, Avery rounded the corner, returning to the doorway. “You come in, too, Sabrina. You seem to have a lot of creative ideas lately.”

  Sabrina blinked. Avery was asking her to sit in on a producer’s meeting?

  “But, I… I haven’t…” she trailed off, pointing to the magazine.

  Avery took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Then walk slowly and read while you walk.” He hurried away, and Sabrina did as she was told.

  Skimming the introductory sentences, she quickly got to the heart of the article.

  . . . Of course, the public adores her… In between her timely reports warning consumers of devious scams and introducing the hottest educational toys, Darci Oliver is on a quest to save the world—and in the process, she will teach its inhabitants to bake a better quiche as they learn how to trompe l’oeil a breathtakingly realistic scene of a Tuscan vineyard on their dining room walls. Certainly, she gives the impression that the world would be a less better place if she didn’t exist.

  However, I can’t help but wonder if Ms. Oliver and her producers have purposely neglected to inform us how her guests are doing six months after she brings them on the talk show The Daily Dose. Has her concern for today’s busy woman, along with the advice dished out by her endless parade of specialists, really helped anyone after the last hug is given and the credits fade from the screen?

  Are their closets still organized? Do they still find time to knit sweaters for the family pet during downtime at their children’s soccer games? Has her dating advice helped anyone make it past the first date, or better yet, to the altar? Did her financial advice create a bevy of new millionaires? Will the art of making a perfect yellow layer cake truly cause peace and harmony in any household?

  Don’t mistake my questions for dislike. I love the show as much as the next person—it’s entertaining, if nothing else. But I think it could be better. I believe Ms. Oliver has overextended herself trying to do a bit of everything—and, in the process, accomplished little…

  Yikes. Sabrina paused just outside Darci’s office, wondering how to make an entrance without drawing too much attention to herself.

  The problem of the entrance was solved when Avery swung open the door. “Good, you’re here. Have a seat at the table.”

  Unfortunately, Avery’s attempt at making her feel comfortable made her entrance even more conspicuous.

  Darci sobbed quietly into one of Avery’s monogrammed handkerchiefs.

  Sabrina did a double take. Darci knew how to cry?

  There really is a first for everything. As quickly as the thought came and went, Sabrina tried to push it away, giving Darci the benefit of the doubt.

  So maybe Darci didn’t usually show emotion—with the exception of anger and frustration—but anyone in her shoes would feel pretty low right now.

  Sabrina sat up straighter, feeling Maris’s gaze on her. She had promised herself to handle the next challenge better, and here it was.

  Does it have to be so soon, Lord? Please give me the strength not to make a mess of this.

  Darci sniffed and eyed Sabrina. “What’s she doing here? This is a production meeting. She’s just… Maris’s assistant.”

  Sabrina had a feeling Darci managed to catch herself before she said “errand girl” or “gopher.”

  Avery chuckled. “Whether you realize it or not, Darce, Sabrina does more than pick up your dry cleaning and schedule your manicures. She’s pretty much the assistant to the assistant producer. But, of course, you were probably too busy to notice.”

  The tension between Darci and Avery was startling, and Sabrina wondered if she had been the only one to notice. Although he’d used his pet name for Darci, Avery’s voice carried an edge that normally wasn’t present when he and Darci spoke to each other.

  Or maybe I’m reading too much in between the lines, she decided.

  Maris spoke up, cutting the silence: “Darci, he’s right. Sabrina could probably do my job with her eyes closed.” Laughing, she added, “Not that I want her to. At least, not while I’m still here.”

  Darci didn’t respond directly but tossed the handkerchief aside, a stony expression chiseled on her features. “Okay. Let’s get down to business. I need a way to prove this article wrong. Despite what this piece of paper says, I am dedicated to helping people succeed. How can anyone not see that?”

  Maris nodded. “Of course you are, Darci. We just need to spend more time getting that message across.”

  “Right,” said Avery. “So why don’t we have Sabrina start contacting people from previous shows so we can do follow-up episodes?” Looking toward Sabrina, he asked, “Can you get me a list of topics we can revisit?”

  Sabrina bit her lip. “Actually, Maris and I were discussing this the other day. I did some preliminary calls, but…”

  Maris picked up where Sabrina paused. “It’s not a good idea. We didn’t do enough early follow-up, and I don’t think it would help our case to bring the guests back. A lot of them are back at square one, looking for a way to get on track again. Apparently, our help wasn’t as great as we thought.”

  Darci jumped up. “What are you saying? I brought in specialists and gave them makeovers. I worked hard on those people. How could they not have benefited?”

  Avery sighed. “Darce, they’re only human.”

  “He’s right,” Sabrina said. “And people are creatures of habit. They say it takes thirty days to develop a new habit. It’s unrealistic to expect people to change completely after an hour on the show.”

  Darci stopped pacing and stared at Sabrina. Sabrina’s throat went dry. Oh, boy. Now what did I say?

  “Habit,” Darci repeated, as though she had learned a new word. “Habit.” She spun away from Sabrina to face Avery. “Then forget the previous guests. It’s water under the bridge, and if I couldn’t help them… well, let’s just move on. I have a plan.”

  Sabrina glanced at Maris, who gave her a quick grin. Darci was notorious for hatching scatterbrained plots for show ideas and tossing them to the production staff to salvage when things got impossible. But she also had a reputation for developing amazing ideas for programming every once in a while.

  “We’ll form habits,” Darci announced.

  No one spoke for several seconds.

  Finally, Avery asked, “We’ll form habits? I don’t get it.”

  Darci sighed impatiently. “Not us, silly. The guests, the viewers. We’ll teach them how to form habits.” She paused dramatically, then continued. “And not just Sabrina’s thirty-day habits—these habits will last for months, years… even a lifetime.”

  Not just Sabrina’s thirty-day habits, Sabrina thought, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Okay, what’s wrong with my thirty-day habits?

  Maris tapped her pen against the table, and Sabrina knew that her friend sensed this was one of Darci’s grandiose but unrealistic ideas.

  “That’s a little… overly ambitious… don’t you think?” Sabrina ventured.

  “Overly ambitious? In what way?” Darci challenged.

  “I mean, as far as time and preparation… we don’t have enough lead time to get something like that together…” Sabrina gave Maris an “I need backup” look but only got a sympathetic glance in return.

  “There is no such thing as too much ambition. People who don’t have ambition never get anywhere,” Darci shot back, dismissing Sabrina’s concerns.

  Fortunately, Avery came to the rescue. “Darci, let’s think on a smaller scale. From now on, let’s just do follow-up episodes.”

  Darci would not be moved. “No. I’m not going to give in to that article and do things on his terms. He said I should have follow-up episodes, but I’m not letting him tell me how to run my show.”

  Avery leaned back in his chair and shrugged. “Then explain in detail what it is you want to do.”

  “New Year’s resolutions. We’ll have a yearlong campaign to help people make and keep them.”

  Maris laughed. “You’re kidding, right? That’d definitely be shooting ourselves in the foot. No one ever keeps New Year’s resolutions. We’ll look like clowns if we attempt it.”

  “She’s right,” Avery said. “And besides, it’s the middle of November. We don’t have time to get something like that off the ground.”

  Darci put her hands on her hips. “We can do anything if we put our minds to it. Do I need to remind you of that, Avery? Of all people, you should know this.”

  Avery shrugged again. “I like your vision, but we’ll run ourselves ragged trying to put it together before Christmas.”

  “Then we’ll run ourselves ragged,” Darci persisted. “I might not always have the best ideas for the show, but trust me on this, Avery. I can feel it,” she said, placing her hands over her heart. “This will be a major success. Please?”

  Avery sighed deeply. “Okay. We can give it a shot.”

  Darci smiled. “Great. We’ll work out the details later.” She glanced at her watch and headed toward the door.

  “Hey, what do you mean, ‘we’ll work out the details later’? This is your idea,” Avery protested.

  Darci pointed to the clock. “We tape in a little over an hour. I have an appointment with hair and wardrobe. You all get started and I’ll catch up later.” With a wave and a laugh, she was gone.

  “Ha!” said Maris after Darci was out of earshot. “With Darci, ‘we’ usually means everybody but her.”

  “Especially lately,” said Avery. “But she’s got her heart set on this. I suggest we get to work and get some things set in stone before she can do too much damage. I have to admit, the idea does have some merit.”

  “I guess so,” Maris admitted.

  “Sabrina, what do you think?” Avery spun his chair around to face her.

  “I… I guess I’d have to think about it. I never do resolutions myself, so I’m not sure I’ll be any help.”

  “Oh, come on, everyone makes resolutions.”

  She laughed. “Okay, I have made them in the past. But my good intentions lasted no longer than a couple of months. After four or five years ago, I gave up completely.”

  “But you told me once that Christians are always changing,” Maris cut in. “Wouldn’t resolutions be a good way to make sure you follow all the rules?”

  Sabrina hesitated for a moment. How should she answer that? She began her response slowly, searching for the correct way to respond. “Well, you’re right about having to change. But I can’t fix myself on my own power. I can ask the Lord to help me be different.

  “But being a Christian is not some checklist hanging over my head. It’s more about developing a relationship with the Lord and making my choices based on what I know will please Him.

  “Just like in a friendship or relationship. When you love or know someone well, you don’t need a list. You do what makes them happy because you have a mutual relationship.” Sabrina paused, wondering if she had stepped over any invisible lines talking about faith at her job. Maris didn’t look offended, and Avery was nodding.

  Feeling relieved, she cleared her throat. “Still, regardless of my own personal experience with resolutions, I will do my absolute best to help with Darci’s idea. Just don’t look to me as someone who has actually been successful at using her approach.”

  “Me, either,” said Maris.

  “Count me in,” said Avery. “I like Sabrina’s approach much better. I know you’re not ready to make that choice yet, but that’s how it really works, Maris.” He stood up and stretched. “I’m running out for a bite to eat before the taping. Anyone want to join me?”

  Maris stuffed a notebook back in her purse. “I’m getting out of here before somebody pulls out a Bible. About this resolution thing—I promise I’ll do some brainstorming, but right now I have to get on the phone and get some confirmations for next week. You two have a good time.”

  Avery nodded. “My schedule is free until the next taping.” He looked at Sabrina. “How about you?”

  Sabrina bit her lip. “I just ate, and I have a million things to get done before the taping.”

  Avery looked disappointed. “That’s right, I walked in while you two were finishing lunch. How about tomorrow?”

  “Maybe.” Sabrina collected her notes and headed for the door. In her haste to get out of the office, she bumped into Avery, who remained in the doorway. Thankfully, she kept a grip on her papers, unlike in one of those absurd scenes in the movies.

  Boy meets girl; girl bumps into boy; boy picks up girl’s purse and sweeps her off her feet.

  Yeah, right, Sabrina thought. Never in real life.

  Avery did, however, grasp her arms for a moment. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” Sabrina ignored the woodsy scent of his cologne and composed herself. Feeling her face grow warm, she quickly marched down the hall and back to her workspace.

  Good grief. Why did she have to do a clown act in front of her boss? And just after he’d asked for her input on future shows? Not that it mattered… Darci would likely shoot down any of Sabrina’s ideas. Either that or she would take the idea and finagle it to sound like her own.

  “The same way she did with my comment about habits,” Sabrina mumbled.

  Forget about it. Sabrina forced herself to remain calm. No use getting up in arms about something that really didn’t amount to much in the long run.

  She hoped to be a producer herself someday and had no desire to get bogged down with petty arguments on the way up.

  And, as her mother loved to remind everyone, vengeance belonged to the Lord. No use trying to punish folks on her own.

  Safely back at her desk, Sabrina got to work on the day’s tasks. She moved at a feverish pace, hoping to make a dent in the long list of duties before the second taping of the day.

  Half an hour before the taping, Avery showed up in her cubicle, as he seemed to do so often in recent weeks. “I’m just about to head down to the control room, and I thought you might want to come along,” he said.

  Sabrina didn’t answer right away. Avery was one of those men who could strike up a friendly conversation with anyone, anywhere, and make that person feel as though they had been friends for years in five minutes’ time.

  That in itself wasn’t a bad quality—in fact, it was a good thing. But she knew from experience how easily the lines between friendship and love sometimes blurred. Right now she didn’t need an extra worry.

  Avery backed away a couple of steps. “Or not. I just thought we could throw around ideas for Darci’s resolutions project.”

  Sabrina nodded, hoping to bide her time, wondering what she should say. Why did something so simple seem so difficult?

  For the past three months, she had seen more of Avery on a regular basis than she had over the past three years. Her first thought was that he had finally taken notice of her hard work and had ideas of promoting her.

  But after a couple of weeks passed and he made little mention of work, Sabrina realized that his short conversations with her were not formal talks but leaned more toward friendly banter.

  When he began, she’d been too preoccupied with planning her wedding to question whether Avery might be taking small steps toward asking her out. During those blissful days, no man even came close to Eric.

  Now that her relationship with Eric had come to a definite end, Sabrina had no desire to begin a new romance.

  Especially not with Avery. Not that there was anything wrong with him… but her emotions had been wrung inside out, and most days it took all of her resolve not to cry or even get angry about Eric.

  Besides, she knew very little about Avery. She did know he was a Christian. In fact, they attended the same church. But the membership at their church totaled well over a thousand people, so she rarely even saw him there, let alone spoke with him.

  He was smart, well-educated, successful in his business, and handsome. All in all, Avery was a good man. He was also Darci’s man. And that was enough to keep any woman in her right mind away from him.