I waited a day before getting in touch with Gussie. I was hoping against the odds that Gracie would tell me what the matter was, but her lips remained sealed. Gussie sounded relieved when I told him I just wanted to check how he’s doing.

“I though you will never speak to me again”, he said.

“Why would I not speak to you?”, I asked, rather surprised.

“Never mind. I’m glad you called.”

We agreed that he comes over a bit later and we’ll spend some time together. I wanted to make it up to him, so I told him I’m planning to have a private gift giving party just for him.

“Abbie, you are too kind”, was his answer. I heard from his voice that he was smiling. “I’ll be there in an hour.”

I made some pancakes, because that’s pretty much the only thing I don’t screw up and can get it ready in such a short time. Gussie didn’t seem to mind that the food was not as nearly good as Alani’s cooking.

“I came here to see you”, he said. “The awesome pancakes are just bonus.”

He never fails to make me laugh.

We exchanged gifts and had a few drinks. Not a single word was spoken about the previous party. Gussie gave me a dart board. I admitted I have never played. This made his eyes pop out, and said we have to rectify this immediately. He helped me install the board in my bedroom (not having enough space anywhere else) and soon darts were flying all over the place. Turns out he wasn’t a much better player than me either. My poor wall has holes all over around the board. But I haven’t had this much fun in quite a while.

Finally as the evening came and we were sipping our coffee on the couch, I couldn’t bear it anymore. I put my mug down, and turned to him.

“Gussie, what happened with Gracie at the party?”

He just shook his head but didn’t say anything. I put my hand on his arm.

“Just so you know, I’m not blaming you. I have no clue what’s going on, and Gracie wouldn’t say a word. It was clear that the gift upset her and seemed to believe it was from you.”

He let out a sigh. “It wasn’t from me.”

“It wasn’t? But then… I don’t understand.”

“Me neither. But I swear, she got whatever it was from someone else.”

“But why does she think it was from you?”, I asked, although I was just thinking out loud. Gussie was about to say something, but I just put my hand up to stop him. “I do realise you won’t know the answer, as you haven’t seen the gift either. It’s okay.”

We sat there for a while in silence. I didn’t know what else to say. It was clear to me that most people in Appaloosa know each other, they likely to have grown up together and there might have been some antagonism between my two friends I wouldn’t necessarily know about.

I was still thinking who the mysterious Santa could be when I had a sudden thought.

“Gussie, don’t you think the actual person who bought the gift wouldn’t have said anything after seeing Gracie in such distress?”, I asked, my brain quickly running through the events again and again.

“What are you saying?”, he asked, eyebrows raised.

“Well, I mean if I gave a gift to someone secretly and the person starts screaming and crying as soon as she sees it, I would surely say something and try to make amends.”

“Yes…?”, Gussie was still not getting my point.

“Benni! The only person who was not there when we started opening the presents was Benni. Don’t you think it means it was from her?”, I nodded my head, trying to make Gussie understand what I’m implying. He was still turning this around in her head when I grabbed my phone and punched in Benni’s number. She answered on the second ring.

It was a short conversation that ended in much giggling. I do feel bad about it in retrospect, especially since Gracie was so shaken. Gussie looked at me in complete bewilderment.

“What is it? What happened?”, he asked.

“I just solved the mystery of the year. That’s what happened.”, I said, clapped my hand and did a little jig.

“Well, you are clearly pleased with yourself”, he laughed. “Care to elaborate?”

I wanted to enjoy my big moment, so I made a ceremony of sitting down, smoothing down my dress, and picking up my cup.

“I was right. The gift was from Benni. She obviously meant no harm and thought it will be a funny present. I still have no idea why it upset Gracie so much!”

“Abbie!”, he waved at me. “Earth to Abbie. What was it?”

“What was what?”

“The gift! What else?”, Gussie rolled his eyes.

“Ah, of course”, I slapped my forehead. “She bought her a copy of Fifty Shades of Sims and a pair of fluffy handcuffs. Isn’t that hilarious? I just wonder why Gracie thought it was from you…”

I was still wiping the tears of laughter from my face when I realised Gussie was very quiet and withdrawn.

“What’s up with the eyebrows, Gussie?”, I asked, putting my finger on the little wrinkle that appeared on his brow.

“Nothing”, he said, and the frown disappeared as he smiled at me. “Forget about it, my mind was just wandering.”

He left soon after that. I can’t help but think that although I got to the bottom of the story with the upsetting gift, there is something else I’m not getting. Something important.