Winter arrives, and Mary Ann is invited to Mrs. Madrigal’s house on Christmas Eve. Michael is less enthused about Christmas as he believes it is a “‘conspiracy to make single people feel lonely’” (235). She offers to call Jon for him, he refuses, and then Mary Ann insists they buy Christmas trees. 

Mona embarks on a “secret plan to reunite D’orothea with her parents” (237). She tracks down D’orothea’s father to a Twinkie factory in Oakland and decides to go and meet him. Mona cooks dinner for D’orothea and lies about where she is going that night. Hours later, she arrives at the factory and asks to see Leroy, the man she suspects to be D’orothea’s father. However, Leroy is white. 

Edgar and Mrs. Madrigal trudge “up a dark mountainside” (239). At the summit, Edgar reveals that he received a mysterious telephone call earlier in the day from a man who “‘wants to talk about madrigals’” (239). He suspects blackmail but is unconcerned. He and the man will meet on Christmas Eve. Edgar is so unconcerned that he asks Mrs. Madrigal to go away with him, “‘[a]ny place you want’” (240). She is upset and admits that “I love you with all my heart, but I’m a liar” (241).