“Thanks,” Julia said.
“Well, I better get over to my family. But before I go . . .” She leaned close to Julia, whispered, “I have a bit of gossip.”
Julia laughed. “I’m hardly the one to tell.”
“Oh, you’re the only one. My sources—which are FBI good—tell me that a certain doctor in town took a date to the movies. That’s like Paris Hilton moving into a double wide. Some things don’t happen. But this one did.”
“It was just a movie.”
“Was it?” Peanut gave her a wink, a pat on the arm, and she left.
For the next fifteen minutes everyone went about celebrating Christmas, but it was as if the mute button had been pushed. The laughter was quiet, the talking even more so. In the background the Vince Garibaldi trio Christmas CD came on. It was the music from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Mom’s favorite. At some point Earl and Myra showed up with more food.
Alice was mesmerized by the opening of presents. She finally came out from behind Julia so she could see better. She didn’t talk to anyone except Ellie, but she seemed content to watch it all. She dared to play alongside Sarah, who was a few years older. Not together, but side by side; Alice watched Sarah’s every move and imitated it. By the time everyone started to leave, Alice could dress and undress Disco Barbie without help. After the party broke up, Ellie, Julia, and Alice walked downtown. Alice couldn’t stop pointing at the various lights and decorations. She kept tugging on Julia’s hand and dragging her forward. It was going better than Julia had anticipated, actually.
Julia walked beside Ellie. Alice pointed at every light, every decoration.
“She reminds me of you,” Julia said to her sister. “You always had such enthusiasm for the holidays.”
“You, too.”
“I was quieter, though. In everything.”
“So I’m a bigmouth?”
Julia smiled. “Yes. And I’m ladylike.”
They walked on.
“So,” Julia finally said, trying to sound casual. “I hear the gossip mill is in high gear on Max and me.”
“I’ve been waiting for you to bring it up. What’s the story with you two?”
“I don’t know,” Julia answered truthfully. “There’s . . . something between us.”
Ellie turned to her. “I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Yeah,” Julia said quietly. “I’ve had the same thought myself.”
In front of the Catholic church, Alice came to a stop. She pointed at the brightly lit manger scene set up on the yard. “Prittee.”
Then the bells of the church pealed.
Ellie looked at Julia. “The service should have been out an hour ago. I called Father James myself—”
Before she’d finished the sentence, the double doors banged open and the parishioners came pouring out of St. Mark’s in a rushing, chattering river of humanity. There were people everywhere, moving right at them, surging down the stairs.
Alice screamed and yanked her hand free to cover her ears.
Julia heard the scream, then a desperate howl. She turned toward Alice.
“It’s okay, honey. Don’t be—”
Alice was gone, lost in the sea of faces and bodies.
TWENTY
THERE ARE ONLY STRANGERS AROUND GIRL; LAUGHING, TALKING, singing strangers. She stumbles sideways, almost falls.