I met up with Grandma Jo, Aunt Esha, and Arthur in the lobby to walk over to Merry Street together, much as we had for the reindeer romp, though both Dad and Dr. Raymond were absent this time.

Dad was going to join us directly from his office, while Dr. Raymond had an entry of some nature, so he had told Grandma Jo that he would find her there. I didn’t like the sound of that, it felt like a double date with Grandma Jo and Aunt Esha meeting their guys, and my displeasure must have shown.

The air was already cold and the three blocks through the surrounding neighborhood from the inn to Merry Street were shaded with trees. We were headed in the opposite direction from where Arthur and I had walked to Boots Boulevard.

Arthur and Aunt Esha were a few feet ahead and engaged in their own conversation, creating a cloud of their breath in the chill. Both were bundled up, him in his familiar puffy green jacket, her in the trench coat and Burberry scarf.

Grandma Jo looked over at me as we strolled side by side.

“You seem grumpy,” she said, her voice low.

I didn’t want to talk about it, so I instinctively went for a diversion. “Did you two get tipsy?” I asked. It worked; she seemed caught off guard.

“What? No. We only had a tiny splash of bourbon to go with the hot chocolate. It takes more than that to get a person tipsy.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I know, Grandma.”

She shot me a look. “And how do you know?”

“Because I’m sixteen.”

She pressed her lips together briefly. “Which is five years below the legal drinking age.” At that, I shot her a look, and to my surprise, she backed down, and even grew a little whimsical. “I sometimes forget you’re not a baby anymore. It seems like just yesterday Skip and Dana brought you home from the hospital . . .” She stuffed her hands deeper into her long black coat and looked lost in thought as we crossed the street.

I was glad she brought up Mom, though; it gave me an opening.

“Mom called me last night,” I said, keeping my eyes on the back of Aunt Esha’s head to see if she had any reaction. There wasn’t one. We were about a block and a half from the parade route and I could already hear some distant rumblings of the crowd.

Grandma Jo looked at me as we continued walking. “Oh? And?”

“And she misses us. All of us.” Yeah, I made that part louder on purpose. Still no reaction from Aunt Esha, who seemed to be in conversation with Arthur. I raised my voice just a tick more as I added, “She also said that she and Dad were both not seeing other people.”