“Yes, it does. He never said why. He just showed up at my parents’ house on Sunday and said he was sorry and he couldn’t be with me anymore. I was hurt and confused, but there was no talking. There was nothing. He just left. I drove back to Seattle with my heart broken.”

She glanced at Toby. “And that is the sad story of my Jake relationship.”

“You should stick to bad boys.”

She smiled. “You might be right about that.”

Toby waved to Harrison, but his son was already busy showing his friends the fifty-cent piece he’d found on the sidewalk on their quick walk to the birthday party. For kids who had grown up in the digital world and saw their parents pay for most things with a credit card, an unusual coin was noteworthy.

The birthday party, complete with lunch and games, would go until three thirty. Brave parents, Toby thought. The most he’d been able to pull together was a party at the Wonderful Life Cinema, where they offered hot dogs and popcorn, along with priority seating on a Saturday afternoon movie.

Harrison had been happy hanging out with his friends, and the kids had all seemed to have a good time. Toby wondered if he should try to do more this year. The hard part was, he wasn’t creative—not in that way. He was more business-oriented. He didn’t decorate or do crafts or know what color went with what other color.

He walked the short distance back to his house. There were two large vans parked in front and a couple of guys up on ladders, stringing lights. Inside, several people were putting up large Christmas trees—one in the downstairs family room and one in the dining room. A woman stood on the stairs, looping garland around the banister. He stepped around open bins filled with lights and silver and red ornaments. He wove his way through the chaos and ducked into his grandmother’s room.

Judy stood by her desk, going through the plastic tote he’d brought in for her. She smiled when she saw him.

“They’re making a bit of a mess out there,” she said.

“They’ll clean up before they leave. Is there too much noise? Is this bothering you?”

She made a clucking sound with her tongue. “Toby, I’m old, but I’m not infirm. They’re fine. I just wish you’d let me decorate the house.”

“They’re putting up a fifteen-foot tree in the family room. I don’t think either of us could have handled that. In a week or so, Harrison and I will go get a real tree for the upstairs media room, and the three of us will decorate that one together.”

She held up a string of old-fashioned bubble lights, filled with a fluid that bubbled when the lights heated up.

“You think those still work?” he asked.

“I hope so.”