Buddy/Mack watched with careful shepherd eyes as Alice and Ed touched and stayed close for such a long time that he felt he had to interrupt. A dog needs dinner, after all.

Chapter 31

31

“If you had music, that would look a lot like dancing.” Jen puts her hand out and takes the beer from her boyfriend, Derek. Jen Coulter has lived next door to the Parmalees since she was in sixth grade, and when they had Stacy, she had been their baby-sitter, practically living with them. When her parents moved to Florida, Jen, a nurse practitioner, bought their house, and she now lives there with Derek, who is beginning to look like a keeper. Stacy had outgrown needing a baby-sitter, but Jen had remained a good friend, the teenage baby-sitter growing up into a good neighbor, and she is the only friend who always remembers this difficult day. It has become a tradition, this spontaneous gathering on this particular September day. No one plans it, at least not officially. And maybe someday Jen won’t come; she may forget the significance of this date and go on with her life. But it is nice when Jen calls and says, “You up for company?” And then Ed brings home a six-pack, even before he knows they will come. And Alice just happened to thaw out the roast beef she’s had in the freezer for a few weeks. All the seemingly accidental decisions converge for a midweek dinner at which no one speaks of the real reason they are together. Alice is glad that she spent the day away, and just as glad she got home in time to throw the roast in.

“That’s not all; watch this.” Alice turns to face the dog, who is still up on his back legs. She twiddles her fingers in a rough circle and the dog spins. Then he drops to all fours, his eyes fixed on Alice, waiting for the next thing. “Now why he wouldn’t do this for that dog trainer is beyond me. He was like a kid refusing to perform in front of company.”

“Ed, do you have a CD player or a radio?” Jen hands the beer back to Derek.

Ed does, and he brings out the little player that he keeps in his workshop. He’s pulled out a few CDs from his collection, which tends toward classic rock.

Jen flips through the selection, choosing the Beatles’ “White Album.” “Pop this in and find ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.’”

Ed does, then stands back to give Alice and the dog more room on the deck. Derek holds his new iPhone in position and Ed fires up the tune.