Alice was anxious about seeing Tommy in a public setting. Their relationship so far had been conducted almost entirely in private, just the two of them in their own little world, no outside interference or influence. She wasn’t sure how he’d behave toward her tonight. Would he pretend they barely knew each other, were the most casual of acquaintances? It wouldn’t be that strange if he did, she told herself. If anything, it would show his discretion, prove that he was as protective of her reputation as his own. After all, it could be viewed as a little weird, a little creepy, that he was involved with the stepdaughter of the man whose daughter he’d been dating when she’d ended her life. And it wasn’t as if they were boyfriend and girlfriend, Alice reminded herself. They’d only kissed. An intense kiss, definitely, but nevertheless, just a kiss. Still, Alice knew that no matter how much she reasoned with herself, came up with justifications and rationalizations for why he might ignore her, if he did it would crush her. All she needed was something small, some tiny little thing that acknowledged the specialness of their relationship and connection. And then Tommy looked up from his conversation with his mom, and Alice’s heart caught in her throat as their eyes touched. He smiled at her, raised his index finger, and crooked it in a mini wave. Relief surged through her body as she crooked her index finger in a mini wave back. She could breathe now. Could at last shift her focus away from him on to the party at large.

Alice did a quick scan of the crowd. Her mom, she saw, had been waylaid by Cybill’s mother, Muffie, drawn into a circle of emaciated blond women, Muffie the blondest and most emaciated of all. Richard, though, was still on the move, striding across the room. Finally he stopped in front of Tommy’s dad, gave the disgraced doctor a friendly clap on the shoulder, kissed Tommy’s mom on the cheek, shook Tommy’s hand. He asked Dr. van Stratten about his golf handicap and, when Dr. van Stratten proved too stuttery-stunned to mount much of a reply, started talking about his own. Everyone in the room was watching the exchange while pretending not to. After a bit, a couple of the men broke free of their conversations, wandered over to the newly formed group, greeted Dr. van Stratten, if not as warmly as Richard had, at least politely. Women soon followed, congregating around Mrs. van Stratten. Richard, Alice realized, had single-handedly saved Dr. and Mrs. van Stratten from complete social pariahdom. She found herself experiencing her first positive feelings toward her stepfather in days, since their ill-fated trip into town.