I was unprepared for the way Em hurled herself into Nora’s arms—not to mention how aggressively Em began to kiss her. It was hard to be a bystander to such an assault. Surely I hadn’t kissed Em as savagely as Em was kissing Nora, or had I? Now my tongue was numb, as if I’d suffered a protracted dental procedure with repeated procaine injections. Or perhaps watching the way Em kissed Nora had numbed my tongue. I wanted Em to kiss me like that.

“That’s enough, Em—for Christ’s sake, stop!” Nora said, turning away from her. Set free from performing the snowshoer kiss, Em was panting like a dog—the kiss had winded her.

“There’s no way you just saw your mom plant that kiss on the snowshoer, Adam—don’t try to bullshit me,” Nora said. “Did Little Ray plant that kiss on you? Don’t lie to me, kiddo.” Em was nodding again, in her fashion. I was exposed, or my mother was, and I knew it.

“My mom just wanted to show me how you do a kiss like that. She was just showing me—she didn’t mean it!” I blurted out.

Nora held out her arms to me; she spoke very gently. “Come here, sweetie,” she said, my mother’s word for me. I went to Nora and let her hug me; I needed someone to hug me. To my surprise, Em came closer and hugged me between her and Nora.

“My mom said you’re not fooling around when you kiss someone like that,” I told them. I was crying. “Ray told me you better know what you mean—you better know what you’re promising—when you kiss someone like that,” I went on (and on) to them. I could feel Em’s head nodding against my back, and Nora hugged me harder.

“That’s all true, Adam,” Nora said softly. “But maybe Ray shouldn’t have kissed you like that, kiddo.”

“Maybe she shouldn’t have,” I whispered. I could feel Em nodding her head harder, but she no longer irritated me—she meant well. It was a lonely but strangely comforting feeling, to realize that Nora and Em were the closest friends I had.