“Practicing. Where does that get you?” he said, casting a cold eye at the actors. Allison gave him a hug.

Her mood lifted the minute she walked amid the lit-up houses outside. Most of the townspeople seemed to be coming out, the adults walking toward the school en masse, the younger teenagers heading off to various houses to babysit. She ran into Jillian at the intersection of Walnut and Tunlaw.

“Where’s your coat, honey?” Allison tried to kiss her, but Jillian dodged her.

“It’s not cold.”

“It’s winter.”

“I’m fine.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Why do you always think something is the matter!” She skulked off, toward the Davenport-Gardners’ house.

Jillian had been irritable since last week, when she came home with pierced ears. Allison went over and over it, trying to figure out how she and Ted could have handled it better. As far as she could tell, they had been model parents, listening without interruption to Jillian’s story about her secret friendship with Lindy and their clandestine trip to the shopping mall.

Allison had been disturbed by Jillian’s lack of candor, but it seemed designed to protect her and Ted rather than offend. It didn’t seem worth punishing her for. All in all Jillian was a good kid. Even good kids messed up sometimes. Ted was less forgiving. He looked at Jillian with such a hurt expression that Jillian burst into tears. Soon Allison was consoling both of them.

The ear piercing was a disappointment for Allison, who had pictured going to a nice jewelry store to get them pierced on Jillian’s sixteenth birthday. She’d imagined helping pick out earrings that Jillian would treasure, earrings in which she might walk down the aisle one day. Instead, Jillian’s experience had been tawdry. A mall kiosk. Cubic zirconium baubles. Apparently Kaye had given her consent, which was a serious lapse in judgment.

But who was Allison to judge Kaye? She’d kissed the woman’s husband! What kind of person was she?

She spotted Ted and Terrance near Peanut Place. Their gaits were identical. She felt terrible, seeing Ted. Poor Ted. “Yoo-hoo,” Allison called.

Terrance gave her a bear hug.

“Ted’s going to say my name at the show,” Terrance said.

“It’s not a show, Terr. It’s a hearing,” Ted explained. Allison could hear in his voice that it wasn’t the first time he’d said this.

“He’s going to talk about brothers and stuff. About the old days,” Terrance said.

“You can wave if you want to, to let the audience know who you are,” Ted said.

“I’m going to wave at the show,” Terrance said.