He laughed. “On the map on the map. I’ve got some ideas for this burg.” He went on to tell her about the business district he envisioned, complete with restaurants and fancy shops. He talked with his hands, framing his ideas in the air in front of both of them. “I’m a dreamer, I guess.”

“It’s not so bad to dream,” she said, again feeling like a traitor. His dream ran in direct contrast to Ted’s.

The front door opened behind them. Grant leaned outside. Allison jumped up. “Frank!” she said.

“Why it’s Annie Oakley!” He turned his fingers into guns and shot at her. His eyelids looked heavy, as though they wanted to seal shut.

“I was just going,” she said.

“This gal can sing. Did you know she could sing?” Grant said.

Nick raised his eyebrows. “I’ll bet she can.”

Allison’s face went hot. “I’d better go.”

“Have a glass of wine with us. We saved you some cab,” Nick said.

“We’re talking about the hearing. Might interest you,” Grant said.

“Nothing could interest me less,” she blurted out. “I mean . . . I didn’t say that. Good night, gentlemen.” Her photo session could wait.

Nick laughed. “Good night then, Allison.”

“Lasso you later,” Grant said.

“Yee-haw.” Allison gathered her camera and tripod and headed across her lawn, toward home.

The Christmas lights on their house went out as she stepped onto their front porch. They were on a timer, set to go off at ten thirty, but the serendipity of the timing made it feel like a judgment. She glanced back to see whether Nick had gone back inside. He hadn’t. He was watching her from his porch, his feet bare upon the wood.

13

DECEMBER 14

If Suzanne heard “Jingle Bell Rock” one more time, she was going to take one of the guys who was selling tiny remote-controlled airplanes throughout the shopping mall and throw him and his little Styrofoam planes down the escalator. Four months into the pregnancy, she was supposed to be beyond the nausea, but the lights and the noise, the sugary stench emanating from the stores, the pomposity of Santa’s crystal palace in the atrium, and Santa himself, who had winked at her lasciviously as she walked by, all had a weakening effect.