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“Someday—”

“—and I’ Christmas ”

“Zach and Lexi are not going to school together, Jude Stop worrying This is nothing I promise you ”

“Fine,” she finally said “I will keep my opinion to myself ”

“Yeah,” he said, sood at that ”

Jude sighed “I’ll try But I’ll tell you this, Miles They better go to separate schools ”

Moving with an uncustoreat room and returned to her place at the end of the table Miles held out her chair for her and squeezed her shoulder as she sat down

Thethe sudden quiet Mia and Zach were both looking at her with the wariness of the guilty

She ht smile and said, “Don’t you just love it when it snows for Christmas?”

Someone answered—honestly, she barely kneho it was Perhaps herabout the weather

Jude’s hands were tre just a little, and if she were a woman who had to worry about her blood pressure, she would have worried now She understood suddenly why so many of her friends had warned her about the stresses of senior year It was only December, and already their lives felt out of kilter, as if the ater that had always buoyed theer in shalloater, unseen shoals Like love and parties and children who lied to you

“I need to return that pink sweater,” Mia said at one point “It’s way too big I want to get so to wear to Timmy’s party on Saturday You want to come to the mall with me, Mom?”

Jude looked up “Timmy’s party?”

“It’s on Saturday, remember?” Mia said

“You two are not going to a party on Saturday,” Jude said, stunned that they would even think to ask