8

—

Before bed that night Nicola stood in the bathroom brushing her hair. When it was loose, her hair reached her waist. But it was almost never loose because June Bug loved Nicola’s braid.

June Bug sat at Nicola’s feet now, staring up, so the triangular flaps of her ears fell back. She looked so funny like that, her ears long and Chihuahua-pointed instead of folded like two small silky napkins, one black, one white.

Once Nicola had finished brushing, she braided, weaving the thick sections of hair together over her shoulder.

June Bug shifted from side to side in anticipation.

Nicola secured the end of the braid with the hair elastic.

June Bug bounced.

“Okay, June Bug!”

When Nicola leaned sideways, June Bug sprang and grabbed hold of the braid. Nicola stepped into the hall with the dog hanging on. She got all the way to the kitchen where her mother was working on the giant holiday crossword puzzle, the one that filled two whole newspaper pages.

“I need an eight-letter word for ‘heavenly being,’” Mina said, before looking up and frowning. “Nicola, that’s fifteen pounds of dog dangling from your braid. It can’t be good for your neck.”

June Bug let go, thudding four-footedly to the floor.

“Thank you, June Bug,” Mina said, returning to the puzzle.

June Bug headed for her pillow in the corner, Nicola for the chair across from her mother. She leaned over and swept the eraser tailings off the newspaper with the end of her braid.

“How did Grandma Bream die?” she asked.

“Cancer. Do you remember much about her?”

“I remember visiting her apartment. I remember her cinnamon buns.”

Mina smiled. “She liked to bake.”

“And I remember her funeral, sort of. She didn’t seem very old.”

“She wasn’t, unfortunately. Not even seventy.”

“Grammy and Grampy don’t seem old, either. Not like people in a retirement home.”

“Grammy and Grampy are amazing. Seraphim.”

“What?”

“That’s the eight-letter word for a heavenly being.” Mina searched the vast network of squares for the place to write the word.

“I’d like to take June Bug to visit a retirement home. Is that okay?”

Nicola half-wished that her mother would say no. Shady Oaks smelled bad, and the old man, Mr. Milton, frightened her with his booming voice and the strange things he said. Even worse was that man stomping on the snow angel.

Except if Mina did say no, June Bug would have to wait until the priest found her a different place to do a good deed.

“What retirement home?” Mina asked.

“It’s called Shady Oaks. It’s over by the church.”

“What church?”

“Our Lady of Perpetual Help. You remember. I went there with that girl Lindsay.”

“Does the retirement home have anything to do with the church?”

“No,” Nicola said, in case her mother was heading toward an Embarrassing Talk.

Nicola had suffered through several of these. The Embarrassing Talk about Where Babies Come From. The Embarrassing Talk about What Your Big Brother Is Going Through and Why He Is So Mean. Nicola would rather not have known the facts in these Embarrassing Talks. She wasn’t planning on making babies, not after living with Jackson. And after living with ­Jared, she was never going to have anything to do with boys.

“I stopped there today when I was walking June Bug and asked if I could bring her. They said to come back tomorrow.”

“You already went? On your own?” Mina pushed the puzzle aside. “Nicola. We talked about this.”

Nicola hung her head. That was the talk about the Bad People Who Would Just Love to Get Their Hands on Unattended Children, which was not so much Embarrassing as Terrifying. She fiddled with the end of her braid.

“So you’ve already organized this visit?”

“Yes. I want June Bug to cheer up the old people. I’m hoping it will make up for the turkey and the tree and everything else. I’m hoping it will make her a good, kind dog who won’t get in so much trouble.”

“That’s lovely, Nicola,” Mina said. “I’m proud of you. Certainly you can go.”

Nicola smiled the way you do when you get something you don’t want very much. A small smile.

“But I’d like to go with you the first time.”

“That would be great,” Nicola said, brightening.

“And I’d like you to bring a friend.”

Nicola slumped. “Who?”

“Are you still not talking to Mackenzie?”

“She has other friends now.”

“What about Lindsay?”

“She’s not really a friend,” Nicola said. “She just sits next to me in school. She loves flowers and brides. And she follows me around at school, which is annoying.”

“It sounds like she wants to be friends with you.” Mina pointed across the kitchen. “The class list is in that drawer.”

Nicola found the list with the phone numbers. She took it to the den where Jared was playing on the computer. He kept the phone with him at all times, even in the bathroom. Even with Nicola telling him through the door, “I don’t think Julie Walters-Chen would be too impressed if she found out you were sitting on the toilet while you talked to her!”

“Don’t tie up the line,” Jared said now.

Nicola stuck out her tongue and went to the living room to call.

Lindsay answered, sounding so happy that Nicola had phoned. “What did you get for Christmas?”

“Nothing,” Nicola said. “I didn’t want anything.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“The best thing I got,” Lindsay said, “was a subscription to Today’s Bride.”

Nicola sighed. “Can you give Ignacio a message? He was going to help me find a place to visit with June Bug. But I found a place myself.”

“What place?”

“A retirement home. I’m going to take June Bug to do her tricks.”

“Oh,” Lindsay cried. “That sounds like fun! Can I come? Please?”