Chapter 13

Poppi looks happy, in spite of the power outage. Lenore must have explained her absence in the wee hours of the morning in some way that Poppi believed.

He spots me and calls out, “There she is! Merry Christmas, Nik.”

This is the moment of truth. I haveto be able to do this. Thankfully, Lenore is currently nowhere in sight.

“Merry Christmas, Poppi. To everyone,” I say, looking around the table. Aunt Janice is wrapped up in a flannel robe, drinking something out of a coffee mug and smoking. Dennis must still be in bed.

Poppi offers, “Everyone try to find something for breakfast. We have cold pizza from yesterday, some salad, granola bars, and fresh pie.”

“And that’s cold, too,” adds Janice.

Ashley tries to sound cheerful, “We could make popcorn over the fire…”

“If we had Jiffy Pop,” I say. I get a diet soda from the fridge and head to the living room, guessing that Lenore is there.