Chapter 14

Glendon, Pat, and Anne arrived first, which was a bit awkward. They formed a group in one corner of the living room. Harold kept himself busy in the kitchen until Ralph and Olga arrived. Then he joined them—in a different corner of the living room.

I went from group to group, not knowing what to do. Glendon took charge of the music, which was good; he had a good sense of that, and kept exclaiming in either delight or scorn the songs I had selected.

“It’s okay,” he assured me. “I’ll fix that.”

I shrugged and left him to it, though Harold, from the other side of the room, caught my eye and shook his head. Glendon’s pushing himself forward was something that Harold thought poor form.

When the buzzer sounded again, I was surprised to hear Hugh’s voice, asking if he might join the party. I pressed the door button, then went to Harold.

“You didn’t give me his name.”

“He said he couldn’t come. I guess his situation changed.”