life (and something to think about besides Mary Anne, who's his only kid). And my mom has been so sad since the divorce. She needs some fun, too.

Mrs. Pike was putting on her coat and hat, and tossing things in her purse. "Mallory's upstairs doing her homework," she told me, "but she'll be down soon. She wants to see you. Margo's in the rec room, and Nicky's at the Barretts' playing with Buddy. Do you know the Barretts?"

I shook my head.

"They live a few doors down — toward your house. Our kids and their kids are back and forth all the time. Nicky'll probably bring Buddy over here at some point today. You won't need to call Mrs. Barrett. She's very relaxed, and she'll probably know he's here, anyway."

"Okay," I said.

"I guess that's it." Mrs. Pike stooped down to kiss Claire. "See you later, pumpkin," she said. "Wear your jacket if you go outside. It's chilly today." (Was it ever!) Then she called upstairs to Mallory and downstairs to Margo to let them know she was leaving — and she was gone.

I looked at Claire. "Let's go see what Margo's doing, okay?"

Claire nodded and I led her down to the rec room.

What Margo was doing was performing. She had put on a big floppy straw hat and a long filmy dress with some beads and scarves, and was dancing around to "Puff, the Magic Dragon," which was playing at full volume on the children's record player. When she knew the words, she mouthed them.

Claire and I plopped ourselves down on the couch and pretended we were the audience. When the song ended, Margo made a sweeping bow and Claire and I clapped loudly.

"Bravo!" I shouted.

"Bravo!" Claire shouted.

Margo took another bow.

I heard a clatter of footsteps in the kitchen and Mallory called down, "Hi, Dawn. What's eight times seven?"

"Hi, Mal," I called back. "You know that one."

"Fifty-six?" she asked.

"Right!" I said.