—
The test went exactly as Michelle’s notes had outlined. After Hunter paid all charges in advance, they proceeded to an inner office where an unsmiling middle-aged woman collected buccal swabs from Caroline, Hunter, and Lili. If she recognized any of them, she gave no sign, although the receptionist kept sneaking peeks in their direction. Peggy then signed the witness forms, and they were told they’d have the results back from the lab in three to five business days.
“Well, that was pretty anticlimactic,” Michelle said as they were leaving the clinic.
“I assume we’ll have the results by the end of the week,” Hunter said, ushering them through the outer door.
“Never assume,” Michelle intoned solemnly. “Didn’t you once tell me that’s one of the first rules of law?”
“Nice to know you occasionally listen to your old man,” Hunter said, kissing her on the forehead. “Anyway, I’ve got to get going. Call me if you hear anything. Immediately,” he added unnecessarily.
“Of course.” Caroline watched her former husband walk toward his car. Out of one life and into another, she thought, finding his ability to compartmentalize nothing short of amazing.
“I better get a move on as well,” Peggy said. “Monday’s always a bitch. Are you coming in today?” she asked Michelle.
“From four to eight.”
“Good. See you later.” Peggy gave Caroline another hug. “You heading off to school?”
“No, I called in sick. Told them I might be coming down with something.”
“You are looking a little green around the gills.”
“I’m fine,” Caroline said, although the truth was that she was feeling kind of queasy. While the DNA test had been as quick and painless as advertised, the simple swab had taken more out of her than she’d thought it would.
“And you,” Peggy said, turning toward Lili. “You seem like a nice girl. Very composed and mature for your age. Whatever the test results, I really hope your intentions were good. Because my friend here has been through a hell of a lot, and if it turns out this is some sort of scam, well”—she flashed Lili her most beatific smile—“I just might have to kill you.”
“She’s kidding, of course,” Caroline said quickly.
“Don’t be too sure,” Peggy said.
It was Michelle’s turn to smile. “Guess we’ll find out in three to five business days.”
“Need some help?” Lili asked, entering the living room to find Caroline struggling to put together the six-foot-tall artificial Christmas tree that had been stuffed in a cardboard box in the basement, like Count Dracula in his coffin, for the past five years.
“I think I’ve almost got it,” Caroline said. “Just this top part here.” She stretched on the tips of her toes to attach the final clump of plastic branches, then stood back to survey her handiwork. “There. How does it look?”
“A bit squished.”
“Yeah, well, it’s been cooped up in a box for a long time, so…” She started pulling on the ends of the branches, turning some up, some down, twisting them this way and that until they began to fall more naturally. “There. That’s better. What do you think?”
“Starting to look good.”
“Luckily the lights come already attached,” Caroline said, plugging the extension cord into the wall socket and watching hundreds of miniature white bulbs sparkle to life, like tiny stars. “And voilà! The magic of Christmas.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“It’ll look better once we get all the ornaments on.” Caroline glanced toward the bags of Christmas decorations on the floor.
“You lugged all this stuff up by yourself?”
“Well, Michelle’s at the hospice, you were in your room, I had all this energy…”
Lili knelt down and reached into one of the bags, pulling out a small box containing a dozen silver balls. She lifted one into her hand, staring at her distorted reflection in its shiny surface.
“Go ahead,” Caroline urged. “Put it on the tree.”
“Can I?”
“Please.”
Lili hesitated. “Maybe we should wait till Michelle comes home.”
Caroline shook her head. “She was never very interested in this sort of stuff. That’s one of the reasons I stopped bothering. Every year I was dragging the damn thing up from the basement, and every year she’d find another excuse not to help decorate it—she didn’t like artificial trees, she’d ruin her manicure, she was going out with friends…Eventually I thought, Why am I doing this? It wasn’t like Michelle was tree-deprived. Her father had one—a real one. So did my mother. Hers was artificial, but it came completely decorated already, so…”
“You’re not very close with your mother, are you?” Lili interrupted, hanging the silver ornament on one of the tree’s middle branches and watching the bough bend slightly with its weight.
“Sorry if it was so obvious.”