New Year by Bonnie Dee Page B

and boots. I imagined that Baby had about reached her limit too, even with her thick fur coat.
    I was pretty sure I was heading in more or less the right direction, even though none of the houses looked familiar. I wondered if I gave the dog her head, if she’d lead me home like a horse returning to its barn. Except this wasn’t her home. She wasn’t any more familiar with this area than I was.
    Another crossroads. I glanced down and saw it was a dead end , so I trudged on. With every step, my frustration at myself grew. A grown-assed man who couldn’t be trusted to take a dog for a walk without getting lost—it was humiliating.
    Another block and another right -hand turn, and still nothing looked familiar. Tiny shards of ice pelted me along with the wind, and I worried about Baby’s paws. Could a dog get frostbite? But she seemed happy enough, still prancing along even though her tan fur was encrusted with snow.
    I stopped and looked around at the hedges and fences and fucking Christmas decorations. I wondered if I was going to have to swallow my pride, knock on the door of one of the places , and ask if they knew where Stan and Jackie Stevens lived. Then I glimpsed a light. Another goddamn Christmas light, but this one was star-shaped and shone above a stable.
    I recognized the nativity from earlier. Somehow I’d ended up nearly back where I started. I walked over to the fence and peered through at the wise men and shepherds and holy family. Baby Jesus’s mouth was a pursed little bow. He didn’t look like a kid who would grow up to be a revolutionary. Would he point me home if I prayed to him now?
    Baby barked and pulled to the left, nearly jerking me off my feet. All right. I decided to trust her instincts and followed her along a route that looked increasingly familiar, although a lot darker than when we’d walked it the first time. Clouds and an early sunset had turned on the streetlights already. They illuminated the sidewalk before me all the way back to the Stevenses’ house. I hurried up the driveway toward the brightly lit house and into the garage.
    God bless heated garages. I poured kibble into Baby’s dish. She crunched it up quickly while I removed my snowy coat and boots.
    The garage door flew open , and Anna stepped through. “Where have you been? We were about to go out looking for you. What happened?”
    “I got temporarily misplaced, but I found my way back. Jesus and the nativity star pointed the way,” I cracked.
    She didn’t smile. “Well… I’m glad you’re okay. But hurry up, okay? My mom’s been holding dinner while we waited for you.”
    “Right. I’m really sorry.”
    “That’s okay.”
    I followed her inside, reaching down and pulling up my socks, one of them damp from the hole in my boot. I wished I had time to put on shoes, but Anna grabbed my hand and led me straight to the living room. All eyes were on me , and I squirmed inside. Whether they were judging and finding me incompetent or it was my own self-doubt, I don’t know. But I felt about an inch tall.
    “He’s okay,” Anna announced and gave my hand a little squeeze. “Just got turned around.”
    Aunt Patty smiled sympathetically. “This neighborhood can be confusing. We nearly turned on the wrong street on our way here.”
    “Thank heavens you’re all right. We were about to send out a search party.” Jackie set her wineglass aside and rose from her seat. “Well, I guess we’d better eat.”
    After all that time outdoors, I needed to pee, but I wasn’t about to excuse myself or make them wait for even another second. I accompanied Anna into the dining room and took my place beside her.
    A s the conversation moved on, my embarrassment at getting lost faded. I was able to stay pretty quiet and concentrate on my meal while the rest of them talked about relatives and family memories. Chloe’s two little boys seemed about as bored as I was with the conversation and, after bolting their food, asked to be