Lakeshore Christmas. Сьюзен Виггс

over to greet them. “Not your usual suspects,” he murmured to Eddie. Ray was one of Eddie’s closest friends, though they couldn’t be more different. Ray came from a solid, stable background. He’d been born and raised right here in Avalon. He was a good keyboard player, mediocre at pool and big on practical jokes.

      He was also Eddie’s parole officer.

      They’d met as boys at summer camp. They’d met again as adults, the night of the accident. Ray, a rookie back then, had been in charge of taking a statement from Eddie.

      In his hospital bed, his injuries relatively minor after the fiery wreck, Eddie had not been able to offer much in the way of explanation. Ray hadn’t wanted to hear about Eddie’s romantic troubles that night or about Eddie’s issues with the Christmas holiday. Looking back on that time, it was surprising that they’d become friends at all, let alone bandmates.

      Eddie introduced the Veltry boys to Noah Shepherd, a friend of his who played in the band. Noah was also a veterinarian who had access to large amounts of hay. Noah was with his stepson, Max Bellamy. The kid was growing like a weed, pushing his way awkwardly into adolescence. “These guys will help you with the truckload of hay bales,” Eddie said, introducing Omar, Randy and Moby.

      “Great,” Noah replied. “Grab some work gloves out of the cab.”

      A dark, polished Maybach glided to a stop in the parking lot, and out stepped the pudgy kid Eddie had encountered the other night. The moment the elegant ride slipped away, some of the other teenagers present circled him like a school of sharks, taunting him, one of them tugging at his hoodie.

      “That’s Cecil Byrne,” said Omar, who’d noticed Eddie’s interest. “He just moved here and he’s, like, the richest kid in town. Everybody hates him.”

      “Because he’s new? Or rich?”

      Omar shrugged. “He’s pretty much of a geek. People can’t stand that.”

      “Do me a favor,” Eddie said to Randy, the eldest of the Veltrys. “Go see if he can help with some transformers.”

      Randy nodded, clearly grasping his task. He waded through the shark tank. The other kids gave way without hesitation, some of them greeting him and confirming Eddie’s instinct that the Veltry boys were considered cool. Randy, with his Jay-Z-style good looks and attitude, simply said, “Yo, Cecil, we could use some help with some electrical transformers over here.”

      Cecil nodded and followed Randy with unconcealed relief. He still had that outcast look, the look of a kid who wasn’t comfortable in his own skin. High school was a bumpy ride for kids like that.

      Guys were setting up power tools, plugging them into long orange extension cords. One of the volunteers, a local business owner who’d never liked Eddie for reasons Eddie didn’t quite understand, leaned over to his friend and said, “Look who’s back in town. Mr. Runaway Reindeer.”

      Eddie made a kissing sound with his mouth. “Always a pleasure to see you again, Lyall.”

      The guy jerked a thumb at the Veltry boys. “Check out the baby outlaws,” he told his buddies. “Better keep track of your tools.”

      “Come on, Lyall,” Eddie said, grinning through his temper. “Don’t be an ass.” The two of them went back way too far, all the way back to their summer camp days, when Eddie had stolen a girl from Lyall.

      “Then quit bringing your trashy kids around and we won’t have a problem,” Lyall said.

      Eddie stared down at the ground. Counted to ten. Silently recited the serenity prayer. Forced his fists to unfurl. “Let’s not do this, Lyall.”

      “Fine. We won’t do this. Just keep an eye on those kids.”

      Damn, thought Eddie, counting again. Why do I do this to myself? I could be back in the city, playing my guitar, or—

      A car door slammed. “Hello,” sang a female voice. “We brought hot chocolate.”

      He looked over to see Maureen Davenport with a hugely pregnant woman. They started pouring drinks from a thermos and handing them out. The blond, pregnant woman was pretty enough, but it was Maureen who held his attention. Dour little Maureen, wrapped up like a cannoli in a muffler, peering out at the world from behind her thick glasses.

      He sidled over to her. “Didn’t know I’d see you here. I guess you can’t get enough of me.”

      She pulled the muffler down and offered a tight little smile. “Right. You are so irresistible. What are you doing here, Mr. I-Can’t-Stand-Christmas?” Without waiting for an answer, she turned to the other woman. “This is my friend, Olivia Davis.”

      “Hey, Lolly.” A big guy in a parka showed up, bending to give her a peck on the cheek. “Connor Davis,” he said. “This is my brother, Julian Gastineaux. He’s a Cornell student, just visiting for the weekend.”

      They didn’t look like brothers; Connor resembled a lumberjack while Julian was clearly of mixed race, longlimbed and slender as a marathon runner. He wore a fleece-lined bomber cap but despite the dorky headgear, nearly every teenage girl present seemed to be swooning over him.

      “I’m Eddie Haven.” Eddie turned to the blond woman again. “Lolly. Have we met?”

      “Lolly Bellamy,” she said. “We both went to Camp Kioga, a hundred years ago.”

      “I didn’t know you went to Camp Kioga,” said Maureen.

      “Five summers,” Eddie said. “Best summers of my life.”

      “Olivia and Connor turned it into a year-round resort,” Maureen said.

      “Good to know,” Julian said, aiming a teasing grin at Olivia. “I’m ordering room service breakfast in the morning.”

      “Huh,” she said, “that’s for paying guests only.” She held out an insulated paper cup to Eddie. “Hot chocolate?”

      He thanked her, and she went off with her husband and brother-in-law. Eddie turned to Maureen. “I’m here for the drinks. What about you?”

      “I wanted to help out.”

      “Let’s both be honest and say we didn’t want to be alone tonight, and neither of us had a better offer.”

      She frowned as though unsure whether she believed him or not. “Who says I didn’t have a better offer?”

      “Yeah? What did you turn down in order to build a manger?”

      “That’s none of your business.”

      “You’re trying to psych me out,” he accused.

      “Sure. Of course that’s what I’m doing. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go uncrate a sheep.”

      The air came alive with the sound of hammering. Eddie worked on the lighting and sound for the display, because these were things he knew. And in spite of himself, he kept an eye on the Veltry brothers—not because he thought they might steal something, but because they had wandering attention spans. He commandeered Max and Omar to aim the floodlights at the display from all angles, with the most powerful beam installed above, streaming down into the middle of the manger. There were also yards of light strings that would outline the structure and the church, as well.

      Maureen was hovering nearby. “It’s not coming together,” she said, her head tipped back as she critically surveyed the display.

      “People are freezing their asses off,” he pointed out. “Hard to do your best work when you’re freezing your ass off.”

      “That’s because it’s twenty degrees out. Let’s try putting on some Christmas music,” she said.

      “Oh, please.”

      “Not everyone feels the way you do about Christmas,” she said.

      “And not everyone feels the