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against her. I squirmed away before too many people could see us. Mrs. Marcella spotted us though and gave out a big smile, but at least she didn’t come over and tell Mom how cute I was.
    â€œI’m sure that Pastor Mike was prepared to do whatever was necessary.”
    â€œHow come he didn’t jump right in there with Father Tom and help him out then?”
    â€œOh, he probably wanted Father Tom to get the credit. It was a Catholic ceremony, after all.”
    After I kept pestering her about what she and Pastor Mike had been talking about for so long, she reached down and started tickling me in the belly. I got to laughing so hard that I felt like I was about to break into little pieces. She only quit when I promised not to bug her any more about Pastor Mike. I knew I could always back out of it, because Mom hardly ever held me to my promises for more than a day or two.

Chapter 4
    When I got home from Mary’s blessing ceremony I was so starved I had Mom fry me up five strips of bacon, three fluffy scrambled eggs and a couple scoops of greasy hash browns. Mom seemed to like cooking me big meals when she wasn’t in such a rush to get to work or go grocery shopping or run errands or something.
    Mom must have really wanted to get skinny fast, because all she ate was half a cantaloupe and half a slice of whole wheat toast with no butter on it. She just drank a little water too instead of the glass or two of red wine she’d been having every day pretty regular ever since Dad dumped us. I figured she was giving up on the wine because it made her fat. But I didn’t ask her about it, because Mom got all worked up whenever I said something about her drinking. After lunch I was all set to go back down to Main Street and see what was going on with Mary. That was why I got this sick feeling when I saw Mom standing by the front door with her arms crossed giving me this know-it-all sort of grin. It usually meant that she had something for me to do that she knew I wouldn’t like doing. She was off from the hospital all day, and I was worried she wanted me to help her clean out the garage or rake leaves from the garden or do something stupid like that. But it was even worse.
    â€œLet’s drive up to Erie and see your Great Uncle Carl and Aunt Helen. We haven’t visited with them in months.”
    I started whining and griping right away, and it wasn’t because I hated Uncle Carl and Aunt Helen either. I actually kind of liked them since they were always giving me presents and candy and cookies and stuff. It was just that Mary was so new to town, and I wanted so bad to see what she was up to next. I liked being near her too, like I belonged there with her somehow. And with the town still planning on bulldozing her, I didn’t know how much time we had left.
    â€œYou’ll have plenty of opportunities to nose around. I doubt that big slab of concrete is going anywhere anytime soon, not with Father Tom and Carlos making such a fuss over it.”
    â€œDo you think their petition will do any good?”
    Mom shrugged, and then her cheeks turned a little red, like she was mad about something. Of course, Mom was always getting mad about something.
    â€œWho knows? Father Tom has a lot of clout around here.”
    Since it didn’t look like Mom was budging any, I decided to try sulking and pouting a little.
    â€œI miss Mary already. You’re always saying how I should make new friends.”
    Mom’s cheeks got even redder, and her eyes flared up a little so that they almost looked red too.
    â€œDon’t be silly, Nathan. If you get carried away with this Mary business, I won’t let you go down there at all.” Then all at once her eyes got milky and soft again, and her voice kind of evened out. “Anyway, your Uncle Carl hasn’t been feeling too well lately. I thought we could cheer him up.”
    â€œWhat’s wrong with him?”
    â€œHe’s just