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“I wasn’t lost. I knew where I was.”

Mrs. O’Leary was on the microphone again. “Harris has been found. Thank you, all. The movie will resume now.”

I glanced over at Mrs. O’Leary and saw Fiona standing there. She must’ve told her we’d found Harris. The lights that had been turned up to help in the search went dim again.

“Do you want to watch the rest of the movie now?” Will asked Harris, holding out his hand. “The scary part is over.”

Harris put his hand in Will’s. “I wasn’t scared,” he said. “It was just too loud.”

“Oh, right, of course.” Will led him toward the chairs. “You coming?” he asked me over his shoulder.

“You know him?” Ryan asked me.

“Not really,” I said. “Just from the hot cocoa trailer.” We were at the back of the crowd, now mostly in shadows because of the low lights.

Fiona joined my brother and Will at the chairs.

“I’d better go,” I said. They’d notice I hadn’t followed them.

“Okay,” Ryan said and took a step toward the street.

“You’re leaving?” I asked. “Not watching the rest of the movie?”

“I’ve seen it before,” he said, quoting what I’d said earlier. “Know what happens.”

I wanted to say something, anything, to make him stay. I wanted him to come sit with us, like Will was. Watch the rest of the movie, laugh, hang out, and not worry about who might see us, but I knew he couldn’t. Not now. Not yet. Soon.

Chapter 28

“And then Buddy found me!” Harris finished recounting the story to my moms, who were sitting on the couch, eyes going between me and Harris as they heard about everything that had happened tonight.

I was trying to act casual. Downplay the lost part, play up the watching-the-movie-together part. It wasn’t really working.

“Buddy?” Mom asked. “As in Buddy?” She pointed out the window even though his hot cocoa trailer wasn’t out there.

“Yeah, him,” Harris said.

“I’m so glad he found you,” Mom said. “He really is such a good guy.”

“Everyone was looking,” I said, maybe too quickly. “Even Ryan.”

“Ryan?” Mom asked.

“Our neighbor!” Harris said, remembering.

“Yes, isn’t that nice?” I said.

“I told him we couldn’t talk to him, though,” Harris added.

Marcus gave a low chuckle from where he was sitting on the floor wrapping a present for our grandparents. They weren’t coming for Christmas this year, but our moms would send a package in the next couple days.

“You did?” Momma asked with a sigh. “Harris.”

“Good,” Mom chimed in. “Because Mr. Moreno had his yard guy hack our shrubs. They look terrible. And this is the wrong time of year to prune shrubs. It’s going to stunt their growth in the spring.”

“I forgot to tell you on Thanksgiving that Mr. Moreno mentioned them crossing into his yard,” I said, trying to lessen her anger over the situation.

“Crossing into his yard,” Mom said. “Please. He wants a reaction out of us, but we are going to remain silent. And if Ryan tells his parents we’re giving them the silent treatment, so be it.”