Page 22 of A New Year Baby

I hesitate. “Mary—is Jack going to be there?”

She shrugs. “Still no word from him. He couldn’t even come home for Christmas, Stell. You know how important Christmas is to this family! I doubt my wedding is going to register on his radar.” Mary sighs deeply. “Actually... I might not even invite him.”

“Hey. He’s your brother… You have to invite him,” I tell her. “Life is too short to have beef with people we care about.”

“Please don’t talk about beef until I can get some of those pastries into my stomach,” Mary says with a groan.

“It’s just that I lost my brother,” I remind her. “So, I wouldn’t want to see you drift apart from yours.”

“I sent him a million texts, Stella! We all have. If he wanted to reply to us, he would.” She sighs, and makes air quotes with her fingers. “He’s just too ‘busy,’ I guess.”

Pausing, I chew on my lip thoughtfully. “I really hope he is okay.”

“Yes, of course he’s okay,” Mary tells me. “Jack is just being his Jackish, Jackoff self. Damn jerk,” she mumbles. Then she looks up at me with surprise. “Sorry. Pregnancy hormones.”

“It’s fine,” I tell her with a laugh. “I’m sure I’ve called him worse many times.”

“So can we do a cake tasting on like… Saturday?” Mary asks. “Is that too soon?”

“I’ll be ready,” I tell my old friend with a confident smile. “I’m going to bake you the best cake this town has ever seen.”

“I know you will,” she says happily. She chats with me a little bit more, and then turns to leave the store. I stare after her for a moment, thoughtfully. Then I look off into the distance, just wondering… and wondering.

“Jack,” I say softly, to nothing in particular. “Where are you?”

Of course, there’s no answer. No smoke signal. No flares. I sigh.

“Wherever you are… I hope you’re healthy and happy.”

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