“Did you ever finish that koi pond, Bryan?” Ludo asked, deliberately changing the subject. I was grateful. I was beginning to realize more and more how foolish my assumption had been all those years ago. “Jefferson is planning on having one put in for me.”
“That was supposed to be a birthday surprise.”
We all laughed at Jeff’s affronted exclamation.
“As a matter of fact…,” Uncle Bryan began.
* * * *
In a matter of minutes it would be midnight and the start of 2003.
There was little left on the buffet. The television had been tuned to d**k Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
I was sitting beside my mother on the large comfortable couch while Mark lounged at her other side.
“Your grandmother used to love celebrating New Year’s Eve,” she murmured. “Until 1959, she and Grandfather would tr
