Chapter Thirteen
Willa had indeed passed the word in the family that they weren’t to exchange gifts this year. She didn’t know what was customary right after a funeral, but she suspected doing so would be inappropriate during their time of mourning. However, the recent dust-up with Sid made her think that she shouldn’t be closing off ways they could all communicate. The fact that she wanted him out of the house seemed somehow beside the point at this particular time, and she confessed to herself a creeping sense of guilt about all the plots she had been considering to thwart him. Oh, he couldn’t be counted on to give anybody anything himself, and no doubt he’d have some rant on the hypocrisies of the tradition to rationalize his stinginess. But she could use the gift-giving as an excuse t
