Hoyt was next door with the Collier kids. Good neighbors are a blessing especially when they have twins the same age as your youngest. You can call it playtime instead of babysitting and free yourself whenever you need to. Doris made a mental note to return the favor over the holidays. But right now she would take advantage of the late-morning stillness, turn on the tree, wrap a few gifts and eat lunch by the television set while watching As the World Turns. Oakdale and the Hughes family were a welcome diversion to everything going on in her life. Christmas was coming down like the snowstorm everyone on the radio was predicting. Her dad was in the hospital. Her sister was acting like everything was fine when she knew everything wasn’t. Milton wasn’t worthy of her sister’s love, and she knew something was going on. What, exactly, she wasn’t sure and she wasn’t even sure Colleen knew. But she would find out. Just as soon as Christmas was over and the dust settled on this thing with her dad, she would find out.
