“When we can.”
“Do you—”
I cut my mom off, standing abruptly. “Stop asking her questions,” I whisper-shout, shooting daggers at my mom before holding out my hand to Kennedy. “We’re going to get dessert.”
The smile that splits across her face is immediate, and she takes my hand. We dart off in the direction of the kitchen, the faint smells of our earlier dinner reaching us. The cleanup after Thanksgiving usually takes a couple hours, but no one has bothered to start yet, so we have to step over mashed potato on the floor before we get to the fridge and freezer.
Kennedy’s quiet behind me, leaning against the kitchen island. I take out a pint of ice cream from the freezer, setting it on the side before opening the cutlery drawer.
“Are you okay, Ken?” I ask slowly, tentatively. She’s always been the talkative one. The one to keep dying conversations alive with random facts and anecdotes. It always unsettles me a little when she’s this quiet.
I turn when she doesn’t respond, and she blinks at me a few times. “What? Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, handing her a spoon.
“I’m good, just, you know, the holidays and . . .” She gestures vaguely at everything, and I get what she means. How she misses her family. How she wishes they were here. That she talked to them more.
“You can always talk to me. You know that, right?”
“I know.” She sighs, rolling her eyes with a short laugh. “Talking about my mom and my sister just makes me upset, and I don’t exactly want to be upset right now.”
“Okay,” I say softly. “Well, I’m here when you want to talk.”
She twists her mouth to the side, hiding a goofy smile. “Thank you.”
I nod, turning back to the fridge and opening the doors wider. “What kind of dessert are you thinking? We have literally everything.”
Kennedy hums behind me, stepping into me to whisper, “What about cannolis?”
I suck in a sharp breath. “Too soon, Ken, too soon.”
EVAN
I’m about to have my third serving of pumpkin pie when my phone pings with a text.
Scarlett:
Are you going to help with the interview with my aunt?
Evan:
Happy Thanksgiving to you too, angel.
Scarlett:
It’s a yes or no question.
