Page 162 of For I Have Sinned

Once I hang my coat up on the wall-mounted rack, I help Alex out of his, and we head to the kitchen to see the damage from Vince’s distress.

“Good! You’re here!” Vince beams, rounding the island to carefully hug Alex before coming to Lillian and me.

“We are! And Alex volunteered to help you out!” I lightly pat Alex’s arm. “Put him to work, but be kind. He is still healing.”

“Of course,” Vince says, turning towards Alex. “The food is all done, but you can set the table.”

Vince ushers him to where all the table settings are, explaining where each one will be placed while I snag a bottle of wine and Esther snatches up some glasses.

Alex looks over at me, a plea for help in his eyes as Vince goes on and on. All I do is grin and blow him a kiss before spinning around and going to the living room, where Amelia is already sipping on a glass of wine, the open bottle sitting on the coffee table.

Her eyes meet mine, and she smiles. “Is he still freaking out?”

“Seems like he’s calmed down.” I set the wine I grabbed on the table and take a seat next to her. Esther plops down beside me while Lillian sits across from us. “Although I think Alex might be the one stressing now because Vince put him in charge of setting the table.”

Amelia groans. “Good luck to him. I don’t know why Vince just doesn’t do it himself since he needs it to be perfect.”

“I’m surprised he asks for help at all.” I grab the open bottle of wine and pour myself a glass.

“I’ve been hiding from him ever since he yelled at Esther because he thought she was going to burn the sweet potato casserole.”

“I told him I wasn’t a good cook.” She shrugs, taking a sip of her wine.

“And where is Asher during all of this?” I question.

“You know how he is,” Amelia sighs. “He’s trying his best to be supportive without stepping on anyone’s toes.”

I shake my head with a laugh. “Next year, one of us will have to host. I’m not sure Vince will want to do this again.”

“Are you talking shit about me?” Vince asks as he strolls into the room, grabbing the bottle of wine and drinking directly from it.

“No. I was saying how next year, one of us will host.” I repeat myself.

He lowers the bottle slowly, his eyes dancing between the four of us. “Are you saying I’m a bad host?”

“Oh my gosh,” Amelia and Esther say at the same time.

“I’m saying that it would only be fair to have everyone host each year so it doesn’t put a lot of stress on one person.”

He nods. “Smart. I volunteer Amelia to do it next year.”

“Fine.” She huffs in annoyance.

“You’ll be a great host.” I nudge her with my shoulder.

“Yeah, because I’m not going to cook my own shit. I’ll get everything catered.”

Vince’s eyes go wide at the mention of cooking, like he is afraid something is burning in the kitchen. With the bottle of wine in his hand, he spins around and hurries back to the food.

“Yeah… after this year, I’m not sure Vince will want to host again.” I chuckle.

We all laugh when Lillian suggests, “I’ll host one year.”

“I’m sure we can all make time to come to New York for Thanksgiving,” I say with a smile.

“Well, it would be here.” Lillian takes a sip of her wine before elaborating. “I’ve been looking for places to live.”

“Really?” I ask with excitement. “Does Alex know?”