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Not you came.

Not even Who is the large tattooed man standing by you like he’ll bite if anyone else ventures too close?

“Nope.”

“But what about dessert? Where’s that?”

“At the bakery, probably,” I say. “That’s where I keep most of it.”

Mom’s mouth pinches. “I told everyone we’d have something after dinner.”

“Then I hope someone bought something.”

“Not even—” She glances at the sideboard, where there is a sterling silver platter awaiting my usual offering of tribute. “I assumed you were joking. There’s twenty-two people here.”

“Twenty-four now,” Kane chimes in.

My mother looks up at him. She hasn’t decided what she’s doing about him yet. I can see the calculation running behind her eyes: the size of him, the watch, the rings, the fact that Aunt Sherry is already staring at him from the loveseat with a naked, dreamy expression on her face.

“You must be the…” She can’t say it.

“Kane,” he says. “Thank you for the invitation.”

“I wasn’t the one who—” She stops. “Well. Of course.”

Then she turns back to me. Evidently, she’s decided to try pretending Kane doesn’t exist.

I wish her the best of luck with that. He’s 6’4”, built like he plays in the NFL, and he’s got eyes that see right through all her bullshit. Ignoring him is a fool’s errand.

“There’s no dessert at all, then. Alright. Go see what’s in the freezer, there might be that Entenmann’s from Thanksgiving, and the coffee needs starting, and someone has to slice the⁠—”

“Mom.”

She keeps going. “—the bread, because Virginia bought a loaf but nobody’s touched it, and the gravy needs a stir before it skins over⁠—”

“Mom.”

She stops.

“I came as a guest,” I remind her.

The dish towel twists in her hands. “Pardon?”

“We talked about this on the phone. I’m not hired help. Nor am I an indentured servant. I’m here as a guest, like everybody else.”

“Yes, but you’re here now.”

There it is. The family philosophy in a few short words.

You’re here now, so lift that. Fix this. Make sure Aunt Sherry has her drink topped off. Connor prefers the end piece. Your father’s guests need coffee. Your sister has had a difficult day.

You’re here now, so be useful.

“I’m here for dinner,” I tell her firmly. “If the gravy burns, I’ll eat dry beef with everybody else.” I look past her at the table. “So, which chair is mine?”

For a second, she looks like she might fight back. Right here, in front of everybody, in front of him.

The full performance, Delilah Aileen, the hand on the wrist.