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Avery grinned back at him, both of them now ignoring Kelly’s disgruntled huff. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Avery, the vegetable peeler is in the drawer to my left,” Kelly directed her, and Avery struggled not to roll her eyes at her mom as her dad headed back out to the car. “And when you’re done with that, do you mind pulling out the good silverware? The dining room is vacuumed, but we’ll need to make sure the study is too. And—”

“Mom, I’ve got it,” Avery said, irritated. “But I can’t peel and chop carrots and vacuum the study and get out silverware all at once.”

Kelly put her hands on the countertop, squeezing so tightly her knuckles went white. “I’m sorry, Avery,” she said, not sounding sorry at all. “There’s just a lot to do, and I’m stressed, and your dad—” she broke off, shaking her head. Avery’s stomach clenched, waiting for the other shoe to finally, finally drop. But Kelly just swallowed hard and shook her head. “Your dad hasn’t been around to help much this morning, so I need you to pitch in, okay?”

Avery’s stomach loosened, but only slightly. “Okay,” she said sullenly. “I’ll get started.”

From then on, the only noise was a knife hitting the cutting board.

Chapter Thirteen

Theo

“Boys, can you set the table?” Karl called from the kitchen.

“Be right there, Dad!” Jake yelled back. Theo paused their game before following him into the kitchen.

Karl had on an apron and was standing over a boiling pot of water, the steam making his glasses fog. “Grandma is coming, so five spaces,” Karl explained. Theo avoided saying what he wanted to say, which was that Evelyn was their step-grandmother. It felt churlish. She had been perfectly kind ever since Karl married Tiffany, but Theo found her vaguely annoying all the same.

“How’s that roommate of yours? Still giving you trouble?” Karl asked genially.

“Still weird as hell, yeah.”

Theo pulled out the plates and held one up to Karl, who shook his head. “My mom will want to see her china, over in the cabinet,” he instructed.

Theo went and pulled out Evelyn’s wedding china, which she had gifted to Karl and Theo’s mom on their wedding day. Theo had never quite understood the point of china—it couldn’t go in the dishwasher, which meant Thanksgiving and Christmas were just that much more work—but no one had asked him.

Jake followed behind Theo with the silverware, and they were almost done when their mom came into the kitchen, yawning so widely it hurt Theo’s jaw just to watch her. “Morning, boys,” Tiffany said sleepily. “Welcome home, Theo. And how was your concert, Jakey?”

“Really good. Tommy said my solo was perfect.”

Theo smothered a grin at Jake’s vaguely smug tone. “He was great,” Theo confirmed. Tiffany kissed Karl’s cheek and poured herself a cup of coffee. They chatted quietly about his work schedule and whether or not more snow was coming, while Theo and Jake finished setting the table.

Theo’s phone beeped with a message, and Jake’s eyes got big. “Is that from Avery?” he whispered loudly.

“How was your drive with her?” Tiffany asked. “How’s her semester?”

“She’s got a hardcore sorority girl roommate, and I don’t think Aves likes her that much,” Theo shrugged. The message was indeed from Avery, informing him that he would need to stop by the Nielson house for dessert, since she’d already told her parents he was coming.

“Theo’s dating her,” Jake blurted.

Tiffany and Karl exchanged a look that didn’t look nearly surprised enough, in Theo’s opinion. “How long has that been going on?” his mom asked mildly.

“A few weeks,” he shrugged. He kept his eyes on his phone as he responded to Avery, because he didn’t like lying to his mom and Karl. It was the one thing he’d hoped to avoid, and here he was, having to lie to them right off the bat. “It’s pretty new. Would it be okay if I went to their house for dessert? It won’t be until way after we’re done.”

Tiffany considered him for a long moment, looking like she was going to say something, but when she opened her mouth to speak, all she said was, “Yeah sure, that’s fine.” She turned to Karl and kissed his cheek again. “I’ll go get dressed before your mom arrives,” she said. Then she looked at Theo and smiled softly. “I’m glad you and Avery figured things out.”

Theo made it halfway through Thanksgiving dinner before Evelyn turned her gaze on him. “Jake tells me you have a girlfriend,” she said, not unkindly. “What’s she like?”

Theo shot Jake a dirty look, not because his brother was sworn to secrecy, but because he knew how much Theo hated being put on the spot.

Theo immediately stuffed a huge forkful of stuffing into his mouth and made a big production of needing to finish chewing before he could answer. He took a sip of water for good measure, but Evelyn was waiting patiently, still looking mildly interested, and eventually he couldn’t stall any longer. “It’s Avery Nielson, actually.”

Evelyn’s eyebrows went up. “Kelly and Jeremy’s daughter?”

Tiffany interrupted with a sympathetic glance at Theo. “How do you know them, Evelyn?”