A second later, two more kids appeared, flanking her. The boy had dark hair like his dad’s and the girl was a strawberry-blonde, like her mother.
“Hope that’s okay,” Lori said, turning to Mary. “I got the recipe from a neighbor, but you all can just put it in the freezer to enjoy another time.”
“We have four pies,”Dove yelled triumphantly and throwing her hands in the air.
The other two kids followed her lead, and all three began marching around repeatingfour pies, four pies.
“As you can see, we’re delighted,” Ella told her cousin, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
“I’ll just head out and get it,” Dan offered.
The kids scampered after him and Dalton had to chuckle at the sight.
“It’s a special day when you get to be with your cousins,” Ella said fondly.
“And eat four pies,” her mother added. “Though with this lovely dinner, I don’t see how anyone will have room.”
“That’s a good problem,” Michael told his wife with a warm smile.
“There’s always room for dessert,” Lori said at the same time.
They all laughed and talked and bustled around the kitchen, and Dalton realized that although this wasn’t really like a television Thanksgiving, it was even nicer. Everyone was dressed warmly and comfortably, they were all getting along, and there seemed to be no big expectations—just anticipation for a shared meal together.
A moment later he heard the front door open as Dan and the kids thundered back into the house.
“Four pies, four pies,”three bright voices chanted.
They all marched into the kitchen behind Dan, who was carrying the foil-wrapped confection in two hands.
Still chanting, the kids rushed around the kitchen to watch him put it in the fridge.
When Danny passed the kitchen table, he accidentally knocked his father’s cell phone off the edge.
It fell to the ground with a sound that was a combination of a thump and a crack. Something was broken. That would be trouble.
Dalton put himself between the boy and his father before he even made the conscious decision to move, his heart thundering.
“What was that?” Dan asked, turning to find Dalton standing behind him.
“Oh, honey,” Lori said. “Your cell phone was right on the edge of the table.”
Little Danny crouched over it, tears in his eyes.
“It’s okay, buddy,” Dan said. “You didn’t mean to.”
“I’m s-sorry,” Danny whimpered. “I was running in the house.”
Dalton backed out of the way and Dan got down on the floor with his boy.
“I left it right on the edge of the table, didn’t I?” Dan said. “What does Mom always tell us about leaving our stuff on the edge of things?”
“They’ll fall andbreak,” Olivia announced.
“That’s right,” Dan said. “So this is my fault too.”
“It d-d-didbreak,” Danny told his dad, pushing the phone toward him on the floor.
Dan picked up the phone and looked it over.
