“Henry—”
“Letme finish, love.”
Lyra closed her mouth.
“To make a long story short, they told me about a position that recently became available and encouraged me to look into it.”
“And of course, he didn’t. So Mrs. Eggers called me about it, and when I mentioned her call to Henry, he said it wasn’t something he was interested in. Which was a lie.”
“It isn’t something I’m good at.”
Lyra patted his leg. “Ethics is your field.”
“So, I’m lost. Why were you crying?”
“Because we’ve never known normal, Katarina. No normal holidays, no normal jobs, no normal anything.” She sighed and looked up at Henry. “He gave up teaching, which he loved, for me. And now, there’s a position available at a university less than two hours from here, and he can’t even consider it because of me.”
“Not because of you. Because of the situation,” said Henry.
“I’m so sorry,” Lyra said to him.
Henry took her hand and folded it in both of his. “Look at me.”
She wiped her eyes with her hand and raised her chin.
“You’ve nothing to be sorry for. Nothing. I didn’t give anything up. I made a choice. I chose you, and I’ve never regretted a minute of our life together. Being with you, us being together, is all that’s ever mattered to me.”
He took her in his arms, and she cried harder. I got up to give them privacy. Bishop’s hand was on the small of my back as we walked toward the kitchen. As we were going in, Amaryllis was coming out. “General Anna says her troops are AWOL,” she said. “I’ve been sent to round you up.”
Behind us, Lyra chuckled. “We’re on our way.”
Thanksgiving dinner was servedat sixteen hundred, and everything on the table looked perfect. By the time Anna called us to eat, the sun had disappeared behind Kane Mountain.
Every chair but one was full, and it was to the right of where Anna sat at the head of the table. I’d expected my grandmother to take it, but she’d chosen the one at the opposite end. Dagger and Givre took seats across from Hornet, Delfino, and Magnolia. Kingston and Amaryllis sat on one side of Bishop, and I was on theother. Lyra took the seat beside me, and Henry sat on her right.
Julian arrived last, wearing a dress shirt and tie. He took the empty seat beside Anna, and the two smiled.Not her type?I silently scoffed. I’d be willing to wager my babushka had it all wrong.
Platters were passed, and even after everyone filled their plates with seconds and thirds, there was still enough food to last a few days.
Anna and my grandmother told stories about Horatio and Mikhail, most of which I’d heard before, but few others at the table had. There was laughter and a few tears—not mine, of course.
“Tell them about the pistols, Polina.”
My grandmother groaned. “Must we?”
“Yes,” Anna said.
Julian set his fork down. “I’d like to hear this one.”
“You’ve heard it,” Babushka said.
“I’ve heard Anna’s version. I’d like to hear yours.”
“Horatio and Mikhail decided we should learn to shoot,” she began. “We were here for the summer, and the two of them drove to town that morning. When they returned, they had four pistols. Two for us, twofor them. They marched us out behind the guest camps with a stack of tin cans.”
“And a bottle of vodka,” Anna added.
“They wanted you to shoot at the vodka?” Bishop asked.
