“Well, we’re all making mistakes this weekend, right?”
I flatten the tip of my tongue against the back of my front teeth. Was that…an apology? About the Daniel stuff? I don’t have time to dig deeper on that. “Listen,” I start, “I need to go. I’m missing some important family tradition right now.”
“Of course. I want to hear more about that later though, okay?”
“Deal.” I give a thumbs-up, then say, “I’m giving a thumbs-up right now, for the record.”
“Got it,” Kat says. “Thumbs-up received and reciprocated.”
Our laughs blend together. “You sure you’re okay?” I ask.
“Yeah, I think so,” she says, then thinks again. “Wait, real quick. What kind of scholarship should I say Daniel has?”
“Did your Bubby go to college?”
She pauses. “I think no?”
“Then just make something up.”
“Perfect,” she says. “Thank you. I love you.”
“Love you more.” My thumb hovers over the end call button as I add, “Tell Daniel I say hi.”
“I won’t tell him you said fuck Daniel,” she promises. “And tell Ellie I say hi too.”
“On it. Love you.”
“Love you, bye.”
I pull my phone back from my face to hang up, shocked to see almost fifteen minutes have passed since I answered. I end the call, shoving up to my feet in a hurry. After practicing a smile that sayssorry I took so long, I flush the toilet and run the sink, just in case anyone can hear the plumbing. I’m a lot less nauseated than I was twenty minutes ago, but it still feels like rush hour on every one of my neural highways. Ellie, Kat, college, transfers, accounting, putting on a convincing girlfriend act. I need to sit the hell down and eat some pie.
I tiptoe down the hall, past the family room, where Otto has resumed his position in the recliner, either sleeping or trying to. In the kitchen, Ellie is still at the table, but Kara is back at the sink, and Carol kneels over a bowl of kibble, trying to get her dog to eat. In the silence, the dishes clatter a little louder, the persistent hiss of the faucet feeling more aggressive somehow. It’s like we’re all in a play, waiting on one of us to remember our line. But no one does.
“Did I miss the thankful thing?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Ellie says, her voice short. “It’s done.”
“Sorry about that.” I head for the table, trying to make myself useful before someone tells me not to be. Apart from the slice of pie Ellie is still working on, only the place mats and napkins need to be bused. I scrunch each one, careful to keep the crumbs off the floor. “How’d it go?”
Ellie’s eyes stay down, focused on her plate. “Fine. We missed you.”
“I really am sorry. It was kind of an emergency.”
“I’ll bet.” It’s not her tone that bothers me, but the lack thereof. She’s flat and cold, and a chill branches from my spine to my fingertips.
“Are you feeling all right, Murphy?” Kara asks. Maybe she felt the chill too. She turns over her shoulder and catches me with an armful of napkins. “Oh, you don’t have to clean up. Just sit down and have another slice of pie, if you like.” Per Kara’s request, I drop the napkins in a small heap on the table, but my stomach is in no state for pie. Not so long as Ellie’s being all quiet and avoidant. I settle back into my seat, hoping that, if I stare down the crown of Ellie’s head, she’ll eventually look up at me. “Ellie?” I try quietly, and then again a little louder. “Ellie, c’mon.” I can’t get her attention, but Bo does, with a bark that sounds like a squeaky toy caught in a lawn mower.
“C’mon, Bobo,” Carol begs, waving her cupped hand of kibble beneath her dog’s snout. “Bobocito. Boba Fett. Eat your dinner, honey.” Instead of complying, Bo snarls, then barks again, and, ultimately, pees a little.
“Goddamn it, not again.” Carol doesn’t wince, just sighs and hops to her feet, maneuvering around her sister to retrieve paper towels and a red spray bottle from beneath the sink. “El Bell, can you let Bo out? He pissed on the floor.”
Ellie nods, wiping her mouth with the side of her hand. “Where’s his leash?”
“By the front door.”
“I’ll grab it,” I offer, pushing my chair back from the table, but Ellie sticks out an arm, holding me in place.
“I’ve got it.” She heads down the hall, and Bo follows. So do I, and we all catch up by the door, where Ellie already has her coat on and is choking the leash in her fist.
