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“Didn’t we mention that?” Sara joined her, grabbing the TV remote. “Don’t you have any channels?”

“You do?” Devra asked.

“Of course we have channels.”

“No, I mean, you like me?” The notion was so surprising she whispered out a meek “Why?”

“Because Bradley likes you,” they said in sync.

“He told us you’re cool,” Sara said.

“So you’re cool,” Lana finished.

Devra’s cheeks felt suddenly warm. Despite the fact these women could be immensely intimidating, she was also starting to see how Bradley’s easygoing kindness might run in the family. “I, uh…”

“Who doesn’t have a cable box?”

“I don’t watch a lot of TV. I mostly just stream.”

“Oh, cool. Netflix?”

“Netflix?” Sara echoed.

Lana thumped her tiny feet onto the end of the couch. “What are you watching these days?”

“Um, I started an interesting three-part documentary on the history and evolution of punctuation in computer programming?”

The sisters exchanged their third pointed look of the afternoon, and Devra had a feeling it wouldn’t be their last. That these women would stick around. Even if she yelled at them and made strange demands and had little in common with them. They were as determined as their brother.

“I’ll just put on some Bridgerton,” Sara said.

A solid minute passed before the sisters looked over to where she was still standing in the kitchen. They patted the narrow space of cushioning between them.

“Come take a seat already.”

“Or you’ll miss the best part!”

There didn’t seem to be much else to do except give in. Devra cautiously entered the living room, but when she tried to settle onto the floor, Sara grabbed her hand and tugged her onto the two-seater, where she was wedged snugly in between her unexpected guests.

So Devra sat on the sofa, rather stiffly, and watched TV with Bradley’s sisters. Although technically Sara and Lana watched very little of the show, providing a running commentary complete with spoilers and character bios and fun facts about the actors. An hour ticked by in a blur of confusion interlaced with a surprising amount of amusement, and her posture slowly loosened. It pulled Devra into a rare happy memory of a time when this wouldn’t have felt surreal but normal, even expected. Her and Sally taking over the basement TV every Tuesday night at seven o’clock so they could watch the latest episode of Gossip Girl and dissect each chaotic couple’s romantic merits. And when another hour passed in less of a blur, with Devra jumping in with a few quips of her own, she realized just how much she’d missed this.

At five o’clock, Bradley finally arrived at her house after his shift.

“Hey,” Devra said, opening the door after his familiar knock. “You just missed your sisters.”

“I did?” Bradley stepped inside.

“Yeah.” Devra closed the door behind him. “They were going to wait here for you to come home, but the TV stopped working, so they decided to go home. They said they’d call you later.”

“Your TV stopped working?” Bradley removed his toque and brushed snow from his jacket. “Want me to take a quick look?”

“Nah,” Devra said. “There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“But it stopped working?”

“It’ll start working again tomorrow.” She shrugged. “This happens a lot in December.”

Bradley opened his mouth, paused, then said, “Okay, then.”