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III
Kathleen wore the necklace Kevin had given her, and his father spotted it immediately. “Tiffany's?” he said, gesturing to her neck, after giving her a paternal kiss on the cheek.
She nodded. “From your son.”
“Tell him to get you diamonds next time,” he said with a wink. “A pretty girl like you should wear diamonds. Kevin should know that already, but he's always been a slow learner.”
Kathleen looked at Kevin, who smiled at her as if his father had just said something nice.
They sat down to eat soon after she arrived. First they had pumpkin soup, fragrant with ci
Obscene amounts of food were left over, both because there had been way too much to begin with, and also because the women of the family-the sisters-in-law and Caro-had barely eaten anything. None of them had touched any of the stuffing, let alone all three kinds. Kathleen, who had eaten six eggs for breakfast, still managed to put away ten times as much food as any of the other women.
After dessert had been cleared, Jackson uttered a quiet “Ahem.” Every face immediately turned to him. “If the women will excuse us, I do have a couple of small business matters to go over with the men.” He held up his hand as if to forestall objections, even though there weren't any. “I know, I know, its a holiday. But it's not often I get a chance to sit down with all three of my boys, and I’d like to take advantage of this time together to address a few important items that have come up recently.” Kathleen wondered if anyone was going to point out that he saw all three of his sons at the office every day. But:
“Of course,” one of the sisters-in-law said immediately.
“You should!” the other said-the one who had kids, a boy and a girl, who had eaten a few bites of food at the table, then started hitting each other before one of the women in black and white had whisked them out of the room.
As they all rose to their feet and moved away from the table, Kathleen said to Kevin, “We'd better get going-I told my mom we'd be there at six.”
“I can't go right now,” Kevin said. “My dad-”
“It's already past six-thirty.”
“Can you call her and tell her we'll be late?”
She lowered her voice. “Can't you just skip your father's meeting?”
“That's not a good idea,” he said, his eyes flickering over to check where his father and brothers were. They hadn't left the room yet.
“Why not? You'll see him on Monday.”
“This stuff is important, Kathleen. I can't not be there. It wouldn't be right. Can't you just wait until we're done?”
“How long will it take?”
“Half an hour?” he said with no conviction. “Maybe less, maybe more. I honestly don't know.”
“In that case, do you mind if I head on over to the McMansion by myself?”
He looked relieved. “Not at all. You should. I’ll call you as soon as I’m done and join up with you there.”
He kissed her lightly on the lips and then scurried to catch up with his brothers and father, who were leaving the room in a tight knot. Kathleen doubted she would see him at her sisters’ later.
IV
Oh, Lord,” Eloise Hill said, “we thank you for your bounty and for bringing us all together on this special day and for providing us with food for our table and shelter for our bodies and…”
She went on for a while longer like that.
Sari rolled her eyes at Lucy, who kicked her in the shin under the table.
“Can we eat now?” Sari asked as soon as her mother had finally said “Amen” and lifted up her head. “Or do we have to thank God for giving us the 405 freeway, too? Because, you know, we couldn't have actually gotten here without it.”
“Here, Lucy,” Sari's mother said, picking up a pretty painted bowl. “Please try the potatoes. I may not have made them myself, but I tasted them in the kitchen and I must say they're delicious. A tiny bit on the salty side…”
“Yum,” said Lucy, who hadn't touched a potato in any form in over five years. She took the bowl and made a show of putting a spoonful on her plate.
“Who's having wine?” asked Sari's father. It was the first thing he had said all afternoon, other than a brief, vague greeting.
“I’d definitely like a glass of wine,” Sari said, and Lucy pushed her own glass toward Gerald Hill and said, “Me, too, please.”
Everyone had a glass of wine, except for Charlie, who drank white milk and ate only the mashed potatoes. After he had finished his plateful of potatoes, he got up from the table without another word and clomped his way back into the family room.
“If you're not going to make him sit through di
“Charlie knows he's excused. We don't stand on formalities here.” Her mother extended her empty wineglass into the air in front of her. Her husband leaned forward and refilled it. They didn't look at each other. Eloise took a sip of wine and turned to Lucy. “Did you see the expression on his face when I said grace? It was-what's the word? Gerald, what's the word?”
“The word for what?”
“You know. When someone feels God's grace on them.”
He shrugged. “I don't know. Happy?”
“No, not happy,” she said. “It begins with a b.”
“Balmy?” Sari suggested.
“Beatific!” Her mother captured the word with delight. “That's the word. Beatific. Charlie looked positively beatific.” She hitched her chair closer to Lucy. “They say people like Charlie are closer to God than the rest of us,” she said in a low, confiding voice. “And I believe it. He sees things we don't.” She paused, and Lucy made a polite little “Huh” kind of noise.
Sari's mother took that as encouragement. She took several sips of wine and then continued, gesturing with the glass. “When I see someone-a stranger-with a child who you can tell right away is special-not like the other kids-I go right on up to her, no matter where we are, even in the supermarket, and I say, ‘We're the lucky ones. We're blessed. God sends us these special children because He trusts us to take good care of them for Him.’” She put down her glass and touched Lucy's arm lightly with her damp fingertips. “I can't tell you how many women have hugged me after I’ve said that. Just burst into tears and hugged me. It's a wonderful thing to make a co
“How nice,” Lucy said. “Really. That's really nice. Do you-”
“We really are the lucky ones, you know,” Eloise said. “Those of us with special children. God chooses us because He knows we're exceptionally strong.”
“You're just all God's little teacher's pets, aren't you?” Sari said. “You get to clap erasers and raise the autistic kids. Hey, maybe if you're really good, he'll give you some boils on your ass.”
“More wine?” her father said and took the opportunity to refill his glass as well as hers. He peered at the bottle. “Better open another. This one's almost gone.” He got up and walked heavily out of the room.
“God has a plan for Charlie,” Sari's mother told Lucy, pi