Chapter Forty-Nine
Elise
Food was already moving around the table before everyone had sat down. Nora slid the mashed potatoes toward Evan, then reached clear across Drew for the bread basket without a word. Drew leaned back to let her pass, still arguing with Bella about the biscuits.
“They’re not burned,” Nora said.
“No one said burned,” Bella replied.
“You made a face.”
“I made an observation.”
Drew turned a biscuit over in his hand. “Are they supposed to be as hard as hockey pucks?”
Nora pointed the serving spoon at him. “You’re banned from my kitchen.”
Beth set the roasted vegetables in the center with a quiet thud. “Everybody eat before this turns into another full-family debate over nothing.”
“I suppose I can dunk it,” Drew said.
“Or someone could dunk you,” Brady joked.
Tough crowd. I hope they like the pot roast. Absently I picked up one of the biscuits and looked it over.
Nora looked near tears. “I guess they are burned.”
Evan murmured something to her.
I interjected, “A hard crust means a soft inside. Is there butter? I haven’t had homemade bread since . . .” That morning when the Davises dropped off another basket, but they didn’t need to know that.
Brady shot me a grateful smile and passed the butter dish to me. “Me neither. It smells delicious.”
I handed Brady a well-buttered piece of biscuit, raised a piece of my own, and tapped it against his. “To homemade bread and Evan being home.”
Nora smiled at that and the room relaxed. Dishes passed in both directions. Nora told Evan not to lift the heavy bowl. He ignored her until Beth gave him a certain look, then he let Brady slide it closer without comment.
The teasing continued, but I realized that it was how Brady’s family was handling what had happened to them. Layers of concern, care, and sarcasm were blending together in a tapestry of survival.
Brady shifted Evan’s water glass closer to his good side without breaking stride in the conversation. Evan glanced at him. “Thanks.”
Brady nodded once, then joked that he was only helping because he didn’t want to wear it. Evan threatened to douse him with it. Beth intervened.
A little later, Evan looked across the table at me. The bruising along his jaw had deepened to an ugly purple near the cheekbone. He moved with the deliberate control of someone determined not to become the main event.
“Brady told me you helped with the search.”
The table quieted a fraction.
“I did what I could.”
“He said you did more than that.” Evan’s gaze flicked to Brady, who was suddenly extremely interested in his potatoes. “He also said you stayed with him.”
“There wasn’t anywhere else I wanted to be.”
The words came out simple and true. Evan studied me for a beat, then gave a small nod. “Thank you.”
Just two words. He wasn’t thanking me for what I could build or protect. Not for my name or my usefulness. Just for staying with his brother.
“You’re welcome,” I said.
Nora’s hand rested lightly on the back of Evan’s chair, close enough to touch without hovering. Beth added another spoonful of vegetables to my plate.
“I’m still working on the first serving” I told her.
“That one was too small.”
“It covered half the plate.”
“Exactly,” she said, unapologetic.
Across from me, Bella smiled. “Don’t fight it. You’ll lose. She’s full-on mom-ing today.”
Beth wrinkled her nose. “Is it wrong to want to make sure everyone has what they need?”
“I’m starting to see where Brady gets it from,” I said.
Everyone looked at him. Brady lifted both hands. “Why am I in this?”
“Because you’re always in it,” Evan said.
“Usually because of you.”
“That doesn’t make it less true.”
I laughed before I could catch it. The sound felt strange in my throat at first. The conversation simply rolled on but I didn’t feel left behind.
“Elise, if you’re interested, we all have embarrassing pictures of Brady growing up,” Evan said.
Brady chuckled, “You say that like I don’t have folders on my phone of you.”
“Folders?” Evan’s eyes rounded.
“Absolutely. Have you forgotten your picture when you tried out for the row team in Boston and fell into the Charles River?”
Evan groaned. “You still have that?”
“Favorited. Also, when you had a starring role in your kindergarten holiday production.”
“We don’t speak of that,” Evan said with a shake of his head.
Bella laughed.
Drew asked, “What role did you have?”
Brady opened his mouth to answer, but Evan wagged a finger at him.
“He was so adorable and we were so proud,” Beth gushed.
Gabe looked amused, but not like someone who was remembering being impressed.
“Okay, now I’m curious,” I said, leaning forward. “A holiday production. Were you an elf?”
Evan shook his head. “Worse. And wrong holiday.”
Nora clapped her hands together. “You were a pilgrim!”
Behind her hand, sounding far too amused, Bella said, “He was the turkey.”
With skill even I was impressed with, Brady pulled up an image of him from that day and flashed it around the room. “I’m so glad Mom sent me this photo. I will treasure it for always and share it whenever it fits in the conversation.”
Nora took his phone. “Evan, you really were adorable. Look at you. Beth, did you make that costume?”
Beth shook her head. “No, Evan didn’t like my first attempt so we hired Bentley Jones from Boston and he came out and measured Evan for it.”
I snickered at that. “You had Bentley Jones, one of New England’s most famous fashion designers make a turkey costume?”
Gabe interjected, “Evan was very particular when it came to what he’d wear.”
“Ooooh,” Nora said. “Nothing but the best when it comes to your turkey attire, hon?”
Evan put his arm around her. “Oh, wait until I feel better and my wit has returned. You’ll all rue the day you took advantage of my weakness like this.”
Brady looked across to Bella. “I don’t feel bad about this at all. Or scared. How about you?”
Bella nodded. “He did start it.”
Beth conceded. “You did, Evan.”
My father had called these people selfish. Destructive. Dangerous. Up close, I didn’t see evidence of any of that.
Bella leaned back. “Speaking of Thanksgiving, this year we’ll all be together.”
“And for Christmas,” Drew added.
Gabe looked moved by the idea. “It’s been a long time.”
“It has,” Bella cut in. “But from here on out I say we make it a priority.”
Beth nodded. “I’m in.”
“So am I,” Evan said.
Nora smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “The holidays might be complicated.” Her gaze flicked, quick as a breath, to the empty end of the table. The space where another chair could fit. Where her father should be.
No one said Cody’s name. They didn’t have to. The air changed anyway.
Drew’s hand settled briefly against the back of Nora’s chair before dropping away. Evan took her hand in his. Bella and Beth both turned toward Gabe.
They were waiting. Not for agreement. Just for some small sign that the door wasn’t completely shut.
Gabe’s jaw tightened. He looked at Drew, then at Nora. For a second I thought he might offer something, anything that left room for hope. Instead, he reached for his water. “We can discuss it when it gets closer.”
Nora lowered her gaze. “Of course.”
No one pushed. The disappointment felt old. Practiced. In some way the family was healing and growing. In other ways there’d been no progress.
What had happened all those years ago that stood solid to this day?
My own father had been part of that original friendship. Three men who had built something together, only to hate each other so many years later.
The possibility that Brady’s search for my father had led to Evan’s attack settled cold under the warmth of the room.
Evan broke the silence. “We have time before the holidays arrive. I’m sure things will be better.”
The tension cracked. Nothing was solved. Nora still wanted her father at the table. Gabe still refused to bend. And they kept eating. Kept choosing each other anyway.
Beth passed me more bread. “You’ll come for Thanksgiving too, of course.”
I froze with my hand halfway to the plate she held out.
Bella nodded. “We should probably let Brady invite her.”
“I’m working on that,” Brady said.
I heard myself say, “I’d like that.”
No, the Hollistons and Burkes were not perfect, but they also weren’t the villains my father thought them to be. Whatever happened between them, I was beginning to believe it wasn’t all one-sided.
Somewhere in the noise and the warmth, I started to wish all of this could remain in my life. Was I foolish to believe that was a possibility? They didn’t know I was Thomas Steele’s daughter.
For the first time, I didn’t only fear what they might do when they learned the truth.
I cared what they would think of me.
From across the table, Bella said, “Elise.”
I looked up.
“Tell us something about you.” The table quieted. “How exactly did you and Brady meet?”