As soon as he pulled up outside his house, Ian grimaced.
Usually, he liked seeing Darren’s truck parked outside, especially when the sound of laughter spilled out onto the front porch. Through the curtain, he saw his sister’s vague outline standing next to her father’s towering frame.
Sighing, he got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind him, dreading the thought of another lecture that was going to leave him with a bad feeling in his stomach and chest.
He’d had enough of those for one night.
Sophia greeted him in the doorway with a quick kiss on the cheek. “I tried to talk to him, but he won’t listen. You’re on your own.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look what the cold dragged in.” Sophia stepped back and made a sweeping hand gesture, indicating a red-faced Lucy in the kitchen, with Dean in an apron beside her.
Opposite the kitchen counter, Stu and Darren stood side by side, sipping on beer and keeping up a steady stream of conversation. Ian exchanged a quick look with Lucy before turning his attention to his father and brother-in-law.
“I’m sure Lucy must’ve told me you guys were coming over for dinner, but I completely forgot.” Ian unwound his scarf and hat, leaving them on the table by the door. Then he kicked off his boots and offered them all a bright smile. “I would’ve picked up some dessert or something.”
“Sophia took care of it,” Lucy told him, pausing to swat her hair out of her eyes. “Dinner will be ready soon. Can you and Stu set the table, please?”
“Why don’t Darren and I give you a hand in the kitchen? We can make the salad.” Sophia brushed past Ian and leaned overthe counter. “It’s good to see you in the daylight, Dean. I was beginning to forget what you looked like.”
Dean rolled his eyes. “Come on, Aunty Soph, I’m not that bad.”
Sophia hopped onto the high chair and pulled the bowl toward her. “Yes, you are, but nothing compares to your teenage years when you looked like a vampire.”
Lucy’s lips twitched as she chopped the vegetables. “I’m pretty sure I half expected to find some weird stuff in his room.”
Dean’s face turned a bright red. “I should’ve gone out with my friends.”
Darren clapped Dean on the back on his way to the fridge. He emerged with an armful of tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers and took them over to where Sophia sat. “It’s a rite of passage now, kid. You have to endure whatever your mom and aunt throw your way.”
Dean tilted his head back and muttered something under his breath.
“Table isn’t going to set itself,” Stu said, pausing to squeeze Ian’s shoulders. “Come and spend some time with your old man.”
Ian spun on his heel and went into the dining room. There, he opened and closed several cupboards till he found a clean tablecloth and unfolded it. In silence, he and Stu unfolded the cloth, with Ian pausing to smooth out the wrinkles. Then Stu crouched low and took out a set of plates and cutlery.
It was the only sound filling the room for a while.
“I know you want to talk about it too, Dad,” Ian said without looking up. “Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Frankie just brought it up with me. I’m not putting my life on hold while I investigate Mom’s case.”
“I know you’re not,” Stu replied, a thoughtful expression on his face. “You’ve always been good at multitasking and compartmentalizing.”
Ian continued to lay the cutlery out, the sound of laughter spilling from the kitchen. “So, you’re not going to lecture me about the amount of time I’m spending on this?”
Stu looked up and met Ian’s gaze. “Why would I? You’re not a child. I trust that you know what you’re doing.”
“Okay, what’s the catch?”
“There’s no catch.” Stu took a step back, and his eyes swept over the table. “I know how important this is to you and your sisters. I’m not going to tell you how to handle it.”
“Don’t you want to know what happened to Mom?”
Stu’s shoulders sagged, and he rubbed at a spot on one of the plates. “I made my peace with Kelly being gone a long time ago. Knowing how she died isn’t going to bring her back, and it’s not going to make me feel better.”
Ian’s stomach dipped. “Don’t you want answers though? How can you live without them?”
Stu held the plate up to the light and used the edge of his sweater to wipe it. “It’s not that I don’t want answers, Son. I’ve had a lot more time to make my peace with it, and I decided I need to be okay with things either way.”
