Her face changed.
She walked over quickly.
“Lily.”
“What are you doing?”
“I found Grandpa’s pie.”
Melissa kept smiling because people were nearby.
“I told you.”
“We can give you some later.”
“No.”
Lily replied.
“We’re serving it now.”
Melissa’s smile vanished.
“Don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“Turn a small misunderstanding into a public statement.”
Lily looked at her mother for several seconds.
Then said:
“I’m not making a statement.”
“I’m eating pie.”
“There’s already dessert.”
“Then people have options.”
“We paid nearly two thousand dollars for the dessert service.”
“I didn’t ask you to throw it away.”
Melissa lowered her voice.
“You are embarrassing everyone over a pie.”
Lily looked toward Walter.
Then back at her mother.
“No.”
“You embarrassed Grandpa over one.”
Daniel approached.
“What’s happening?”
Melissa answered immediately.
“Your daughter is about to put that pie on the dessert table.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“Lily.”
“Dad.”
“Can we just have one afternoon where everything does not become emotional?”
Lily laughed once.
“You moved Grandpa’s car because you were afraid your future in-laws would see it.”
Richard Marshall happened to be standing six feet away.
He heard.
Daniel saw him.
His face went pale.
Richard raised both eyebrows.
“My future what?”
Nobody answered.
Richard looked toward Walter.
“Is that the blue Buick?”
Walter sighed.
“Yes.”
“The LeSabre?”
“Yes.”
Richard grinned.
“You’re kidding.”
Daniel looked confused.
Richard walked closer.
“My father had one.”
“Best highway car ever built.”
“Floated like a couch.”
Walter laughed.
“That’s exactly what Evelyn called it.”
Richard pointed toward the drive.
“Where is it?”
Walter looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked like he wanted the ground to open.
“Vendor parking.”
Walter replied.
Richard blinked.
“Why?”
Silence.
Caroline joined them.
“What happened?”
Richard said:
“Apparently Walter’s Buick has been banished.”
Caroline looked at Melissa.
“Why?”
Melissa’s face flushed.
“There were parking logistics.”
Richard looked around at the open spaces.
“Terrifying situation.”
Ethan covered a smile.
Walter wanted to disappear.
Not because Richard was cruel.
Because the absurdity had become visible.
Lily touched Richard’s arm.
“Would you like some pie?”
“What kind?”
“Apple-cranberry.”
“Homemade?”
“My grandfather made it from my grandmother’s recipe.”
Richard looked offended.
“Why are we still talking?”
“Get plates.”
Caroline laughed.
“Richard.”
“What?”
“She offered.”
Lily lifted the box lid.
The smell escaped immediately.
Apple.
Cinnamon.
Butter.
Orange.
Walter had not noticed it strongly in the kitchen that morning because he was too close to it.
Now it moved through the open air.
Caroline leaned over.
“That smells incredible.”
Melissa whispered:
“Lily.”
Lily looked at her.