Karen left her phone charging in the guest room.
We went along the street toward the water, passing houses with open garages and the smell of food drifting through screened doors.
Pat pointed out a house she had considered buying before choosing hers.
“Too much yard,” she said. “I’m retired. I don’t want to retire into mowing.”
Karen told her about a container gardening class at our community center.
“The Tuesday one?” I asked.
She looked at me.
“You remembered?”
“You’ve had the brochure on the refrigerator for six months.”
“I kept thinking I’d sign up after things settled down.”
Pat stopped to adjust her sandal.
“January classes fill early,” she said. “Do it when we get back.”
Karen glanced toward the inlet.
“I might.”
We ate on the porch a little after three.
Pat’s chicken was roasted with lemon and garlic. There were mashed potatoes, green beans, and a pie from a bakery she liked.
I carried dishes out. Karen reached for the serving spoon.
Pat took it first.
“You can pass the bread.”
“That’s my assignment?”
“For now. Don’t make me promote you.”
Karen passed the basket.
Halfway through dinner, her phone rang inside.
She ignored it.
Then mine rang in my pocket.
I checked the screen.
Derek.
I let it stop.
A moment later, Karen got up.
“I’m going to see who called.”
She returned with her phone and stood beside her chair.
“Melissa.”
“You don’t have to answer,” I said.
“I know.”
She sat and returned the call.
I could hear Melissa’s voice without making out every word. She was speaking quickly.
Karen rested her free hand beside her plate.
“Yes, we’re at Pat’s.”
A pause.
“I told you we were coming.”
Melissa said something longer.
Karen looked at the water.
“You knew we weren’t cooking. We talked about it more than once.”
Her voice stayed level, though her fingers had begun working a corner of her napkin.
Then she said, “I’m sorry the day has been difficult. I’m not sorry we took our trip.”
Melissa’s next words carried clearly.
“It was embarrassing.”
Karen waited.
When she answered, she spoke more softly.
“Then we need to talk about how it happened when we’re all less upset.”
Another pause.
“No. I’m having dinner now.”
She ended the call and placed the phone facedown.
Pat pushed the potatoes toward her.
“Still warm.”
Karen served herself another spoonful.
A few minutes later, Derek called me.
I stepped to the far end of the porch.
For a moment, I heard a door close and wind moving over his microphone.
“Dad?”
“I’m here.”
“I’m sorry.”
I waited.
“I kept thinking Mom wouldn’t actually go.”
“She told you she would.”
“I know.”
He sounded tired. He also sounded like he had stopped looking for a better explanation.
“Every time she said no, I thought about what would make her say yes. I never got past that.”
I looked back at the table.