At two o'clock Amanda excused herself from the conversation with Robert and Lee, and went to
finish making the sides for dinner. Because she liked to plan, and because she'd had the house to herself the afternoon before, she'd prepared almost everything in advance: roasted root vegetables, caramelized Brussels sprouts, and potatoes au gratin. It would all go in the oven, in carefully-timed stages, alongside the roast. Lee was forever telling her how ridiculous he thought it was that she spent every holiday in the kitchen, and she'd felt quite proud of herself for finding a menu that cut that down.
She had just gone into the laundry room to get the tablecloth for the dining room when she heard a familiar voice in the kitchen. A feminine voice, but not her mother's. And not one she was expecting to hear. Someone who was supposed to be having dinner with her new surgeon boyfriend and his parents — someone who had spent an entire afternoon the week before poring over Amanda's cookbooks for an easy, no-cook appetizer.
"Francine!" Amanda stepped out of the laundry room, the tablecloth forgotten, just as Lee led their visitor into the kitchen. "What are you doing here? What happened to your date?"
"David got called in to the hospital," Francine said. Her hair was perfectly coiffed, makeup impeccable, but there was a surprising little reindeer pin on her green sweater. "There was a big accident outside of town early this morning."
"Aw. I'm sorry."
Francine tried to sound offhand but Amanda knew she was disappointed. She seemed to really like this new prospect — and oddly, she'd said she liked his parents, too. "The perils of dating a doctor, I guess."
"What's in the dish?"
"Oh. That dip from your cookbook, remember? I made it for David's parents, but it's not going to keep, and…" Her voice trailed off and she shrugged. "I thought the boys would like it."
"Well they would if they were here."
Francine glanced around the room, her glass bowl still clutched tight in her hands. "Is it just the three of you?"
"Four now. You'll stay for dinner, right?"
"Oh, I don't want to be in the way —"
Amanda rolled her eyes. "Francine. We had this conversation last year. You aren't. Just leave that dip right there on the counter for now and let Lee pour you a drink."
"Can I help you make dinner at least?"
"Absolutely not," Amanda said, laughing. "There's not much to do besides turn on the oven, anyway. I made most of it yesterday." She looked at her watch. "It's two-thirty, so I should probably do that now."
She had her hand on the dial when she heard the front door open and a familiar voice call out, "Hello! Are you two decent?"
"Depends who you ask," Lee called back, and he, Robert, and Francine dissolved into laughter.
"Mother?" Amanda peered into the entryway. "You made it!"
"And we brought Lillian!"
"You what?" Amanda did a quick count in her head and realized they were up to seven for dinner and she had enough for six at the most, without seconds. But before she could formulate a plan, her aunt was enveloping her in a hug, her face and hands cold. She smelled like the train station and gardenias. "I thought you weren't coming at all this year."
"Well I wasn't. But you know, these two showed up on my doorstep last night, and we had such a good time they convinced me to come the rest of the way with them. So here I am."
"That's wonderful. But how did they even get to your doorstep yesterday?" Amanda looked over her aunt's shoulder, at Jack and her mother. "You were in Montreal last I heard."
"We drove," Jack said, tucking his scarf into his coat pocket. He paused to run a hand through his shock of silver hair, which stood up on end a little more than usual. Amanda wondered if it was a physical manifestation of how he felt inside after so much travel.
"In that weather?"
"It wasn't so bad," he said, as Dotty disappeared back into the foyer with his coat. "By the time we rented a car the weather had cleared but the flights were so backed up they were booking into tomorrow. So we decided to go as far as we could on the road, and Dot suggested Lillian's."
"And then this morning we drove into Boston and got a train here," Lillian said. She smoothed the front of her bright blue blouse as she spoke, then patted her blond curls, pinned in an updo much like her sister often wore.
"I can't believe you got tickets."
"I can't either," Dotty said dryly, "but I think it helped that someone here sprung for first class." She tipped her head in the direction of Jack, who shrugged.
"Still cheaper than flying," he said. "And you weren't complaining when they came around with mimosas."
"I'm not complaining now." Dotty planted a quick kiss on his cheek and ran an affectionate hand along his broad shoulder. "More marveling. That was quite an adventure. I expected to see that John Candy fellow any second, especially when we ran for the train." She breezed past Amanda, then, and set a bag on the counter. "We brought wine."
"I'd say you didn't have to do that, but I'm glad you did," Amanda admitted. "Aunt Lillian, let me get you a glass. Jack?"
"Maybe later," he said, "I'll take a strong cup of coffee if you've got one, though."
Amanda got everyone settled and made introductions — Jack and the Colonel had never met — then went back to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and looked at the roast, which hadn't gotten any bigger since the last time she'd looked at it, in spite of her fervent hopes.
Dotty, who was busy making coffee, paused to watch her for a moment. "Is everything all right, darling?"
Amanda pushed the refrigerator door shut and turned to face her mother.
"We don't have enough food," she whispered, looking cautiously behind her at the crowd gathered in their family room. "I mean we have enough cookies to feed two armies, but that roast is tiny."
"What about the turkey?" Dotty suggested. 'It's thawed, right?"
"Not quite. It's huge, and when I checked on it this morning it was still half-frozen. It'll take hours to cook." Amanda felt despair tighten her chest. "It's already three o'clock. What was I thinking, throwing invitations around all year?"
Dotty laughed softly. "Oh, darling. You were thinking about the best part of the holiday — having everyone together."
Amanda sighed. "What a mess."
"It'll be fine," Dotty said, confidently. "We'll just have to improvise." She drummed her fingers on the countertop. "What about chili?"
Lee appeared beside her, an empty chip bowl in his hands. "We have more, right?"
"That's one thing we do have," Amanda muttered. "They're in the pantry."
He cast her a quizzical look as he came back into the kitchen, another bag of chips in hand. "What's the matter?"
"We don't really have… dinner," she said, trying to keep her voice low.
"We have a roast, don't we?"
"For four." She held up four fingers to illustrate, and saw him look at the people gathered in the family room. "Seven," she supplied. "Mother wants to make chili."
"It was just a suggestion," Dotty said. "Honestly, I"m sure it'll be fine."
The doorbell rang just as she finished speaking, and both Lee and Amanda froze.