Page 90 of Wish You Faith

“I’ll start it once we’re done with our aprons and dish rags,” she said when she returned to the kitchen.

She dried the pots and pans after Evan washed them. She eyed the last pumpkin pie on the table. “I hate to think I want more pie.”

“You had a small sliver earlier. It doesn’t even make the cut as a bona fide pie slice.”

“That’s not helpful.” Rosie rolled her eyes.

“How about this? Let’s split a slice. Then we’ll feel half as bad.” Evan chuckled at his mockery of logic.

Rosie took up the challenge. After they dried the hand-washed kitchen items and put them back in the right cabinets, they cut a slice of pie and put it on a small plate.

There, standing within view of the living room—where Sonya, Dottie, and Marcella were chatting up a storm—Evan and Rosie fed each other more pie.

“This sure slows down the process,” Rosie said.

“What? You don’t want to feed me pie?” Evan opened his mouth like a baby bird.

“Doesn’t take away from the fact that we’re still eating a pumpkin pie with lots of sugar.”

“And delicious crust.” Evan fed Rosie a bite of pie with his fork. “We’ll walk it off on the beach tomorrow.”

“I’ll start the dishwasher after we eat our second dessert,” Rosie said as the doorbell rang.

Dottie went to the door. Her daughter and grandson had come early to pick her up. They were also giving Marcella a ride home to the old neighborhood that Sonya used to live in.

“We missed you so much, Grandma!” The boy jumped up and down.

Dottie’s face beamed with happiness at being wanted and needed. She quickly put on her winter coat. Then she helped Marcella with hers. Out the door they all went, after hugging Sonya and Rosie, waving a quick goodbye to everyone, and wishing them a “Merry Christmas!”

Sonya locked the front door after they had left. She turned to Evan and Rosie. “I’m going to brush my teeth, read my Bible, and go to bed. Don’t make too much noise.”

“Good night, Mom,” Rosie said.

Sonya went to her bedroom and shut the door.

“She trusts me with you,” Evan said.

“We’re adults. Note that she didn’t tell us not to stay up too late.” Rosie fed Evan the last piece of pie from their dessert plate. “When are you going back to your hotel?”

Evan ate the piece of pie. It was small and he could eat it in one gulp. “Do you want me to leave now?”

“No. I just wanted to know how much time we have.”

“To do what?” Evan’s eyes widened.

“To talk about life and such.” She started the dishwasher.

“Oh.”

“What else?” Rosie opened the refrigerator door. “Want some bottled water?”

“A small one. Thank you.”

Rosie gave him a ten-ounce bottle and then got a bigger bottle for herself. “We’ve had a whirlwind December. Maybe we need to fill in the blanks.”

They sat down on the sofa in the living room.

It was nice and quiet, and Evan couldn’t hear the ocean outside the sliding glass door. In fact, it was dark outside. No moon, no stars. Probably a cloudy night.

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