Page 7 of Luke

“I light a candle every year, you know?” She says. “For Andrew.”

It’s always weird hearing someone say my dad’s name.

“Thanks,” I say. “I bet he likes it.”

“I like to think so.”

“Are the smoothies ready?” Alice walks into the room rubbing her hands together like a child who’s about to get a treat.

“Just about.” I put three big handfuls of spinach on top of the fruit and almond milk.

“You’re putting spinach in a smoothie?” Alice cries. “That’s like putting Brussel sprouts on birthday cake. Have you lost your mind?”

“You won’t even taste it,” I assure her.

“And what are those little black things floating around?”

“Chia seeds, mom,” Marie answers. “They’re good for you and they have no taste. You won’t even notice them.”

“None of this seems natural.” Alice peers into the blender with a skeptical eye.

“It came from Laurel Horace’s garden,” Marie says. “It’s as natural as it gets.”

I fire up the blender. The blueberries and the spinach make a weird color. Alice wrinkles her nose. Her expression doesn’t improve as I pour the smoothie into three glasses. Marie is the first one to take a sip.

“Crap, that’s delicious,” she says. “Did you sneak in a little vanilla extract?”

“Just a drop,” I wink.

“Mom, you have to try it. It’s good!”

“I just don’t see why I have to change my whole diet,” Alice grumbles. “I like my chicken fried steak from Harry’s. I like bacon. I like butter. What’s so wrong with that?”

“You can still have those things,” I say. “However, these smoothies are going to taste just as good going down as they will if they come back up. Can you say the same for chicken fried steak?”

“Luke,” Marie says through clenched teeth.

“Don’t chide him,” Alice says. “Everyone keeps talking to me like I’m a toddler. Luke’s right. At some point, it’s going to be hard for me to keep food down. It’s okay to acknowledge it.”

“Let’s also acknowledge that I practically had to tackle you to get you to take your pills this morning,” Marie says. “Did I baby you then?”

“Those pills make me all screwy. I don’t like them. They sure as hell don’t make me feel better.”

Marie sucks in a long, slow breath. Tears shine in her eyes but she blinks them away.

“They will if you take them correctly. Is it okay to acknowledge not taking your pills is a bad idea?”

“When you can prove it.”

“I can’t deal with this right now,” Marie mutters and strides out of the kitchen. Alice lets out a sigh.

“I’m not trying to make this difficult, you know?” She says to me.

“I know,” I nod. “So does Marie.”

“It’s just all these doctors telling me what I can and can’t do. I hate it. Complacency isn’t in my nature. It’s not part of Marie’s either.” Alice picks up her smoothie to examine it.

“No, it’s not,” I chuckle. “That just means both of you are natural fighters. That’s going to come in handy in the coming months. All those doctors just want you to have the best weapons.”

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