Lucas laughed and said, “I’ll tell the restaurant chef.”

“Don’t,” Mom replied.

“He might send you a bill for your opinion.”

I looked from one of them to the other.

This was the kind of teasing I had wanted in our home all along: laughter that did not require someone to be diminished.

PART 22: A Dinner Without a Performance

Three weeks after Mrs.

Gable’s first visit, Marian surprised us by announcing that she wanted to cook dinner.