Lily took my hand and Ethan’s and pressed them together on the table.

“Then we’re Team Lily.”

Neither of us corrected her.

Mom looked away for a moment, pretending to attend to the kettle.

After Lily went to sit with her grandmother, Ethan and I remained at the table.

“I should have called you earlier,” I said.

He rubbed a hand over his face.

“I should have kept asking without turning every conversation into an argument.”