“I’m warming up some soup for you, sweetheart,” she said. “A face like that needs more than pride.”

For the first time all night, I almost laughed.

Nathan helped me take off my coat. Underneath, I was wearing the navy-blue dress I’d carefully chosen before my mother covered it with an apron. He looked at me as if I were the only person in the room.

“You look beautiful.”

“I smell like turkey.”

“Then the turkey was lucky.”