Elaine’s sister came from Iowa each year, Peter made terrible cranberry sauce, and Austin’s little cousins insisted on arranging the place cards.

I had invited him because the thought of not asking felt cruel.

Then I worried that asking would turn an ordinary holiday into a loyalty test.

Austin solved it with a spreadsheet.

He and Wyatt offered to help cook at my house in the morning, then go to the Murphys for dinner.

I laughed until he showed me the cells with travel time and oven temperatures.

“You two made an itinerary for turkey?”