me in, it’s chilly out here.”
He laughed even harder at that one. “Now you, Ethan.”
“Wow. It’s been a long time since I did a knock-knock joke. Let’s see. Knock-knock.”
“Who’s there?” Rodrigo said.
“Nana.”
“Nana who?”
“Nana your business.”
Abby and Rodrigo groaned, and then Rodrigo started another round.
All in all, it was the most fun Ethan had ever had doing dishes.
Rodrigo Navarro held a very special place in the hearts of everyone who knew him. He was endlessly loving, filled with kindness and joy toward everyone he met. He was so popular in town that a birthday party in his honor each December—a gingerbread house competition for charity—was one of the highlights of the holiday season.
Being around him always made Ethan feel like a better man than he was. Or at least made him want to be a better man than he was.
“There you are, mijo.”
Sofia joined them when they were nearly finished.
“I’m helping,” Rodrigo said proudly.
“He’s been wonderful,” Abby told Sofia. “I had no idea anyone could dry dishes so quickly.”
“And I tell good jokes,” Rodrigo said, obviously preening under her attention.
“You sure do.”
“Are you about ready to go home?”
“I’m having fun with Eth and my new friend Abby.”
“You can come back and visit her another day. But your sisters and your nephews and nieces are coming tonight. They’ll be here soon and we don’t want them to come home to an empty house, do we?”
“I guess not.” Rodrigo carefully hung the towel on the stove and waved to Abby, then held his hand out. Ethan knew what he wanted. He dried his hand so the two of them could once more perform their regular complicated handshake ritual, developed over years of friendship. It seemed to become more elaborate every year.
“You need to go tubing on the new hill,” Ethan said. “I hear it’s a lot of fun.”
Rod’s face lit up. “Can we go tomorrow?”
Sofia laughed and shook her head. “You can’t tomorrow, remember? We’re having another Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. That’s why everyone is coming tonight.”
“How about Saturday, then?”
“Maybe not Saturday,” Ethan answered. “But soon, I promise. We’ll get you there.”
“Thanks, Ethan.” The handshake apparently wasn’t enough because Rodrigo reached out to hug Ethan. He hugged him back.
“Bye, Abby.” Rodrigo hugged her, too.
“Bye. It was nice to meet you. I hope I see you again before we go.”
“Hey, knock-knock.”
“Who’s there?” Ethan and Abby said in unison.
“Europe.”
“Europe who?” Ethan said.
“No I’m not, you are,” Rodrigo said gleefully while Sofia shook her head.
“And on that lovely joke, we will say adios.”
She ushered her son out of the room, which left Ethan alone with Abby.
Tendrils of auburn hair had escaped her loose bun, curling around her face in the steam of the kitchen. Her green eyes were bright with laughter.
Ethan felt a jolt go through him. He wanted to curl a finger around one of those tendrils and to kiss each one of those light freckles scattered across her nose.
“He’s wonderful,” she said.
“Yeah,” he said gruffly, trying to get himself under control. “One of my favorite people. I wish everybody had a Rodrigo in their world to remind them what’s really important in life.”
She looked startled, eyes wide, and he regretted saying anything.
“That looks like the last of the dishes. That wasn’t so bad.”
“Not at all. I guess I’d better check on Winnie and Christopher.”
The two of them walked together to the great room, where they found Winnie playing a card game with Elijah Shepherd, and Christopher asleep on the sofa nearby under a blanket.
“Did everyone go home?” They hadn’t been in the kitchen that long, had they? Maybe he had lost track of time.
“Yes. The Shannons were the last to go and they left a moment ago, right after Sofia and her boys. That’s one of the problems with having Thanksgiving dinner in the evening, I suppose. Afterward, everyone wants to go home and sleep off the tryptophan.”
“I should probably go, as well,” Elijah said. “I promised I would stop in and visit Charlotte Frye this evening. She’s still recovering from her heart valve surgery and didn’t feel strong enough to go out.”
“Thank you for coming,” Winnie said.
“Thank you for a delightful evening and a delicious Thanksgiving, all of you. The holidays make me miss my family in Boston, but spending time in these beautiful surroundings with such convivial company took away much of the sting of missing them.”
Ethan wasn’t sure how he did it, but Eli Shepherd somehow managed to make even the most banal of statements sound like a sermon.
“We love having you,