father, whose expression was largely neutral, though probably carefully so. “A Celtic family tree with all our initials. I wanted a design that meant something to me. And nothing is more important to me than the people at this table.” Her father’s gaze softened. Annnd she won him over.
“Just give it a lot of thought,” her dad said. “But your idea sounds great.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“Why do you want a tattoo?” Ian asked, an edge to his tone that said he thought he knew.
“Because I like them.”
“Since when?” he asked.
She nailed him with a stare and debated throwing her corn bread at him. Except that would be a terrible waste of corn bread. They might be twenty-seven and twenty-five respectively, but they still had the ability to bring out the twelve-year-old in each other. “Since a long time. I just wasn’t sure what I would want before.”
“A lot of guys on the force have them,” Patrick said. She could’ve hugged him for the show of support. “They’re pretty mainstream these days.”
“My father has quite a few,” Shima said. “A lot of military stuff, as you might imagine. Initials of friends who died. Some of them are very moving, to see what he found important enough to memorialize on his body.”
Makenna nodded. Caden’s tattoos were the same way. He had a yellow rose on his chest for his mother, Sean’s name and Chinese characters that meant “never forget” on his shoulders, and the dragon on his hand and arm which was his reminder to fight his fear so he could live when Sean couldn’t, among others. The accident had truly marked him inside and out.
“I need more sangria. Can I get anyone something while I’m up?” Makenna asked.
“I’d love to try some,” Shima said. Collin and her dad asked for some, too.
“I’ll help you,” Dad said, getting up.
She grabbed her glass and rose, and she gave Caden’s shoulder a small squeeze before she stepped away. What she really wanted to do was kiss him, but she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable by doing it in front of everybody.
In the kitchen, her dad grasped her arm. “Are you doing okay with Cameron being here? I didn’t know Ian invited him until they showed up,” he said in almost a whisper.
“It’s fine,” she said. “Ancient history, anyway.” And it really was. She hadn’t thought about Cameron in ages.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before you went downstairs. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable in front of Caden.” He shook his head.
Makenna pressed onto tiptoes to kiss her father on the cheek. “Don’t worry about it, Dad. Really.”
They poured everyone’s drinks and carried the out to the table.
“Need anything?” she asked, leaning closer to Caden.
He shook his head. “I have everything I need.” The look he gave her said his words weren’t about the food.
Conversation flowed around the table. About her Aunt Maggie, who’d been a mother figure to Makenna when she was a kid—she wasn’t there this year because she’d gone on a cruise with a group of girlfriends. About Dad’s painting, something he’d been doing for as long as Makenna could remember. About Cam’s fellowship and where he hoped to land when it was done next year. About Collin and Shima’s masters theses. And so much more. The conversation was lively and easy, and Makenna appreciated how much Caden joined in with this big group of people he didn’t know. She knew that wasn’t easy for him.
“Okay, everybody,” her dad said. “Go unbutton your pants and rest your stomachs for a bit and I’ll get this cleaned up and pull our dessert.” Everyone laughed.
“We’ll help, Dad. You did all the cooking,” Makenna said.
“I won’t protest that,” he said with a grin.
Everyone pitched in on clearing the table. Patrick and Dad focused on boxing up all the leftovers, and Collin and Shima reset the table for dessert. Ian took out the overflowing kitchen trash.
“I’ll rinse, you load?” Caden asked, stepping up to the sink. Makenna nodded with a smile. This was their routine at home, and she kinda adored that he didn’t give a second thought to doing it here. “What?” he asked as he handed off a dirty.
She just smiled. “Nothing at all, Good Sam.”
He rolled his eyes, but the look on his face was all contentment. Not something she saw all that often, and she totally adored it. “Hey look.” He nodded toward the window.
“Oh, it’s snowing,” Makenna said. Just enough had come down to dust the tree branches and