A surge of possessiveness shoots through me, but I quickly tamp it down. “Yes, I am.”

Gretchen looks as though she wants to press the subject further, but doesn’t. “Can I help you all find anything?” she asks instead.

“Nope, we’ve found all we need.” Mrs. Dawson snags the dress out of my grasp and begins walking over to the cash register. “We’ll take this, please.”

“Ellen!” I exclaim, rushing after her. “I can’t let you do that. Let me pay for the dress, please.”

“Nonsense,” she replies. “You’re our guest, and we’re the ones who invited you to the wedding.”

“You really don’t need to do that.” I feel terrible as I watch Ellen hand over her card, reflecting on what Jace confided in me about his family’s financial situation.

“I want to.” Ellen smiles and hands me the bag with the dress after Gretchen rings it up.

“You’re all going to Charlie’s wedding tomorrow?” Gretchen asks.

“We’ll be there,” Ellen confirms. Turning to me, she adds, “Gretchen’s cousin Charlie is the groom.” She looks back to Gretchen. “Is the family all excited?”

“They’re all over the moon,” Gretchen replies. “We haven’t had a family wedding in a decade.”

“We’re looking forward to it, too,” Ellen replies. “See you tomorrow!” After exchanging goodbyes, the three of us head out of the store.

Our shopping trip is the main topic of discussion at dinner.

“Wait until you guys see Vivienne’s dress,” Claire informs everyone as we’re eating the pasta Ellen made. “It’s so pretty!”

She beams over at me and I smile back, touched by her excitement. Jace grins at me, and I wink.

“Gretchen was working at Larson’s,” Mrs. Dawson adds. “She said they’re all looking forward to tomorrow, and she was excited to hear you’re back for break, Jace.”

I don’t know if Ellen is bringing Gretchen up intentionally or not, but I’m grateful for the chance to scrutinize Jace’s expression when she does. He doesn’t react to the name. His response is a noncommittal “Great” that doesn’t provide me with any insight.

As we’re finishing up dinner, Claire disappears and then reappears clutching a stack of board game boxes so high she can barely see over the top.

“It’s game night!” she exclaims.

“No Scrabble this Friday,” Mike tells her. “You just made up words last week.”

“It’s called being smart, Mike,” Claire retorts, and I smile at her sassy response along with the rest of the Dawsons.

“Let’s play Monopoly,” Jace suggests.

“No way, you always win,” Alden complains.

Jace sends me a triumphant look. I roll my eyes in response.

Eventually, everyone agrees on charades.

“Girls versus boys,” Claire declares. “I want Mom and Viv on my team.”

It’s the first time any of Jace’s family members have used his nickname for me, and the sound of it in Claire’s innocent voice fills me with a cozy warmth.

We each huddle in our respective groups to scribble the most challenging books, movies, television shows, and songs we can think of. I’m grateful for Richard’s relentless preparation as names I studied in the binder on American culture get tossed around. My first trip to the front of the room goes smoothly, but the second slip of paper I draw contains the word cow.