Anne proceeded up the front stairs carefully with a loaded plate held aloft in each of her hands. It had seemed a shame to let a whole Thanksgiving dinner go to waste, and JJ had said he was hungry. So was she, to tell the truth. She’d spent most of the day in the kitchen, smelling the turkey roasting, and hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Now it was past seven, and it had certainly been a strange day. Not that she would have been hungry if she were in any of the rest of the family’s positions, after what they’d found out, but, being a newcomer, she was afforded the luxury of a child’s innocent carelessness. And she would keep it that way as long as possible, selfish though that was. In truth, she hoped to avoid future visits to Pine Rapids altogether. Harry wasn’t himself when he was here, and the rest of the family … Well, she didn’t like to judge, but, suffice it to say, she’d have quite some stories to tell to Linda and Janice when she got back home to Superior.

“Now,” she said, as she walked into JJ’s room, “I didn’t give you a whole lot, because I didn’t know how much you’d be able to eat. But I can always get seconds for you, all right?”

JJ was sitting up in bed, propped on a pile of pillows. He smiled. “Thanks,” he said, reaching out to take the plate from her.

“Do you need more water?” she said.

“Whiskey,” he said. “If you don’t mind.”

She laughed. “Think again,” she said.

“Please?”

She sat down in the big chair over by the window. “Well, after you’ve eaten,” she said. He was an adult, after all; she supposed she shouldn’t treat him like a child.

He smiled at her, and picked up his fork.

“Are you sure it won’t bother you if I eat with you?” she said.

“Hell, no,” he said. “Glad for the company.”

“This house is just too big,” Anne said, shivering a little. “I can’t get used to it. It feels so lonely with no one else here.” She took a bite of her mashed potatoes.

“So they went out to look for Grandpa?” he said.

“Yes,” Anne said. “Can you imagine what’s happened? Your poor sister!”

“Nick’s gone?”

“Yes.”

“My uncle!” JJ said, laughing. “Half, anyway.”

Anne shook her head. With her plate resting on her knees, she cut her turkey into bite-size pieces. “I don’t see how you can laugh about it. It’s awful. I can’t imagine what your grandma’s going to do. After all these years, to find that out!”

JJ shrugged. “Well,” he said, “it isn’t the worst thing I’ve seen, I’ll put it that way.”