“New York isn’t home anymore,” I replied, not looking up from my meal.

“Of course,” my aunt said. “I just thought maybe some time away would help.”

“Well, it wouldn’t,” I snapped. I glanced at Alex. Did he realize what she was doing? Did he understand the implication of her words? She hadn’t invited us both.

“Sarai only has a few months of school left,” Alex said easily. My uncle and aunt didn’t notice the way his jaw flexed as he gritted his teeth, but I did. “Maybe we could come for a visit after she graduates.”

My aunt bristled. “Do you speak for my niece now?”

“Adinah,” Uncle Isaac bit out. “That’s enough.”

“No,” Alex said, his hand finding my thigh beneath the table. “Sarai is more than capable of speaking for herself. It was just a suggestion.”

“I’m sorry,” Aunt Adinah murmured. She straightened her shoulders. “That was rude of me.”

“Well, if you can’t be rude to family,” Alex said, extending an olive branch, “who can you be rude to?”

Aunt Adinah smiled slightly. “Is your family rude, then?” she asked almost teasingly. I felt my shoulders slowly relax.

“No,” Alex said, shaking his head as he went back to his food. “Well, my sister-in-law is borderline rude.”

“That’s not true,” I interrupted. I looked over to my aunt. “Ani’s just very outspoken.”

“She says whatever pops into her head, and damn the consequences,” Alex continued. “Once, she yelled at a guy wearing expensive shoes because he ignored a homeless man panhandling on the street.” He shook his head. “The guy turned out to be the person she was supposed to be meeting for an interview.” He paused. “She didn’t get the job.”

I could imagine Ani doing that. My lips twitched, and Alex caught it, smiling back at me.

“She also used to tell people that I didn’t understand English,” Alex said, still looking at me. “So I’d have random people speaking to me in Spanish—which I don’t understand.”

A laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it.

“I bet that was uncomfortable,” Uncle Isaac said wryly, looking back and forth between us.

“Yeah,” Alex said, looking back down at his food. “Ani enjoys that type of thing. She thinks it’s funny.”

“Sarai had a friend like that,” my aunt said, joining the conversation. “What was her name?”

“Mary,” I replied.

“Right. Mary. She married the Rebenowitz boy last year. Did I tell you that, Sarai?”

Of course she had. She’d given me details of the wedding, the reception, and Mary’s new apartment when she’d been trying to convince me to come back to New York after graduation. Our family had gotten an invitation, but, I hadn’t been able to go.

“She’s pregnant now,” my aunt said, making a knot form deep in my belly. “A little boy.”

“That’s nice,” I choked out.