Carrie tried to imagine telling her mother they were going to Katonah in a chauffeur-driven car, and shuddered. “We always serve dinner, in the shelter, and I don't think—”

“What time?”

“We usually get there at around ten in the morning to help set up, and then we serve at noon and we're done around one-thirty—”

“Perfect,” he said. “By the time my sisters get the kids rounded up, we never start eating before two. I'll tell Mom to make it a little later this year and I'll go help you and your mother serve dinner at the shelter. Then you and I will hop a train for the 'burbs.”

He made it sound so easy, but it wasn't. There was no way Carrie could simply “hop a train for the ’burbs,” because Rose thought it was demeaning and insulting when people showed up at the shelter to serve food for a couple of hours on Thanksgiving and Christmas and then split before the pie was served. “The residents don't need that kind of tokenism,” she always said. “They don't need to be reminded that other people have homes and lives they're running back to. Share the entire holiday with them or stay home. Don't get rid of your guilt at their expense.”

But Howie was saying, “I really want my sister Claire to meet you. She doesn't believe her dorky baby brother actually managed to find someone as incredible as you.”

So Carrie said yes. She tried to tell herself if she got to the shelter even earlier than normal, that would make up for leaving early. She tried to tell herself that just this once her mother would understand.

Howie was a big hit with the shelter staff and the residents. He rolled up the sleeves of his monogrammed shirt—his family always liked to get a little dressed up for the holidays—and lifted the big pots of candied sweet potatoes and gravy off the stove. He set tables, carved turkey, and dished out mashed potatoes. Every once in a while, to the delight of the kids, he raced into the common room to catch the Thanksgiving Day parade on television.

But before the pumpkin pie and the coffee had been served, he rolled down his shirtsleeves and helped Carrie into her coat, saying, “We've got to run if we're going to make our train.” And when everyone else exchanged hugs and kisses with them and told them to hurry, Rose retreated to the kitchen to scrub the dirty roasting pan.

“She didn't say good-bye to me,” Carrie said when she and Howie were out on the street. “She barely said a word to you all day long….”

“Give her time,” Howie said. “She's never had to share you before. She doesn't like it.” He put his arms around Carrie and held her. “She'll come around. Or she won't. That's up to her.”