He kicked off his shoes, and as he went past me, I could smell what he was holding. And it smelled like heaven. If heaven were made of cheese.

I led him to the kitchen, where he put the glass dish gently onto the counter. He struggled a little with his cast as he put his arm back into the sling.

Once he had done that, he took out his phone and began tapping at the screen. A second later mine binged.

It’s to thank your family. For everything.

“That’s really nice of you,” I said, meaning it. “Thank you so much.”

Mourning families who were sitting shiva often got dinners cooked for them by friends and extended family. Sometimes Dad even made up meals to take to a family that didn’t have a lot of visitors. But it wasn’t very often that we got something. Especially something that smelled so delicious. Oren and his uncle must have gotten a lot of meals if they had something left over even after shiva had ended.

Oren shrugged and tapped out another message.

You’ve all been really nice. So I wanted to make something for you. It’s mac and cheese.

Wait. He’d made this dish? I shouldn’t have been surprised after he’d whipped up those tuna-stuffed peppers. But I was still impressed.

“Mac and cheese is my absolute favorite,” I said. His big smile made me suspect it was his too.

Even though I’d just finished breakfast, my mouth was watering already. I wanted to grab a fork and dig in. But he’d said it was for my family. Mom would not be happy if she opened this up later and saw half of it missing.

“Let’s put it in the fridge,” I said as I yanked open the refrigerator door. “I’ll just make room.”

Right then Mom appeared in the kitchen doorway. She was dressed in her funeral suit. “Hi, kids.”

“Mom,” I said. “Look! Oren made us an entire tray of mac and cheese as a thank-you.”

Mom’s eyes went wide as she looked from me to Oren to the dish. “You did? As a thank-you for what?”

“Because we’ve been nice and for the funeral and everything,” I said for him.

He nodded.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Mom said.

I could see her waterworks were going to start up again. Time to do something before it got weird.

“But it’s a really big tray, so maybe we should invite Oren and his uncle for Shabbat dinner tonight to help us eat it.” Even though I sort of wanted to eat the whole thing on my own. Right now.

“Oh,” Mom said, reaching for the coffee pot. “That’s a good idea. Oren?”

He held up his phone.

“He’ll text his uncle,” I said.

He nodded again. I was really getting to know him and what he wanted to say.

“Great,” Mom said as she finished filling her mug. “I need to go now so your dad and I can head to the cem—service,” she said. “What are you kids up to today?”