“I don’t know how long we laid there laughing, but long enough that Bell’s back was okay by the time we finished.”

Asher keeps his eyes on Evona a beat too long, and she catches him looking.

“We’ve got dessert,” Bell says, pushing down on the table to stand up. “Blackberry pie.”

Evona starts gathering up plates. Asher stands and fixes his eyes on Justin so he’ll know to offer his help, too.

“Oh, thank you,” Evona says, as Justin picks up the silverware. “What a gentleman you’ve raised, Asher,” she says.

Back home most of the women wouldn’t have let a man carry dishes into the kitchen. They would have insisted that the men sit down while they took care of everything. Asher could recall only one memory of his father; he had left when Asher was so small. They had just finished supper and his father sat at the table. He pulled out his false teeth and sucked at them while Asher’s mother cleaned up everything. Then he went into the living room and watched the news and hollered at Luke to not be in there with her. “That’s women’s work,” he had said, and winked at Asher.

“Bell, won’t you let us do all of this? Go on,” Evona says. “We’ll do these dishes, then have our pie and coffee.”

“I won’t argue with you,” Bell says, and struggles away. Lately she has a hard time walking and seems to be in pain. Now often when she rises from a chair she winces.

Evona looks at Asher with worry, a quick glance that tells him everything.

In the kitchen, Justin, Asher and Evona clean up, the dishes and silverware clinking between them. Asher watches the sink fill with hot, soapy water, the suds growing so big they look like they’ll spill out onto the floor. He draws in the clean lemon scent, a smell that always makes him think of Zelda. Every single day he regrets that one moment. He had been out of his mind.

“Go clear the rest of the table, buddy,” Asher tells Justin.

“He’s a special boy,” Evona says, and eases her hands into the dishwater, testing it for heat. “That prayer,” she says. “Like a little man.”

Out in the living room Bell plays the piano. Justin stands behind her as her shoulders undulate, her head swaying back and forth. Her eyes are closed, her hands moving like waves on the ocean, her whole face feeling every note.