“Firm,” said Lulu. “Nice.”

Sophie frowned critically at her plate. “I suppose the tomatoes could be a little riper,” she admitted. “And some recipes say you should do fiddly stuff like skinning them and toasting the bread, but I don’t think that’s necessary, do you? Have some salad.”

“Salad, too!” said Fee. “Goodness, Sophie, you’re spoiling us. Isn’t it all wonderful, David?”

“It’s a feast,” said David. He was a tall man, lean and gently balding, with the look of someone quietly and always enjoying a private joke. He smiled now at his youngest daughter. “Well, well, Sophie! First you teach yourself to sew, and now you learn to cook. Next thing, you’ll be putting all this career nonsense out of your head and settling down to marry like a young woman should.”

Sophie simpered prettily back at him.

“Only if I can find someone as big and strong and clever as you, Daddy,” she lisped.

“That’s my girl.” David nodded approvingly. “True femininity,” he noted to no one in particular. “She gets it from my side of the family.”

“Ignore them, Charlie,” said Fee. “They do it to get a rise out of me. It’s never yet worked, but I guess hope will spring eternal. Have some of Daddy’s little girl’s salad.”

“Thank you, it looks delicious.” Charlie helped herself to a portion, tasted, and was silent.

“I made the dressing myself,” said Sophie. “I used less oil than usual because Emma’s always worrying about weight, so it might be a bit vinegary. But it is homemade.”

“Maybe,” suggested Lulu gently, “just as a thought, really, just as a sort of idea, we could perhaps bring out a little more olive oil and have it on the side. Just for any people to add who don’t like it quite so, um, sharp.”

“Sharp flavors refresh the palate,” Sophie told her. “Oh! Oh! I’ve got an announcement!” She rapped on her glass with a spoon and stood up. “Listen up, everyone, I’ve got something to say.”

“I do not like the sound of this,” Lulu murmured to Emma.

“You never know,” said Emma, trying to seem more confident than she felt.

“Listen to me!” Sophie at last achieved silence. “Okay, everyone, Mom, Dad, everyone. I want to say thank you both to Lulu and to Charlie for taking me in when I had nowhere to go. It was kind of both of them, and it was kind of Lulu, but it was even kinder of Charlie because Lulu’s my sister and she’s sort of stuck with me, but Charlie didn’t have to be this kind, and I really appreciate it.”

“Hear, hear,” said Jamie, rapping on his own glass in approval.

“That’s very nice of you, Sophie,” said Charlie. “But honestly—”

“And I’ve been thinking,” continued Sophie, “about a way of thanking Charlie particularly. Tonight is all very well, but it’s for everyone, not just you, Charlie, and I wanted to do something specially for you.”

“Oh, God,” said Lulu.