Chapter 9
Six months after the wedding, the Blue Lantern turned sixty.
Grandma wanted a small dinner for the staff and family. Eddie wanted to invite every person who had ever eaten at the Long Table. We compromised by holding a Saturday celebration for the town and saving Sunday supper for its usual guests.
The week before it, Dad asked me to visit him at his house.
He had found a photograph of Mom standing in the Blue Lantern kitchen with Grandma. I had never seen it. Mom was laughing, holding a wooden spoon like a conductor’s baton.
“She took this the day you learned to make pancakes,” Dad said.
I looked closer. A little girl’s hand reached into the bottom of the picture. Mine.
“Why didn’t you show me before?”
“I put so many things away after she died. I told myself I was keeping them safe.”
We sat at his kitchen table.
“I was wrong about Vanessa too,” he said. “I kept treating every disagreement between you as something I had to avoid. She learned I would stay quiet. You learned you had to handle it alone.”
I held the photograph by its edges.
“I did feel alone.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
He did not reach for me or ask if we were all right now. He let me decide what to do with the apology.
“I want a copy of this,” I said.
“You can have the original.”
I took it home and put it beside Grandma’s letter.
Vanessa came to the anniversary celebration late. She had repaid the amount due under the first part of her agreement and had sold her event company. She now worked for a smaller firm that gave her no access to family money or restaurant accounts.
I knew those facts because Ms. Reyes kept us informed about the repayments. Vanessa had not asked me to congratulate her.
She stood near the door until I finished speaking with a supplier.
“Grandma invited me,” she said.
“I know.”
“If you’d rather I leave, I will.”
I looked around. Grandma was telling a group of children about the diner’s first menu. Liam stood by the coffee station. He and Vanessa had begun seeing each other again, slowly. They had arrived in separate cars.
“You can stay,” I said.
Vanessa swallowed. “I’ve been practicing what I’d say to you.”
“You don’t need a speech.”
“I know. I’m still nervous.”
She glanced toward the place where Grandma sat.
“When I moved your chair, I wanted the investors to believe you didn’t matter here. I knew you did. That’s why I needed you out of their picture.”
I felt the old hurt rise, but I kept listening.
“I used the money because I thought I could replace it before anyone noticed. Then I needed everybody to believe my version of things. I lied to Liam. I lied to Dad. I lied about your work.”
“You did.”
“I’m sorry, Nora. I’ll finish paying it back. I’ll keep my distance from decisions here.”
“What about us?” she asked after a moment.
I looked at my sister. She had hurt me long before the wedding. I was still learning what it felt like to speak to her without preparing for a fight.
“I don’t know yet,” I said. “We can start by telling each other the truth.”
“I can do that.”
“I need to see it over time.”
She nodded. “You will.”
Eddie called me to the kitchen before either of us could say more. The anniversary meal was ready.
We served pot roast, vegetables, and the lemon cakes I had made at the wedding. Grandma had requested them. I almost refused because I remembered standing in that hotel kitchen while Vanessa planned to move me away from her table. Then I made them and found I still liked the taste.
At the end of the evening, Grandma rose to thank the staff. She held the back of a chair for support.
“The Blue Lantern has lasted because people kept coming in and because people kept showing up to feed them,” she said. “Nora knows both sides of that better than anyone.”
I felt Dad’s hand rest lightly on my shoulder. He took it away when I turned, giving me room to stand on my own.
Grandma invited me beside her. Eddie came too. So did the cooks, servers, and dishwashers.
May you like
Someone took a photograph.
For once, nobody asked me to step out of it.
