Chapter 24: Table for Forty-Three

On Saturday at seven the table for forty-three was full, and for the first time I was the one who had invited every person at it.

My twelve staff sat along the left side in clothes they had ironed for the occasion.

The woman from the plotter had brought her husband, who read the menu twice and said nothing.

Nadine stood at the end of the room in her waistcoat with her red mouth, pretending not to be proud.

Marguerite's sister sat halfway down in her lilac dress, between two cousins who had stood behind my chair that night.

Twenty-six relatives in all had come.

I had not invited them to forgive them.

I had invited them because they stood up when it counted.

Kelsey came in last, in a plain navy dress.

She stood at the door with her hands clasped, not sure of her welcome.

"Sit by me," I said, and pulled out the chair at my left.

Her eyes filled.

"I thought you'd put me at the kitchen end."

"I considered it," I said. "The wagyu is better here."

She laughed, a wet, grateful sound, and sat.

The waiters brought the first course.

Down the table a cousin tasted the scallop and said, with real reverence, "Four hundred dollars a head."

"Four hundred and twelve," said Nadine over her shoulder. "The tea pairing is extra."

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