Stepping-Stone for Mia novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Family Dinner

My mother's Sunday dinners started at five sharp, and nobody had missed one in thirty years.

She'd texted me Saturday morning.

Dinner as usual. We need to be a family right now.

I almost didn't go.

Then I put on a long-sleeved sweater over the bandage and went.

I had something to say, and I wanted to say it at her table.

The house in Roland Park had tulips in the window boxes.

Dad's old Mercedes was still in the garage, still washed every month.

The housekeeper let me in and squeezed my good hand without a word.

Bennett's boys were in the den, eight and six, fighting over a video game.

"Aunt Sarah!" The little one barreled into my legs. "Did a bad guy stab you?"

"He cut me a little. I'm okay."

"Can I see?"

"After dinner, if you eat your green beans."

"Deal."

In the dining room, my mother was lighting candles.

She was sixty-four and looked fifty, in pearl studs and a cashmere wrap.

She chaired the hospital foundation, and she dressed for dinner the way she dressed for a gala.

She kissed the air beside my cheek.

"Sarah. How's the arm?"

"Fourteen stitches."

"Did they use a plastic surgeon?"

"They used a first-year."

She winced, as if that was the tragedy of the week.

Mia was already seated, in my old chair, next to Mom's. She'd been in that chair since she was four.

Bennett came in from the kitchen with a bottle of wine.

"Good," he said when he saw me. "You came."

The soup was cold asparagus. I put my spoon down after one taste.

"I'm going to tell you what happened the night Kelly Beal died," I said. "All of it. Then you can tell me what you want to do."

"Sarah," Bennett said. "Not at the table."

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