“Lily,” she called over her shoulder from the kitchen, as she hurried to finish their dinner preparation. “Do you have any homework?”

“A little.”

“Then do it.”

Lily sighed expressively. “I thought you wanted me to set the table.”

“I do. Then start your homework.”

Lily approached the silverware drawer. “How come I have to do it now? Why can’t I wait to do my homework until after dinner?”

“Because I have a PTA meeting tonight and if you need help I won’t be here.”

“Dad can help me,” Lily argued.

“I’d rather you finish it now.” Garth was way too lax with their children. From the beginning, Karen had been forced into the role of the disciplinarian. Her husband worked as a consultant for an engineering firm and at the end of a workday he was emotionally and mentally exhausted. Asking him to do anything beyond changing channels on the television was a strain on his mental capacity.

Lily obediently laid out the silverware at the table. Karen inspected it to be sure her daughter had placed each utensil in the proper position. Little things like that were important to her. In far too many families, etiquette and manners had gone by the wayside. Not in her home, though. Karen made sure her children sat up straight at the dinner table and never talked with food in their mouths. Nothing, absolutely nothing, irritated her more than bad manners.

Lily reluctantly sat down at the kitchen counter with her homework. Karen finished stirring the sour cream into the stroganoff, one of Garth’s favorite dinners. She glanced at Lily and noticed her daughter was involved in writing out her spelling words for the week. Lily had her cell phone by her side and looked up each word on the dictionary app Karen had installed for her. She wondered if other parents had thought to do this. It certainly made Lily’s assignment easier. Lily’s last report card had earned her a cell phone. Buddy wasn’t responsible enough for his own phone just yet. Their youngest often misplaced his belongings.

The door off the garage opened and Garth walked in. As he did every night, he placed his keys on the peg just inside the kitchen door, kissed Karen’s cheek on his way into the family room, and immediately picked up the remote and turned on the evening news.

“Where’s Buddy?” Karen asked, looking up from the stove.

“You mean he isn’t home?” Garth asked, surprise showing on his face, his eyebrows raised.

“No, he’s at baseball practice,” Karen reminded him, and then grinned, remembering the date. “Is this an April Fools’ joke?”

“Is today the first?”

“Garth, be serious. Where’s Buddy?”

Her husband rubbed his hand across his forehead. “Was I supposed to pick him up?”

He was serious, and this was no joke. “Yes, sweetheart. I reminded you this morning, don’t you remember?”

“Apparently not,” he muttered, and did a quick reversal, grabbing his car keys on the way into the garage.

Karen followed him and stood in the doorway as he climbed into the SUV. “How could you forget your son?” she demanded.

He ignored the question. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”

Her husband’s forgetfulness played havoc on Karen’s schedule. As much as possible she felt it was important for all of them to eat dinner together. It bothered her that too many important rituals in family life had disintegrated over the years. With busy schedules—sports, music, Scouts, church functions—it would be far too easy to do as several of her friends did and simply leave dinner on the stove. She knew for a lot of families, dinner was eaten in fits and starts, dished up whenever individual family members were available. By not sharing the everyday details of life, something important was lost. Karen didn’t want to see that happen with her children and Garth. It had been ingrained in her from her own childhood—her parents had insisted they eat together as a family every night.

Putting the stroganoff on simmer, Karen collected her notes for the PTA meeting. As the secretary, she needed to have the minutes from the previous meeting prepared and printed. Thankfully, she’d seen to that the night before and the necessary paperwork was neatly tucked in her briefcase.

The noodles were already boiled and rather than let them get soggy, she drained off the liquid and combined them with the creamy mixture. The salad was in a bowl in the refrigerator and the frozen peas were in the microwave, already zapped.

Because Garth had forgotten to pick up Buddy, Karen wouldn’t be able to join the family for dinner. It exasperated her that her husband could be so irresponsible as to forget their son. She hated the thought of Buddy waiting at the baseball field because his father had forgotten to come for him.

“Mom.” Lily looked up from where she sat at the kitchen counter. “I didn’t know we had another aunt.”

Karen should have realized there would be questions. “Her name is Cassie.”

“How come you never talked about her before now?” Lily asked, chewing on the end of her pen.

Karen removed the pen from her daughter’s mouth. It was a disgusting habit, and Lily knew she didn’t like it. “Well, because …” She tried to think of how best to explain this situation. “Cassie ran away from home when she was eighteen.”

Even now, after all these years, Karen remembered the shock of waking that morning and finding their sister gone. Cassie had left a note on her pillow saying she was marrying Duke, a man her parents were dead set against. She’d gone against their wishes, brought untold grief into their family, and made the biggest mistake of her life. Their family was never the same afterward. Worse, there’d been no contact from Cassie for years.

“Where did she go?” Lily asked, cutting into her thoughts.

“To Florida.” The less said, the better. Karen’s hand was poised with the spoon above the stroganoff, which she immediately resumed stirring.

“Weren’t Grandma and Grandpa upset? Didn’t they go after her?”

Not wanting to get into the particulars and looking to distract her daughter, Karen asked, “Are you finished with your homework?”

“Yes! Tell me more about your sister. Is she younger than Aunt Nichole?”

“No, she’s the middle sister.”

“You never talked about her.”

“There was a reason for that, Lily. Cassie made a mess of her life. She didn’t set a good example, and I wanted to protect you and Buddy. We didn’t hear from her for a very long time.”

Lily took a minute to digest this and was about to ask more questions when the door off the kitchen opened and Buddy raced in. “Dad left me at the field.” His young face was streaked with tears and was red and angry. “I was the only one left and Coach had to stay with me and he was upset and—”

“Buddy, I’m sorry,” Garth said, and tried to hug his son, but Buddy was having none of it. He jerked free of his father’s hold and then rubbed his hands down his face to wipe away any evidence of emotion.

“Wash your hands,” Karen called out. “Dinner is on the table.” It wasn’t, but it would be in short order. She dished up the stroganoff, the freshly cooked peas, and the salad and placed them in the center of the table, while Lily poured the milk. Then, grabbing her purse and briefcase, Karen headed out the door.

“Make sure Buddy does his homework,” she reminded Garth.

“Will do.”

“And that the dishes get put in the dishwasher and the stove and countertops get wiped down.”

“Okay, okay. What time will you be home?”

Karen glanced at her wrist. “I shouldn’t be any later than ten.”

“I’ll wait up for you,” Garth said, and kissed her before sitting down at the table with their two children.

As it turned out, Karen was home at 9:45 p.m. As she expected, Garth was planted in front of the television. At first glance the kitchen was reasonably clean, and other than the TV, the house was relatively quiet, which meant both kids were in bed for the night.

Garth turned around when he heard the door open. “How was the meeting?”