Miss June said, "Pecan?" "Yes, ma'am." Miss June looked at the pie on the counter. Looked back at Clare. My daughter made pecan pie every Thanksgiving.
She said, "She burned the crust every single time." And Marcus ate it anyway and said it was perfect. Marcus looked at the floor. "Every single time." Miss June said again.
Then she looked at Clare. "What kind of cook are you?" "Honest," Clare said. "I'm not great, but I try." Miss June made a sound.
Not approval. Exactly. Recognition. Good, she said. I can't stand a woman who pretends.
She walked past Clare into the kitchen, picked up a wooden spoon, and began successing Marcus' collard greens without being asked, which was what she did in every kitchen she entered, and which Marcus had come to understand was her primary love language. Kesha appeared at Marcus's elbow. She looked at Clare. Clare looked at her. "I've heard a lot about you," Kesha said.
Not warmly, not coldly, evenly. I've heard some about you, too, Clare said. Marcus said, "You're the one who called him out when he was being stubborn." Kesha blinked. "He said that?
He said it like it was a good thing." Clare said that you loved him enough to say the hard thing. Kesha was quiet for a second. Then she looked at Marcus, then back at Clare. He usually leaves that part out, she said.
"He's a little too modest," Clare said. But he listens. Which is the more important thing? Kesha looked at her for a long moment. Then she said, "The greens smell right."
Miss June's improving them, Marcus said. "She always does," Kesha said and walked into the kitchen. Marcus looked at Clare. She raised her eyebrows slightly. "That's the best I could have hoped for," he exhaled.
Dinner happened the way good dinners happen when everyone present has made a private decision to show up as themselves. There were moments of careful navigation. Miss June at one point asked Clare directly how long she'd been widowed and the table went silent for a half second and Clare said 4 years. And Miss June nodded slowly and said, "You know then?" And Clare said, "Yes, ma'am.