Avery nodded, and her little sister left the room. She wondered if perhaps there was something more to the story as to why Jane wouldn’t want to go home. Something seemed off with her for the past few weeks.
Tristan woke again near dinner time, probably from the heady aromas permeating the whole house from whatever the rest of the crew had managed to whip up in the kitchen. He wanted a shower, and since the electric was back on, she thought it would be a good idea but did stay with him to make sure he didn’t pass out or anything worse.
“You could join me,” he hinted and offered a silly wink.
Avery smiled but looked at the bandaging on the side of his head where she and Spencer had patched him up. She couldn’t help but frown.
“I’ll just get you some clean clothes,” she suggested and rummaged his side of the long dresser. She hurried back, though, because she worried he was not stable yet.
When he finished, he seemed tired but insisted on going down and joining everyone for dinner. They seemed relieved to see him, as if Tristan alone was going to bring them the hope they needed to carry on. Even Gyles nodded and shook his hand.
They ate a scrumptious dinner of beef tips, mashed potatoes that had come from a box of powdered potato flakes, and canned corn. Renee made homemade rolls and commented that they were fortunate to get more flour from the hospital take. Avery knew theirs wouldn’t last much longer. There was going to come a point when they either needed to grow a lot of their own foods or get assistance from the government when they announced drop spots for food items.
Everyone who went on the trip relayed what they were able to find, and she was so thankful to have such good friends, even if they were new friends because flour wasn’t the only problem they were about to have.
“Maureen was glad to go back to her place,” Elijah commented as he helped himself to seconds of the beef, care of the haul from the farmer up north, Mr. Rankin, who seemed like a good man. Avery prayed the man and his son would be safe.
“Yeah?” Spencer asked since Tristan was quiet.
Elijah nodded with a chuckle, “Oh, yeah. Don’t think she liked hanging out with the Miller kids. They’re very religious.”
Avery smiled at that and was glad for them. They had not joined them for dinner, which was disappointing. So far, they mostly kept to themselves, which didn’t seem healthy.
“May I be excused?” Ephraim asked.
“Why?” Avery asked as he stood beside her holding his empty plate.
“We wanna’ go check out this video game before we lose power again.”
“Is it violent?”
“Uh…no?”
She had to fight back a grin because she was supposed to be stern, the parent now. Fortunately for her little brother, she wasn’t very good at this parenting thing and gave him a nod. A moment later, she saw Finnegan, Connor, and him running for the basement stairs. It was hard to tell them no when they were so excited about something. That hardly ever happened anymore.
The conversation flowed, and the meal came to a close, but Kaia announced that they’d made dessert for everyone. Avery volunteered to help.
“What’d you guys make?” she asked her sister, whose hair was looking particularly crazy today, the curly clusters springy and frizzy. Avery stroked the back of her head affectionately.
“We had a lot of bread going stale since those girls left, so Renee suggested bread pudding since we have an excess of eggs,” she told her and then frowned. “So we made apple bread pudding with a brown butter whiskey sauce like Mom used to make.”
“That sounds wonderful, dearest,” Avery said, trying not to focus on the fact that their mother was gone. She knew instinctively that was the reason for her sister’s sudden crestfallen expression, too. She squeezed Kaia around the shoulders. “It smells great.”
Kaia just shrugged with one shoulder, “Probably not as good as Mom’s.”
“Well, it smells just like hers.” Avery paused and said, “I’ll be right back. Gotta use the restroom.”
“That’s starting already?” Kaia asked playfully.
“What?”
“Peeing all the time or whatever.”
Avery grinned and kissed her sister’s sweet cheek before dashing down the hall to the bathroom. She could hear the boys in the basement squealing and cheering each other on. Letting them play anything that caused laughter right now seemed like the right thing to do, even a violent video game.
Everyone enjoyed the dessert, but her heart just wasn’t in it. There was too much on her mind, so she declined the offer and lied that she had morning sickness. Tristan seemed to pick up on the falsehood and gave her a questioning stare, which she dismissed with a wave of her hand. Then their friends drove home, and Connor spent the night with them, which he was doing with more and more frequency. It was fine with her. He was a cute kid.
Tristan and Spencer stayed up late to talk and make plans, but she wished he would’ve just gone to bed. Spencer promised to keep an eye on him and get her if anything happened. He could’ve gotten a concussion or was suffering from a brain bleed or any number of things, and they wouldn’t even know it. Her stress levels were through the roof, but at least their friends had come home from the city safely.
Avery checked on the boys in the basement, warned them to keep down the noise level, and took her mug of hot tea to their room. She then grabbed a fast shower in case anyone else needed one. It was after midnight when Tristan turned in next to her and pulled her against him.
“Are the boys asleep in the basement?” she asked.
“Out like logs, snoring ones.”
She smiled and snuggled a little closer against him, her back to his front.
“Are you—”
“I’m fine, Angel,” he said. “I’ve been noggined before. Don’t
