Chapter 23 - THORN HOUSE AT CHRISTMAS
We returned for Christmas when Beckett was twenty-two.
His choice.
He volunteered to cook.
I almost said no.
Then realized saying no would make the house powerful again.
So we booked the east wing like any descendant family.
Paid appropriate costs.
No hidden reimbursement.
Cecily came.
Jessica and Mark came after years of repairing their marriage.
Mark had completed probation and never returned to fiduciary roles.
Edward was too frail to travel.
Marguerite remained under supervised release and was not invited.
The menu:
Roast chicken.
Potatoes.
Vegetables.
Bread.
Pie.
No prime rib.
Not intentionally.
Beckett said prime rib was overpriced that week.
At dinner, there was no head chair.
Faye sat wherever she wanted.
Della took the seat by the window.
Cecily sat beside Beckett.
A younger cousin reached for bread before everyone was served.
No one stopped him.
Beckett passed the butter.
That was all.
After dinner, I walked past the old coat rack.
It remained in the hall.
For years I imagined burning it.
I touched the wood.
May you like
Nothing happened.
Objects shrink when they stop enforcing rules.
