We all crowd into the kitchen, where Mom has set the table for five people, plus two kinds of salad. Lucy and Luke place the cloth bags on the island.

"These are for you, from our home to yours."

Mom's jaw drops. "Wait, all this?" Lucy nods. "For us? From the farm?" Lucy nods again. "That's so generous."

"It's really our pleasure." Lucy starts opening bags and looking inside. "This one's got asparagus, carrots, spinach, radishes, apricots and..." She looks at Mom. "Beets."

"Beets? What, no!"
Lucy laughs. "I told you you are going to try them and I swear you're going to like them."

Mom laughs. "Okay, we'll see about that. Thank you both very much for all the food. And please thank your dad and your sister for us, too," Mom adds to Luke.

"It's our pleasure." Luke looks at me and I smile and awkwardly think of something to say.

"Yeah, thank you both so much."

Pam nudges me and I nudge her back.

"Okay, so, lunch is ready. Please, everyone, sit down." No one moves until Pam leads the way to the table.

"We've got pasta with homemade tomato sauce and green salads—not homemade, because our garden isn't ready yet."

Lucy leans back to let Mom put a bowl down in front of her. "What did you guys plant this year?"

I move back to let Mom place bowls in front of me and Pam, who grabs a fork and pokes at her pasta. "This looks different. How come you didn't make your famous sauce?"

Mom heads back to the stove. "Oh, I don't always make that sauce."
"You usually do when we have guests."

I cringe. "Not now," I whisper to Pam, noticing Lucy is looking confused.

Mom finishes spooning pasta into her own bowl and takes a seat at the round table. Dad picked it out—he really doesn't care much about furniture but said this table is nice because it reminds us that we're all equals, and it's perfect for group hugs at the dinner table—which of course we only did once.

"Lucy and Luke don't eat meat," Mom explains, passing one of the salad bowls to me. "And I don't always put meat in the sauce." She looks at Lucy and nods towards me. "This one loves tomatoes. More than any other food."

Luke looks up from leaning over his plate, and I notice he has very blue eyes. "Really?"

I feel heat rise up to my face as everyone turns to look at me. It feels like a really long time since we've hosted guests, and I've been hiding out for the past several weeks, so the spotlight feels especially hot today. Or is that the sun?

I pass the salad over to Pam. "Yeah, I love tomatoes. With everything—pasta, tacos, soup. To me, pasta isn't even worth eating without tomato sauce."

"She won't eat anything with a white sauce. It has to be red," Pam adds, getting into it. She passes the salad across the table to Luke.

Lucy leans forward. "Then you would love this—we have an entire acre dedicated to just tomatoes. Roma, beefsteak, round..."

"What, I didn't even know there that many kinds." I take a bite of Mom's pasta, savouring the tomato as we speak. "Do you have any cherry?"

Lucy laughs and look at Luke. "No, Luke isn't really a fan of cherry tomatoes."

"What, no, I'm not not a fan." Luke pierces his pasta with his fork and looks at me. "It's not that I don't like cherry tomatoes—there just isn't a lot I can do with them, that I can do with other tomatoes. But I like cherry tomatoes—they're good. And they're good for you—it's good that you like them."

"Cat uses them for everything," Mom jumps in. "She's used them on their own with onions and olive oil for sauce, with red onions and cilantro for salsa—oh, that's with garlic, too."

"You can use the garlic we brought," Lucy suggests.

"Aw, that would be nice." I smile at Lucy, noticing her eyes are green, and wondering where Luke got his blue eyes from. "Thank you. I'll make some for everyone later."

"That would be nice," Lucy echoes. "I look forward to it."

I don't know how, but somehow Mom and Lucy manage to carry on a conversation about vegetables for the entire duration of the meal. This helps, because I really am starving—Pam and I pretty much rolled out of bed and went straight into cleaning, as made clear by the Tom Jones music Mom was blasting from the kitchen—and I really can't think of much to say. Normally I'm the emcee of a conversation, coming up with ways to keep everyone involved and interested, but I am so hungry right now, I can't think.

After Pam's finished eating, she nudges my foot under the table and I nod casually, signalling to her that I'm almost done, too. When I finish eating, I listen to Mom and Lucy talk about Mom's plans for the garden this year—glad Lucy finally gets an answer to her question—and then Pam and I politely rise and drop our dishes into the sink.

"Can I take scrubbing this time?" I ask.

Pam pulls up her jeans and positions herself in front of the second side of the sink. "Okay, I'll rinse."

A chair scrapes across the tiled floor and Luke stops at the island, his plate empty save for his fork. "Can I help?"

I look over my shoulder. "Oh, no, it's okay. You have guest privileges."

"Yeah, those last for about three days before they expire, so enjoy," Pam teases.

"Oh, got it." Luke laughs. "So in that case, um, where's the bathroom?"

Mom turns in her chair. "Oh, sorry about that. I completely forgot you guys might need a washroom break! I was so focused on the food."

Luke grins. "Then you have your priorities straight."

Mom salutes him. "That's what I like to hear. Hey, girls!" She claps her hands together and looks at Lucy before turning back to us. "How about giving Luke a tour of the house?"

Lucy squeals. "That's a great idea! Luke, honey, isn't that a great idea?"

My heart pulls. Lucy's enthusiasm is so sweet, and it feels so nice to see Mom looking so happy.

"Sure, I'd love to see your home, if that's okay."

"Of course!" I put down the sponge, my hands covered in soapsuds. "I love giving tours."

"And I love getting out of dishes," Pam adds.

Everyone laughs. "Good one," I add quietly, giving her a nudge. I reach across the island. "Luke, I'll take your plate and show you where the washroom is."

"Actually." Mom stands up and gently takes Luke's plate. "Luke, I'll show you where the washroom is while the girls fill up the sink so the dishes can soak."

Pam groans. "She got us good."

I take Luke's plate from Mom  and dip it into the left side of the sink, which Pam has already plugged and is filling with warm water.

It's quiet—too quiet. I quickly remember that Lucy is sitting, not being entertained. I lean against the island. "Would you like a tour too?"

She opens her mouth to answer but it's Mom's voice I hear. "Lucy's already seen the house."

Huh? "When?"

Mom sails into the room and tucks in across from Lucy, where I was sitting. "You don't remember?" she teases. She watches me and then puts her hand on the table. "I'm kidding. You were only a baby."

Lucy grins. "You and Luke were born in the same year – one month apart. I used to bring Luke over here sometimes and you two would play together."

"And by 'play' we mean 'be encouraged to learn how to share,'" Mom jokes. "What is it with kids and wanting something as soon as someone else has it?"

Lucy shakes her head. "Believe me, adults are like that too. Unfortunately." She sits up. "You had more stuffed animals than any baby I had ever met," she adds.

"I did?" I like that idea—maybe that's where my love of animals started. Or maybe I had so many stuffed animals because I loved...animals. "I don't remember that."

"I don't remember that either."

The voice is deeper than Pam's, though not really deep at all. I turn and see Luke standing in the doorway.

"Can't expect you to – you were just a baby at the time," Lucy points out.

"And a really cute baby," Mom adds. "You lost all your baby fat, too. You weren't a big eater but somehow your cheeks—" Mom stops, realizing the aforementioned cheeks are turning red. Luke's eyes look bluer and bluer by contrast. "Cat was a bit of a baldie, actually," Mom adds, hastily and probably unintentionally throwing me under the bus instead. "But now look."

Lucy nods. "You have very nice hair, Caitlin. It's pretty thick actually, considering how long it took to grow in."

Pam snorts. "I have to say, it's kind of funny hearing all this, but if we want to start that tour..."

I mouth Pam a "thank you," then realize Luke is watching. Before I can start mouthing a more private apology to her for getting caught, I see Luke's lips move too.

"Thank you," he mouths back at Pam, sneaking me a wink.

"Enjoy yourselves!" Lucy calls.

Luke hesitates. "Mom, don't you want to come too?" I wonder if he's being nice or doesn't want to be alone with us, or both.

Lucy shoos the air in front of her. "I've seen the house already, and Hollie will refresh my memory later."

"Yeah, you kids go have fun," Mom insists, already turning back to Lucy and probably talking about something that isn't some kind of vegetable.

"Okay," I say, choosing the only word that is coming to mind as the word"baldie" repeats in my head. "How about we start upstairs?"