Page 25 of Worth the Trip

“I know. I’m saying⁠—”

“You want something else?”

“I never said it looked bad.”

“You implied.”

“I observed.”

I looked at Lennox. “You might want to abandon this argument.”

He nodded toward me. “Thank you. See, Landon understands nuance.”

“I’m helping you survive.”

Mama pointed her serving spoon at both of us.

Pops drank his tea.

Smart man.

Once everybody had food, conversation settled into its normal rhythm. Football. Family updates. Lennox lying about how much time he spent studying. Mama reminding Pops about something he swore she’d never told him. I was halfway through my green beans when Mama looked across the table at me.

“You hungry, baby?”

I glanced down at the food already disappearing from my plate. “That question feel delayed.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I’m eating.”

“You look tired.”

I looked at Pops.

He suddenly found his plate fascinating.

“So y’all coordinated this?”

Mama frowned. “Coordinated what?”

“Apparently my face has become a family project.”

Lennox pointed his fork at me. “You do look tired.”

“Traitor.”

“I’m just saying.”

Mama rested her hand beside her plate. “Your daddy told you something under that sink?”

“Plumbing-related.”

Pops smiled into his tea.

Mama looked at him. “Jeremiah.”

He shrugged. “I told him work’ll take whatever he keeps giving it.”