"You know what she's going to say," I told Lucas now, drying my hands. "She's going to comment on the furniture. On my job. On whether you got into a real college."
"I did get into a real college."
"Doesn't matter. She'll find something."
Lucas leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. "Then why do we keep inviting her?"
"You know what she's going to say,"
"Because she's the only close family we have left besides each other." The words came out heavier than I meant them to. "And Mom would've wanted us to try."
He didn't answer right away.
He just watched me with an expression I couldn't quite read, like he was weighing something he wasn't ready to say.
"You know you did a good job, right?" he finally said. "Raising me."
"She's the only close family we have left."
I laughed, but it came out wrong, cracked at the edges.
