Hardin
I’d never done anything like this before, especially not in front of Mom. Joking around with Dionne, stealing meat from Aspen’s plate, and laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, none of it was like me. In fact, I was usually the first to shut down anything remotely playful at the table but today, I couldn’t help it. Dionne made things light, effortless even and I was curious to see how Mom would react to all of it. I half-expected her to scold me or at least flash one of her icy stares. But instead, she sat there quietly, no big smile on her face, just this strange, confused look that I couldn’t quite figure out.
Maybe she was waiting for us to settle down before saying something, but the more Dionne joined in, the more I realized Mom wasn’t going to stop it. She just...watched
