Then he taps his glass with his fork to get everyone’s attention. He does this when he has an announcement to make, and he’s a man who likes to make announcements. He has such a monstrous ego. He enjoys dropping bombshells and watching the reaction on everyone’s faces. It’s the way he ran his business, apparently, and it’s the way he runs his family. Now, all eyes turn to him uneasily. Even Dan’s. Jenna knows Dan’s had a shitty time of it. Surely there’s nothing more he can do to Dan. So maybe it’s her turn. Or Catherine’s. She finds herself tensing.

“There’s something you should know,” her father says, looking at each of them around the table.

Jenna catches Catherine looking at her as if she’s thinking the same thing—it’s you or me. Their father takes his time, drawing out everyone’s discomfort. Then he says, “Your mother and I have decided to sell the house.”

Catherine then. Jenna quickly glances at Catherine. She looks as if she’s been sucker punched in the stomach. She obviously had no idea this was going to happen, and it has floored her. Her face has gone slack, her expression flat. They all knew Catherine wanted this house someday. Well, it looks like she’s not going to get it.

She looks across to her mother, but Sheila is looking down, avoiding her daughter’s eyes. So this is why all the bright chatter, Jenna thinks. She knew this was coming. Jenna feels a surge of rage. Why is he so bloody mean? Why does her mother let him get away with it?

Catherine attempts to compose herself, but she’s not fooling anybody. “Why would you sell it? I thought you loved this house.”

“It’s too big for just the two of us,” Fred Merton says. “We want to downsize, get something smaller. Too much upkeep on this place.”

“What do you mean, upkeep?” Catherine says, her voice growing bolder, her anger showing. “You don’t even do any of the work yourself—you have a gardening company, a snow removal service, Irena does all the cleaning. What upkeep?”

Her father looks at her as if he’s just now noticing her distress. “What, did you want it for yourself?”

Jenna sees the wash of pink spread across Catherine’s fair skin.

Catherine says, “It’s just that . . . we grew up in this house. It’s the family home.”

“I’ve never thought of you as sentimental, Catherine,” their father says, casually refilling his wineglass.

Catherine’s face is now an angry red. “What about Irena?” she asks, glancing at their old nanny at the other end of the table, then back at her father.

“What about her?” He speaks as if she’s not at the table, as if she’s not in the room.

“You’re just going to let her go?”

Her father puts his wineglass down on the table with a clunk and says, “I imagine we’ll keep her, in a reduced capacity. But Catherine, she only comes here two days a week as it is. It’s not going to kill her.”

“She’s part of the family!”

Jenna sneaks a glance at Irena. She’s perfectly still, watching their father, but there’s a flash to her eyes. Catherine’s right, Jenna thinks—surely they owe her something. She practically raised them.

“I’m sorry to upset your expectations,” their father says, not looking sorry at all. “But the decision has been made.”

“I had none,” Catherine says tartly.

“Good,” their father says. “Because let me tell you something about expectations. It’s better not to have them. Because you will be disappointed. Just like I expected Dan here to take over the family business someday, but I sold it rather than watch him run it into the ground.”

Lisa gasps audibly. Dan looks at his father, his face white, his mouth set in a grim line. Their mother is shaking her head, almost imperceptibly, as if telling her husband not to go there. He ignores her, as always. She is too weak for him, she always has been, Jenna thinks. At times they have all hated her for it. For not standing up for them, for not protecting them. Even now, it’s as if their mother isn’t even there. He has made this decision without her, despite what he says. Jenna can sense Jake beside her, watching in embarrassment. His hand has dropped away from her thigh.

But their father is just getting started. Happy Easter to all. This one will be memorable. “And Jenna here,” he says, turning his heavy gaze on her.

She waits for it. She’s been the object of his wrath before. She will not shrink before him. He’s just a bully. A contemptible bully, and they all know it.

“We had such high hopes for you too,” he says, leaning toward her over the table and glaring at her. “All that supposed talent—what a waste. How much longer do you expect me to support you?”

“Art takes time,” she fires back.

“You’ve been such a disappointment,” he says dismissively.

She pretends to ignore it, even though it hurts to hear him say it.

“As your parents, we had expectations too,” he says. “It cuts both ways. We expected more of our children. We wanted to be proud of you.”

“You should be,” Catherine snaps at him. “There’s lots to be proud of. You just can’t see it. You never could.”

He replies, his tone patronizing, “It’s true, we’re proud of you, Catherine. You’re a doctor, at least. But where are my grandsons?”

There’s a short, shocked silence.

“I can’t believe this,” Ted says, surprising everyone. He stands up abruptly. “We’re leaving.” He takes Catherine by the elbow and she rises beside him, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. Together they leave the table and march around Fred’s back and out to the foyer.

Fred says, “Yes, run away—that’s very mature.”

Sheila pushes back her chair and hurries after Catherine and Ted. The others remain at the table, still stunned.

Then Dan rises and, throwing his napkin down like a gauntlet, leaves the table as well, Lisa rushing after him.

Jenna says, “We’re leaving too.” She gets up and Jake follows obediently. They will all miss dessert. From the entryway, Jenna glances back over her shoulder into the dining room. Irena has disappeared into the kitchen, but her father is still sitting alone at the head of the table, tossing back a long drink of wine. She despises him.

She turns her back on him. Catherine is pulling on her coat while their mother tries to get her to wait until she can pack some pie to take home. “No, it’s okay, Mom. We don’t want any pie,” Catherine says.

“Thank you for dinner, Sheila,” Ted says. Then Catherine and Ted are out the front door as fast as they’re able.

Dan kisses his mother hastily on the cheek, and he and Lisa depart just as quickly. The door closes behind them. Then Irena unexpectedly comes down the hall from the kitchen, puts on her coat, and leaves without a word, as Sheila watches in surprised silence.

And then it’s just her and Jake, alone in the house with her parents. Jenna changes her mind; she turns back to face her father.