Liam leaves Cordell in the kitchen as Abilene storms in.

"What the hell were you thinking?" She asks Cordell. "Leaving your daughter in jail?" She questions as Stella walks in.

"You bailed her out?" Cordell asks. "I left her there so she would learn the consequences of her actions now that she's an adult."

"She's 18!"

"And she's my daughter. Stella Blue needs a wake up call. Should I remind you of her countless alarming decisions as of late?"

"I am not disagreeing, but did you even bother to listen to her side of it before leaving her in the drunk tank?"

"I didn't leave her in the drunk tank, mama. I had the sergeant separate her. So I guess you didn't bother to listen to my side either, did you?"

"Your side? Unbelievable." Stella remarks.

"Well, believe it. Because I'm not interested in hearing your lies anymore. Or the lies you're feeding to your little sister."

Stella gives him a look of disbelief before walking out.

+++

Janie walks out of the bathroom after finishing getting ready. She walks to her room, but stops when she sees Stella in her room.

"Stelly!" Janie exclaims, rushing into the bedroom.

"Hi." Stella mumbles as Janie hugs her. Stella lightly hugs her back, gently pushing her away after a moment.

"I am so sorry. Are you okay?" Janie asks.

"I'm fine." Stella grumbles.

"Look, I-I promise, I tried to get dad to not leave you in there. I tried telling him it was Augie's party, he didn't listen and he really just wouldn't listen to a word I said." Janie says. "I... I tried."

"Really?" Stella asks and Janie nods. "Did August try?"

"No." Janie says.

"Well, thanks for trying." Stella mutters. "I just... I'm gonna take a shower."

"Are you mad at me?" Janie asks.

"Nope. Not you. You're, uh... probably one of the only people who I know I can rely on." Stella says.

+++

Janie jogs downstairs as Stella and Abilene break away from a hug.

"Well, it's clear that, uh, these chores need to be done sooner than later. So, I'll-I'll drop the kids off." Abilene offers Stella.

"Right now I can't promise that my rap sheet won't grow if I'm left alone with August." Stella says.

"I feel that." Janie says.

"That's fair." Abilene says. "August! Get the lead out!" She yells up.

"Mawline." August groans, starting to come down the stairs. "Inside voices, please." He rubs his eyes and he's still in his pajamas.

The sisters share a look of disbelief with their grandmother.

"Okay, you need to get dressed. Because your father wants you and your sisters to clean up the mess you made at the Side Step." Abilene tells him.

"I, uh, I kind of have to set up for the dance. I'm, like, chair of homecoming committee, and I can't really back down on my word." August says and Janie and Stella share another look.

"Well, tell your ride to pick you up at the Side Step, because this mess is all of your responsibility." Abilene says.

+++

They're at the Side Step and August is recording a video.

"Shoutout to all y'all who celebrated with me in epic glory." August says. "Damn, no wonder the cops pulled up." He adds quietly and laughs.

"Put it away." Abilene orders.

"Yes, ma'am." August stops recording and puts his phone up.

"Do you really not care about what a disaster last night was?" Stella asks.

"Ooh, someone's jealous that their little brother managed to throw the best party of the year without their help." August says.

"Are you serious right now?" Janie asks. "Dude, pull your head out of your ass."

"Are you still drunk or just stupid?" Stella asks.

"Probably both." Janie mumbles.

"We were detained. Dad left me in jail and you said nothing." Stella says.

"Don't blame you. You think dad ever let me get a chance to say anything at all? No." August says.

"Janie tried." Stella counters.

"Look, he is the problem, Stella, okay?" August says. "He's the one who won't listen, the one who left you in jail. If you're gonna point your anger towards anybody, fire it towards dad, not me."

"I am mad at dad for what he did, but you need to own up to your part in all this and apologize too." Stella says.

"Mm, apologize for..." August looks confused.

"August, I am about this far away from punching you." Janie says, holding her pointer finger and thumb a few inches apart.

"I don't know who you're becoming, but it is not a good person and I don't like it." Stella tells her brother.

"Okay, maybe what you don't like is that I'm becoming my own person and you're losing a sidekick." August says. "But don't worry too much, you still have your little lapdog, Janie."

"Excuse me?" Janie glares at him.

"You know, Stella, you were supposed to leave for Sauber, and ever since you stayed, it is like everybody is hyper-focused on you and what you want to do. You're holding everybody hostage with your own indecision, Stella."

"The only hyper-focused on is dad, who is not a stellar example of role model right now." Janie says.

"That's not true. That's not what I'm doing." Stella argues. "I don't mean to be."

"Stel..." Janie tries.

"Okay, well, since you wanna stay, hogging up the limelight, I guess... I might as well just do whatever I want." They hear a car horn honk outside. "Who knows, Stella, I might even shine."

"I'm not keeping you from shining." Stella says as August leaves and Colton walks in.

"Yeah, Scooter's here." August says.

"Can you just wait a minute?" Stella asks as August walks out.

"I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna wait for him to sleep and I'm gonna suffocate him with stupid pillow." Janie mumbles, tossing some red solo cups into the trash bag.

"Hey. Um, I got your text. Where's he going?" Colton asks.

"He's setting up for the dance. You see, he gave his word to the homecoming committee." Stella says.

"Ah. Yeah." Colton whispers. "Uh, you know, it's still kind of early. Did you three eat yet?"

"No. Uh, the kitchen was a little..." Abilene says.

"Hostile?" Stella suggests.

"Make that the whole house." Janie scoffs.

"Well, how about I make you three a little happy curry?" Colton suggests.

"Colton, you really don't have to do that." Stella says.

"No, I insist." Colton says. "I've been working on a little special recipe, too, so..."

"Well, hey, I'll never turn down food." Janie grins making Colton chuckle and Stella weakly smiles in a little amusement. "Unless the person cooking it hates me or is at least mad at me. Then they might spit in it. But he doesn't fall under that category."

"Ah. I'm intrigued." Abilene comments, smiling.

"All right." Colton says. "Happy curry coming right up." He walks off to get the ingredients.

"Well, that's nice." Abilene comments.

"Mm-hmm." Stella hums.

"Happy curry."

"Kinda like Aunt Geri making sad cookies."

"Now we just need something for anger. That would come in handy. It'd probably be something burnt." Janie says.

+++

"Is that parsley in the sauce?" Abilene asks.

"Carrot tops, actually." Colton says.

"Oh. Well, I got to try that." Abilene says. "You know, you've got a real knack for flavor. Have you ever thought about going to culinary school?"

"I just think it's a hobby for now." Colton shrugs.

"Well, at least Stella, Janie, and I get to reap the rewards of your hobby." Abilene says and Colton laughs.

"Yeah, no, anytime. Please. Seriously." Janie says.

"I'm glad you guys like it." Colton says. "You guys done?"

"Yeah." Stella says as Colton stacks up the three plates. Colton kisses Stella on the head. After Colton walks off, Stella loses her smile.

"It looks like happy curry didn't alter your mood." Abilene says.

"I just... I feel like I made this last minute decision to stay in Austin and now that I have, the ranch doesn't feel like home. Dad doesn't know what to do with me, and August doesn't want anything to do with me. I didn't even know he felt that way. The only support that I have is Colton."

"Oh." Abilene mumbles.

"Wow. Well, I guess Mawline and I will just go and... mend our shattered, supportive hearts." Janie quips.

"And you two and gramps, of course." Stella says, chuckling, and she puts a hand on top of her grandma's.

"My brother and I -- your-your granduncle, Will. We used to fight so much that my dad started blaming us for thunderstorms." Abilene says.

"What were you fighting about?" Stella asks.

"Nonsense. I mean, I don't even remember what the fights were about, I just remember feeling... misunderstood. It got so bad that I... I moved in with a friend. Then after a few months, I... I kind of missed Will."

"So time apart helped?"

"Well, maybe... growing up a little allowed us to appreciate each other. But don't let it get so bad that you can't come back from that. It will get better between you and Augie. And maybe you'll even miss each other. In time."

+++

Janie is in her room and Cordell knocks on the open door.

"Oh. You're home, time to shut the door, I guess." Janie mumbles.

"Hey, did-did you know about Stella?" Cordell asks.

"That you guys pushed her so far over the edge she moved out? Yeah. Yeah, I know." Janie says.

"Right." He mumbles. "Janie, I... I wanted to-- I would like to apologize." Cordell tells her. "I'm... I'm sorry for-for not listening to you last night or even when you tried earlier this morning. I'm sorry for... for all of it, I guess."

"Whatever." Janie mumbles.

"Wh-- uh... "whatever"?" Cordell asks.

"Yeah. Whatever." Janie goes to leave.

"Wait, uh... what does that mean?" Cordell asks.

"It means you didn't have to listen, so I don't have to forgive." Janie says, walking out.

+++

Janie's helping with dinner while August works on the Baked Alaska -- Stella's favorite dessert which is part of Cordell's attempt at bribery to get her to come over.

Cordell takes a layer of cake out of the oven, putting it on a cooling rack.

"Voila, perfect!" Cordell announces.

"Can I get some more celery?" Liam asks and Cordell gets some out of the fridge, tossing it to his brother.

At some point, Cordell takes his phone out, taking a picture.

"Pretend like you're working." Cordell says, getting an annoyed look from August. Cordell snaps a picture and Janie hears the swoosh sound as he texts it, her phone buzzing from the group chat.

"It's not gonna work." Janie comments.

"Optimism, Janie Maybelle." Cordell says.

"Realism, father." Janie retorts.

"Hey, Augie, the ice cream needs to remain frozen, so let's hustle." Cordell says. "And the mar-ring-ga..."

"Uh, it's pronounced "meringue." Meringue." Liam says.

"Meringue. Okay. Meringue, right, of course. Sorry, chef." Cordell says. "Uh, Augie, are you getting all this?"

"Yeah, no, it's like making fancy ice cream." August says.

"No, it is not fancy ice cream, it is Baked Alaska." Liam says. "It cannot be made. It has to be built."

"Okay, "Chef."" August scoffs.

"Hey, why you talking to your uncle that way?" Liam asks his nephew.

"Cause he needs an attitude adjustment." Janie mutters under her breath.

"What?" Cordell asks, not hearing her full sentence.

"Hey, anything I can do to help?" Ben asks, walking in.

"Ben!" Cordell exclaims.

"Uh, you-- you can go back into the living room and relax, and look at the televisions and whatever for tomorrow, for Black Friday." Liam says.

"Yeah. Uh, about that... I think we got our wires crossed." Ben says. "Cass and I kinda do Black Friday on Thanksgiving. Like it starts tonight. At the mall. In person."

"I will pay you to take me with you." Janie says.

"I-- she's joking." Cordell says as the three adults chuckle.

"I'm really not." Janie says.

"It's-- that's our family tradition and I thought this was more of an early dinner than, uh..." Ben says.

"I wish." Janie mumbles. Cordell gently yanks on her braid, a silent warning for her to stop with the comments.

"You gotta leave early? That's fine." Cordell says. "How about this, we'll do Circle of Thanks and dinner at the same time. Everyone wins."

"Yeah." Ben says.

"Awesome." Cordell says.

"You two are really cooking up something special for this dinner." Ben comments.

"And it's not just mashed potatoes." Liam says. He takes a drink of his alcohol, not missing his niece's confused look.

"I guess we can stick around for dinner, if we eat quickly." Ben says.

"Soon as possible." Cordell promises.

"I'll tell Cass." Ben leaves.

""And it's not just mashed potatoes"?" Liam asks.

"Yeah." Cordell smiles.

"I don't talk like that. I don't know why I'm being like this." Liam says as Cordell tries to calm him down.

"Hey. Hey, shake it off. Stinker. All right?" Cordell says.

"Yeah." He heavily sighs.

"You got this."

"Thanks. Um, any word from Stella or...?" Liam asks.

"Um..." Cordell looks at his phone. "Radio silence."

"Told you -- not gonna work." Janie says.

"Janie... it-it could work." Cordell says.

"She's smart and stubborn. It'd be a miracle if she caved that easily." Janie says.

"Okay, you know what? Uh, why... why don't you just go and-- go and mingle. We -- the positive bunch -- will handle the rest of the food, okay, baby?" Cordell says.

"August is in the positive bunch. Should relearn the definition." Janie says, walking out.

+++

Janie hears excitement from the living room and walks in, seeing Colton and Stella.

"Ah!" Janie grins, immediately hugging her sister. "I don't care why you're here, you're here."

"Hi." Stella chuckles, hugging her back.

"Well, I guess you heard about this Baked Alaska business, huh?" Bonham says. "Colton, it's a coin flip from being a disaster."

"Stella Blue! Stella Blue!" Cordell cheers, walking in. Janie notices her sister's smile immediately diminish. "I knew you'd come. There she is. Hey, hey." He hugs her, but she doesn't hug him back. "I knew you'd be here. See, Janie. Told you -- she'd be here."

Janie nods, biting the inside of her cheek.

"Colton. Happy turkey day. Happy Thanksgiving." Cordell says, holding his fist out and Colton fist bumps him. "Stella Blue, uh, I'm knee deep in it in the kitchen. What do you say we finish the Baked Alaska together? We could-- we can catch up, you know? I'd love to hear about things and..."

"And apparently pretend you did nothing wrong." Janie mumbles.

"Yeah, that's not really why I'm here." Stella says. "Where's August?" She asks, looking at her grandma.

"He must be in his room. Or your room, he's sleeping there now. Since you're, you know... lodging elsewhere and all that." Cordell says.

"She moved out." Janie says.

"I... well..." Cordell clears his throat.

"Golden boy is in the limelight now." Janie comments to her sister.

"Okay, well, we just gotta talk and then I'll be going, so..." Stella says. "And you do need to kinda be there for it." She grabs Janie's hand, leading her out of the house.

"What, uh... talk about what?" Janie asks. "I mean, I think I have an idea of what, but, like... specifically?"

"The Side Step lost its liquor license." Stella states.

"What?" Janie asks.

"Yep." Stella's jaw clenches as she marches to the house, Janie following behind her.

The power went out by time they got to their house and Stella gets a lantern, the two going up to August's room. They walk and find him sitting on the bed and snacking.

"Are you eating candy?" Stella asks.

"The power's out, right?" August asks. "I'm guessing dinner's gonna be served in, like..." He looks at the watch that he doesn't have. "Never, so..."

"What happened to "abs are made in the kitchen"?" Stella asks, putting the lantern on the bed.

"Are you seriously giving me crap about my own diet?" August asks, chuckling.

"Actually, no." Stella takes a folded up piece of paper out, holding it out to August and he takes it after a moment.

"Um..." August unfolds it. "Why are you showing me this?"

"So, you're prepared when you finally explain everything to dad." Stella says.

"Come on." August says.

"I'm serious. You're gonna explain this whole thing to him. The truth. All of it." Stella says.

"All of it. Okay, well, you got a speech prepared for me or something? Cause I really can't wait to hear it." August says.

"God! Are you hearing yourself?" Stella asks. Janie grabs one of the pillows and hits August with it. "Or are you just being a jerk for the sake of it now? Do you not know how to be any other way?"

"I'm not the one who came out here looking for a fight." August says.

"I did not--"

"You know what? You're lost. You didn't go to college, you don't know what you're doing, and it kills you that I finally have some confidence and I'm not leaning on you anymore." August says as he stands up.

"August, this has nothing to do with her not going to college. This is all about how you're not owning up to your crap and just letting her take the blame for everything that you did!" Janie exclaims.

"So, this is you standing on your own?" Stella asks. "Your great accomplishment is getting our family business shut down?"

"What's going on here?" Abilene walks in. She holds her hand out for the notice in August's hand and he reluctantly hands it over. "Well."

"I'm sorry, Mawline. I know this is a rough day for you." August says.

"What are you going to do about this?" Abilene asks. August shrugs.

"Hmm?" Abilene gives the paper back to Stella. "I presume your sister came here to tell you it's time for you to face the music. And I can't say I disagree." She starts to leave, but turns back. "This thing, between the three of you -- it is not worth it. Figure it out." She leaves.

+++

The power is back on and the brothers managed to get dinner on the table, everybody now gathered around the table. Janie is sitting next to Cassie and across from Stella, Cordell sitting between the two sisters at the end of the table.

They're all passing the food around as they talk about how good everything seems.

"Stella Blue, I would love some more creamed corn, please." Cordell says and she hands him the dish. He smiles at her, but she turns her attention away from him.

"Hey, Walker boys. This is quite a spread. I gotta say, wow." James says. "Right? Given the circumstances."

"Absolutely, yes. There is food on this table to be thankful for." Cassie says.

"Is there ever." Cordell says.

"And it's not quite 9:00 yet." Ben says.

"9:00? No. No, no. Why would it be 9:00?" Cordell asks, looking at his watch. "I didn't say 9:00. Who said 9:00?"

"And a Happy Thanksgiving, to all who celebrate." Cassie says, holding her wine glass up. They all raise their glasses and Cordell makes sure to clink his glass with Stella's.

"This wine you brought is excellent. Thank you so much." Bonham tells Ben.

"I'm so glad you're enjoying it, sir." Ben says.

"Oh, yeah, I love this vineyard. This is a great year too." Kevin says, looking at the bottle.

"Who is he again?" August asks.

"That's Kevin, uh, from the mayor's office." Cordell informs.

"Yeah." Cassie says.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. Kevin Golden. Nice to meet you all." Kevin says. "Thank you guys for having me." August shakes his hand. "Oh, nice handshake."