syndrome. His speech was a little hard to understand, but that didn’t stop Christopher from carrying on a long conversation with him about Star Wars.
She was half listening to them talk as Richard Shannon finished carving the turkey.
“Father Shepherd, would you mind saying grace?” Winnie asked.
“I would be happy to,” the reverend said. “Would everyone please join hands.”
Abby had just reached for Christopher’s hand on her left and was about to reach across the table to Teresa Shannon’s hand when the front door opened.
Everyone paused, looking expectantly toward the door. A moment later, Ethan walked in, shrugging out of his coat.
He looked gorgeous, she couldn’t help noticing. His hair was windswept and he wore a blue dress shirt, loose at the collar. She actually felt a little light-headed.
Oh, how ridiculous. Yes, he was attractive, but he was definitely not the kind of man for her. Not to mention, he still looked at her with suspicion in his eyes, as if he expected her to steal the silverware right off the table when the guests weren’t looking.
His grandmother looked delighted to see him. “Ethan, darling. You made it.”
Another man followed close behind Ethan, and Abby recognized José Navarro, whom she had met once before at Kevin’s funeral. Even if she hadn’t met him, she would have known by the resemblance to Sofia that this was her son, especially when he crossed to his mother and kissed her cheek.
“And you brought José. How clever of you!”
Ethan smiled, leaning down to hug his grandmother. “I dragged him away. It took some work, but I finally convinced him Lancaster Hotels wouldn’t fall apart if he took an hour away to have some turkey and pumpkin pie. I meant to call so I could warn you but totally forgot.”
Sofia Navarro beamed at her son. “Good for you, Ethan. And look, we have just enough place settings since Allison canceled at the last minute.”
“Sit down. Sit down,” Winnie said. “José, there’s a place there across from your brother.”
Abby suspected there might be something going on between her notoriously relationship-shy friend and José. She could definitely understand why Lucy would be drawn to the man. He was extraordinarily good-looking, with sculpted features, high cheekbones, his mother’s warm dark eyes and incredibly long eyelashes.
“Hi, Ethan. Hi, José.” Rodrigo beamed at both of them, his features filled with even more joy to see them.
“Rod. Dude. Happy Thanksgiving.” Ethan gave the younger man a long, complicated, obviously well-practiced handshake that had Christopher gawking.
To her dismay, he then took the seat at the end of the table, which happened to be right next to her spot.
“Hi,” he said to her. “Happy Thanksgiving.”
Abby could feel her face heat, a curse of her red hair. She and Father Shepherd were a matched set when it came to the blushing department.
“And to you.”
That was all she could manage.
“Everything looks great,” he said.
“I’m sure it tastes delicious. We were just about to say grace so we can see for ourselves,” Winnie said tartly. “Everyone, grab the hand of the person next to you.”
Oh, snap. That person was now Ethan Lancaster. She didn’t want to hold his hand but couldn’t figure out a way to decline without causing a scene.
She took Christopher’s slightly sticky hand in hers again. After a moment’s hesitation, she took Ethan’s outstretched fingers. His hand was warm, the fingers big and strong. Abby tried not to shiver at the feel of his skin brushing hers.
Abby did her best to ignore her reaction and focus on Father Shepherd’s blessing. She needed to get control of herself right now. She would be here for two weeks and would no doubt encounter Ethan again during that time. She was here to help Winifred, not make a fool of herself by developing a completely inappropriate crush on the woman’s grandson.
She only caught half of Father Shepherd’s prayer, but what she did hear seemed very sweet and sincere. Though she shouldn’t have been looking, she thought she saw Mariah watching the clergyman under her eyelashes.
After the prayer, everyone began passing around the food.
“You’ve been busy today,” Ethan said, after handing her a heaping dish of stuffing.
“Everyone else brought most of the meal except the turkey and a few of the sides. Oh, and we made a pumpkin pie, but I’m afraid the verdict is still out on that one.”
“That’s still a lot of work and probably not what you were expecting when you agreed to come up here to help out Winnie after her fall.”
That wasn’t all