she was in Morocco a few years ago. I think they’re cooking it in a tangerine, somehow.”
He did his best to hide his smile. “Do you mean a tagine? That’s a casserole dish from that area of the world.”
“Oh, you’re right. That’s what Lucy said. Tagine, not tangerine. And they’re making couscous.”
He did like Moroccan food. Lancaster Hotels didn’t have property in the country, but he had visited a few times to check out other luxury hotels and found the country beautiful and fascinating.
“They said there will be tons of food. I think Lucy is planning on you being here.”
Ethan shifted, torn about what to do. While he did want to see his sister and knew his time with her was limited, he knew spending more time with Abby and Christopher was dangerous.
It was hard enough now to think of them leaving town soon. Spending more time with them would only make their inevitable parting harder.
“I don’t know,” he hedged. “I have a lot on my plate today.”
“Too much to even take time to have a meal with your family? You work too hard. Your grandfather would have been the first to tell you to slow down and enjoy life a little.”
He sighed. “I’ll see plenty of Lucy while she’s home. Did she tell you she’s agreed to work at the hotel all week as a translator? She’ll probably be sick of me by week’s end.”
“You know that’s impossible. Lucy adores you.”
He adored her right back. Though separated in age by three years—and his only full sibling amid a sea of halves and steps—they had always been close. He didn’t want to disappoint her. If that meant spending an evening with Abby and Christopher, he could probably manage it.
“Fine. Couscous sounds delicious. I should be able to break away. What time are you eating?”
“Seven.”
“I’ll see you then.”
That gave him four hours to figure out how to protect himself from any further incursions by Abby Powell and her adorable son.
* * *
“You know I’m happy to help you cook,” Abby said to Lucy as they worked together in the kitchen. “But I think Christopher and I should eat in our room.”
Lucy gawked at her. “Don’t be silly. Why would you even suggest that?”
Abby shrugged, feeling foolish. “I don’t know. This seems like a family dinner for you, your brother and your grandmother. The first chance you’ve all had to really get together since you’ve been back in town. Christopher and I really don’t need to intrude on your evening. I know he can be a bit of a distraction.”
“What’s a ‘traction’?” Christopher looked puzzled and intrigued.
Oops. She thought he had headphones in, watching his favorite PBS children’s show, and couldn’t hear her. That would serve her right for trying to use her son as an excuse.
She forced a smile. “A distraction is something that diverts attention away from something else. Like when you’re playing with a ball and then see a truck and decide to stop playing ball and play truck instead. I just meant that instead of talking to each other, Lucy and Ethan might want to talk to you since they both like you so much.”
“I like them, too. Ethan is my friend and so is Lucy.”
“There. You see? We will both want to hang out with our buddy Christopher. And you, of course.” Lucy said the last as if an afterthought, then grinned to show she was teasing.
“A family dinner isn’t much of a family dinner with only the three of us. How can you resist the smell of that tagine? It’s going to be epic. And I made enough to feed Winnie’s entire choir.”
Abby refrained from pointing out she and Christopher could still enjoy Lucy’s food, just in the comfort of their own room.
“It does smell good,” she conceded. “It’s wonderful to see you have picked up a few culinary skills since we were living in the dorm together. As I recall, you could barely reheat a can of soup.”
“I’ve lived in a few places over the years where it was either learn to cook or starve. I like to eat too much to starve so I adapted.”
From Abby’s perspective, Lucy had changed a great deal from her old college roommate. She had to admit, Lucy had intimidated her at first. She had thought they would have little in common when they were fortuitously matched by the university’s housing department.
From the first night, something between them had clicked. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact