their smiles.
“Come on,” Abby said.
Christopher sighed. “Okay.”
To Ethan’s shock, Christopher threw his arms around his neck and hugged him. “Bye, Ethan. See you later.”
Abby was frowning. Had he done something wrong? He couldn’t help noticing that her frown seemed to ease a little as Christopher went around to Winnie and Lucy for hugs, as well. Was it only him, then?
After she left, he and his grandmother and sister stayed at the table a little longer, until he saw Winnie yawn, as well.
“Why don’t you go to bed, Grandmother,” he said. “I can help Lucy clean up.”
“I’m not sure why I’m so tired,” she grumbled. “I feel like I slept all day.”
“You’re still recovering from a major injury,” Lucy said. “It’s no wonder you’re still tired.”
“Take a little advice from your old grammy. It sucks to grow old.”
Lucy hugged her. “I’ll help you into your nightgown, since Abby is busy with Chris.”
While the two women made their way to Winnie’s room, Ethan rose and started clearing away the dinner dishes.
He was loading the last dish into the dishwasher when Lucy came out from their grandmother’s room.
“I could have cleaned that up.”
“I didn’t mind. Thank you for dinner. It was delicious. Makes me wish again that we had a hotel in Marrakesh.”
When she didn’t respond by either word or gesture, he had the feeling she had barely heard him. What was bothering her?
He finally decided to ask.
She looked surprised at the question. “What makes you think anything is wrong?”
“Maybe a wild guess. You just seem distracted and upset.”
She shrugged off his concern. “Probably jet lag.”
He didn’t buy that was the only reason so he took a wild guess. “Did something happen yesterday at the bowling alley? Christopher said you were there with José and Rodrigo.”
She froze, almost dropping the leftovers she was transferring to other containers. “We weren’t there with José and Rodrigo. Technically, we went separately. I took Chris and José took Rod. We just happened to be assigned lanes next to each other.”
He couldn’t read her expression, which made him suspect he was right. Lucy was usually far more transparent. “And did something happen?”
She gave a laugh that sounded forced. “No, other than it was Christopher’s first time and he still bowled better than I did.”
“I can see where that would upset you greatly for thirty-six hours. I don’t blame you a bit.”
She made a face. “That’s me. I’m as passionate about my bowling game as Winnie is about her gingerbread house.”
“I’m surrounded by cutthroat competitors.”
She smiled, though it still didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m fine. You can stop worrying about me.”
“Impossible. It’s my job. It always has been, right?”
She let out a laugh that almost sounded like a sob and hugged him. “I have the best big brother in the world,” she said.
He wanted to ask her if her mood had anything to do with the tension he had sensed between her and José but had a feeling she wouldn’t answer him honestly.
He wasn’t sure he wanted to know, anyway.
He decided to change the subject. “I’m actually glad I had the chance to talk to you. You’re still planning to help out at the resort this week, right?”
“Yes.”
“Thanks for doing that.”
“I don’t mind. I still haven’t heard exactly when I’ll be needed yet.”
“I’ll have José get in touch with you.”
If he had any doubt her strange mood had anything to do with José, the sudden tightness around her mouth would have confirmed his suspicion.
“Great,” she said in a deceptively mild voice.
He decided to press forward on something he’d been thinking about for a long time, not sure if he would get the chance again during her visit home. “While you’re here, will you do me one more favor?”
She looked suddenly wary. “If I can.”
“Will you at least think about sticking around? You know we can always use someone with your vast language skills to help us out with translation services at the resort. And now that José is sticking around closer to home, I could use somebody to scout out new locations. Who better than my baby sister, who loves to explore new places and speaks about fifty-three languages?”
“Eight,” she corrected. “With another six or seven dialects.”
“Sorry. I always forget the dialects.” He gave her a serious look. “I mean it. I would love to have you on board, Lucy. We make a good team. I know it’s been important to you to go out and help the world. I respect that. I do. You’ve done wonderful work.