meal,” she remarked, fluttering her artificially-lashed violet eyes as she patted the chair beside her.
Not wanting to offend her anymore than he had the other night when she’d approached him in the garden, Grant took the seat. He greeted the professor and Dottie and Doris, hoping that Jami and Toby would appear soon. He paid no attention to the table chitchat, watching the doorway for Jami.
Becca was dishing out her scrumptious chicken dumplings when Jami appeared and sat at the far end of the table with Toby to her left.
Grant tried to catch her eye, but Jami ignored him, refusing to even glance his way. Now what?
“Grant, Raven has a date tonight,” Dottie volunteered, smearing her dumplings into the gravy and mashing chicken chunks into the mixture.
“With Big Jake West, the ski resort owner,” Doris added, neatly detaching the edge of one of her dumplings to separate it from a chunk of chicken. Today the sisters wore identical Hawaiian shirts and shorts, with red knee socks and hiking boots. They reminded Grant of colorful parrots—and often their babbling made as much sense as a parrot.
“That’s nice,” he replied noncommittally.
“West is taking me to dinner at his chalet. Some men appreciate a good woman when they see one,” Raven sniffed, her scarlet mouth pressed into a thin line and regal nose elevated as her lacquered nails flashed through the air.
“Good woman?” Professor Tolaski smirked, choking into his napkin.
The sisters exchanged amused glances as Jami and Toby ignored the entire conversation. Grant chewed a tender tasty spoonful of his chicken dumplings, the flavor fading as he wondered why Jami appeared so distracted. Had she argued with her son about the kiss? Toby bounced on his chair, eating his meal in hungry attack mode and appearing in normal spirits.
Grant studied Jami’s lovely angel face as she kept her eyes downcast. She drooped like a wilted rose. That, and the fact that she totally refused to face him, worried him. Had he done something wrong? He mentally examined their parting words, unable to fathom her altered attitude. Grant felt as if he were adrift upon strange seas at the mercy of an unexpected storm.
Jami made it through lunch, hating to share the table with Grant. She’d just grabbed Toby and was about to escape the dining room, when Becca touched her arm. “Jami, is it still okay if we have Toby shuck the corn? I plan to serve corn-on-the-cob tonight.”
“Yes. He’ll be glad to help in any way he’s needed.” Jami offered an encouraging smile to her son. “Won’t you, Toby?”
“Sure,” the child answered, gravy smeared on his chin. “Is it hard to shuck corn? I never heard of a shuck before.”
“I guess you could think of it as peeling the corn. First you pull the leaves off and then rub off the corn silk...” Becca explained, drying her hands on a dishtowel as she grinned down at the boy.
“Silk? Like Mom’s don’t touch dress?” Toby demanded, obviously not-too-pleased at the image.
“It’s more like hair,” Becca replied, sounding a bit flustered.
“Corn is hairy?” Toby cried, a horrified expression on his freckled face.
“Tell you what, kiddo,” Becca said, amusement crinkling her blue eyes, though she kept a straight face. “I’ll show you exactly how to shuck corn in about two hours, and I’m sure I can answer all your questions, then. Okay?”
“Fine,” Jami answered for her son, before steering him out of the dining room by his shoulders. As they climbed the stairway together, she saw him yawn. Why not? She was tired, too. She didn’t think any of them had gotten much sleep camping out last night. “I think we could both use some quiet time, right now.”
“Can I read my comic book?” Toby asked, skipping ahead as if to prove that he wasn’t tired.
“If you want.”
Inside their bedroom, she made Toby take off his shoes before he plopped onto his side of the bed with his book. Jami kicked off her own sandals and stretched out on the opposite side of the bed. She closed her eyes, willing herself to think of anything but Grant.
Jami awoke with a start to find the door open and Toby not in their room. She checked the bathroom and then hesitantly entered Grant’s territory. She found Toby sitting in a leather recliner, remote control in hand and watching cartoons on the big screen television.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked, hands on hips, while her gaze flicked to the door and back in case Grant returned.