at Zilker Park where he fell off the stage." She grabbed my arm. "How is he? Can he still sing?"
"He's fine, Mom. Glory brought him back here to recover." Penny squeaked when her mother grabbed her arm next. "Wow, get a grip. Just not on me."
"He stayed here. With you?"
"Don't like the sound of that." Mark walked in behind Penny. "And where did that hole in the wall come from?"
"It's the twenty-first century, Mark. Of course Israel can stay here if Glory wants him here." Melissa was gazing at Ray's picture.
"I put the hole there, Dad. One of my spaced-out moments. I wouldn't let one of the movers touch my computer tower and backed into the wall. The corner knocked a chunk out of the wall." Penny sighed. "Not paying attention again."
"Don't worry about it, Penny. I told you, I have a friend who will fix it. No big deal." I sniffed the air. "Those rolls smell delicious."
"And they should be ready. Let's eat." Melissa started handing out plates. "Help yourself, girls. I don't want to hear about a diet tonight. I know you never get a home-cooked meal."
I heard Jenny mutter something that sounded like "Thank goodness." I gave Penny an inquiring look.
"Mom, the rolls!" Penny bent over and opened the oven. Sure enough, they were a little on the well-done side, the bottoms charred. "I think you should have checked the temperature setting."
Jenny just rolled her eyes.
"Never mind, honey. We'll just eat the tops." Mark began to dish up generous portions for everyone except Jenny, who got a plate of macaroni and cheese. "Roast looks good. Jenny, you should rethink this vegetarian thing. It makes extra work for your mother."
"Just opened a box and followed directions. No trouble at all." Melissa put a spoonful on my plate too. "Try some, Glory."
"Everything looks great." I took my plate to the living room and sat on the floor. My hand shook as I lifted my fork. I waited until everyone was served, then carefully put a bite of roast in my mouth. I saw Penny watching me. I knew she was remembering her drink of soda at the movies. Not fun.
I savored the taste of rich gravy, then carefully chewed and chewed and chewed. Okay, I knew it had been hundreds of years since I'd had roast beef, but surely it should eventually get smaller, not larger in my mouth. I fought my fangs, trying not to notice the mortals surrounding me. The parents were on the sofa, squeezed in with Jenny. And Penny sat in the chair, her plate on her lap.
I finally gave in, hesitated, then swallowed the enormous bite. When it stayed down, I looked at Penny and smiled. Only then did she attack her potatoes. I noticed that she cut her beef into tiny pieces. Okay, obviously that was the secret here. Because this was the toughest piece of meat ever. The carrots were strangely crunchy too. The first one flew off my plate and I heard Jenny snicker.
"Glory, don't worry about it. I'm sorry, I always forget to put the carrots in early." Melissa shook her head. "I'm not much of a cook."
Mark was busy chewing but patted her back. No one else bothered to contradict her.
"No, please. I can honestly say this is the best meal I've had in years." I smiled and calmly picked up my carrot from the floor. I realized Boogie had taken up a position under the coffee table and I offered it to him. He wasn't interested.
"Try the green beans. From a can, but I added a few things to make them interesting." Melissa smiled.
"They're good, Mom. Is that, uh, sugar in there?" Penny forked up a big serving.
"Yes, it was a new recipe from one of those newsstand magazines." Melissa took a taste. "Yummy. But more like dessert, I guess. Of course you always were my dessert girl."
"You can say that again." Jenny pushed her food around on her plate and actually ate very little. "Penny may be going to California. Big new job."
"What?" Mark and Melissa stared at Penny like she'd just proposed taking the space shuttle to Mars.
"Thanks, Jenny. Yes, I have a wonderful opportunity. I've got a chance to work on cutting-edge research with a scientist who has a lab outside of Los Angeles. Glory arranged an introduction."
Now eyes were on me and I was the snake in the Garden of Eden. "Uh, Ian MacDonald does great things. And he has a fabulous setup, right