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"Hey, I’ his hands on my shoulder until I was a foot away from him "Okay? I’ back tears, and sed hard

"Yeah, you look like it," Jack said quietly, and his concern washed over me

"She just needs a nice warhtly around my waist so she could pull me away from Jack, and it did require some effort on her part "We have some wonderful lilac bath salts that justfeatures of her tub as she led lanced back over ot to be !" Jack protested, and I wondered dully how this all could possibly work out in the end

The hot Jacuzzi wasn’t quite as ic as Mae had professed it would be, but it really did help relax me at least All of this seeo, I hadn’t even known these people, and noould be iine the rest of ht end up being

When I finally pulledwaters of the tub, I wrapped antic plush towels Mae had filled her bedrooloith candle light

Laid out on the white bedspread, she had left satin paja blue caenerally ran cold, I put e to put soance They lived on a whole other plane from me, in every way possible

"I merely stated that you rolled the Jeep" Ezra’s words wafted down the hall towardsthat much that you pay for it"

"You just want rumbled

"That wouldn’t hurt you either," Ezra said

I made my way down the hall to the kitchen, and they all stopped talking when I cast a mass of dishes and food splayed out all over the counter tops She had white powder on her cheeks and soant white apron

Jack sat on a stool pulled up to the counter, and I’ine that he spent ling a tomato and a lemon when I walked in

"Oh, you look so much better!" Mae beamed at me Jack dropped the tomato on the counter and deliberately looked away froreat" I ran les of wet hair, and I could al over to the , I was careful to keep a distance fro to ri cook, I swear! Everyone in !" Jack scoffed, and she reached across the counter to slap him on the ar I made!"

"Whatever you say" Jack leaned back in the stool, th, in case Mae decided to swat hi" Mae looked sourly at thefrootten what everything tastes like" A spoon was in a bowl of soave it one superficial swirl, then looked apologetically atthat you can actually eat"

"What about this?" Jack held up the tomato towards ry"

"Oh!" Mae shouted, her eyes glittering "Your brother is a cook, isn’t he?"

"Not professionally, but yeah, he’s really good," I told her hesitatingly I liked Milo and all, but there was tooon over here, and I didn’t really want hiht

"Oh fantastic! And I’m sure he knows all of your favorite recipes!" She overfloith her own genius "Here Why don’t you just give ive hilanced around for a clock, and it was only a quarter to nine "He’s still awake, isn’t he?"

I nodded, and Mae whipped her phone out of her pocket, and I gave her his number

"Oh, Milo!" Mae slad you answered! Oh, I didn’t wake you, did I? I’m sorry, love I don’t want to disturb you" He hed lightly, and continued aboutme the perfect ry" I lowered ht hear, but she was talking to Milo and swooping around the kitchen, gathering pots and pans and whatever she thought she’d needed "Why do you guys have pots and pans anyway?"

"It makes us look more normal" Jack rolled his shoulders "I mean, we don’t really need kitchens, and in a household of four people, we have seven bathrooms"