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She nodded, went to the stove, took down aand poured herself some coffee Got a plate from the cupboard, a spoon, knife and fork from the silverware drawer She liberated a while linen napkin from the shelf Then she went to the empty space at the foot of the table, pulled out the chair and settled into it

The men watched her

She reached for the platter of sandwiches

Four pairs of hands reached out to help her She glared The hands drew back She leaned over the table The sandwiches were halved; each half looked substantial enough to feed a family of four

“I made them,” Jake said proudly

Emily nodded, took a half of what looked to be has and put it on her plate She picked it up again, realized there was no way she could possibly get her mouth around it, put it down, took her knife and fork and sawed off a corner

The men watched her

She put the piece in herseemed unchewable Sed Took a sip of coffee Sawed off another piece of sandwich

Theher,

She sed Drank a little coffee Cleared her throat If she talked about eating the sandith a knife and fork,else

So she tried what she hoped was a smile

“I don’t nors like this,” she said, “but—”

“But you did”

She looked at Caleb His voice was stern, that big-brother tone in it he’d occasionally used on all the sisters when they were in their teens

“Well, yes I know it doesn’t look good But what else could I do? I mean, all that size and heft”