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“Dinner’s on,” I said

“Oh, thank you,” she said

I went back into the kitchen andthe a place for each of us She joinedit on the coffee table in the living rooan to poke at the side salad first

We ate mostly in silence for a while It was unusual for her not to say anything, and when I asked if she wanted extra cheese or pepper or salt, she silanced over at the book and then back to her, but her eyes still hadn’t left her plate

“So, that book, I don’t reood?”

“It’s okay,” she said simply

“What’s it about again?”

“A detective”

I waited for more, but she didn’t seem to want to elaborate Quietly, I put my fork down and leaned on my elbows

“Hey,” I said She looked up, finally, and our eyes aze, like a hyper focus on so ather ?”

Those eyes, so severe and serious, suddenly burst into tears She threw her hands up to cover the pasta sauce onto the table I didn’t care about that, though All I cared about was Desiree