?And you, Castor. I intended to be the first to suggest we all sit
down to a meal together, but your wife seems to be a step ahead of
me,? Jerry said graciously.
?Welcome to my world,? Castor replied with a laconic smile, the
two men already enjoying each other?s company.
The introductions were as brief as possible, considering they included
so many people, and Jerry handled them like a pro. He?d
run a local store for almost twenty years and he was accustomed to
remembering people?s names and adjusting to even the most eccentric
of personalities. Helen watched him respond in just the
right way to make one person smile, another laugh, and yet
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another stop and think. She was proud of her dad, not just because
he was clever and funny, but because he knew when not to be.
It also helped that Lucas?s family had similar tastes, both in conversation
and in food. Jerry ate up a storm and gently leaned on
Noel until she confessed that she had been a chef in her pre-mom
life, years ago, when she lived in France. Noel even admitted that
she had made a few stealth trips to the News Store. She generously
declared Kate?s sea salt, rosemary, and créme fraîche croissants to
be a work of crazy genius. Jerry beamed with pride, as if Kate was
the buried treasure that he had been lucky enough to dig up. Helen
elbowed him.
?I see you blushing,? she whispered to her dad.
?Yeah, and you?re not. Why is that?? he asked back.
?No reason to,? she said, a traitorous glow starting to grow on her
cheeks.
?Uh-huh,? he said, not buying it. ?Is this the part where I?m supposed
to be the concerned parent and demand that you tell me exactly
what?s going on between you and Mr. Superfantastic over