Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

?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