at him. He was staring at her with an unreadable look on his face.
?Is that the only thing?? he whispered.
?Enough chat, you two. You both need to eat,? Noel called across
the table, making Helen jump, which in turn made Lucas chuckle.
She and Lucas dug in with all the ferocity of two people who were
literally rebuilding their bodies cell by cell. When Helen finally
looked up after a solid hour of determined chewing, everyone else
was done eating but still sitting around drinking coffee and passing
around sections of the paper. It was as if they always spent half of
Sunday sharing an enormous brunch, then the other half hanging
out around the kitchen waiting for dinner to start. Lost in the
shuffle, Helen was surprised to find herself having a good time.
Lucas was still bent over his plate, so Helen took the sports section
when Hector put it down, and read up on her beloved Red
Sox, who were battling their way through September. She must
have been muttering to herself out loud because when she finally
put down the stats sheet she had the attention of all the men at the
table.
??Pitching wins pennants,? huh?? Castor asked with a delighted
smile.
??We?ve got too many injuries and no closer,? do we?? Jason repeated
back to Helen, then looked at Lucas. ?Okay, you win,? he
said cryptically.
?Thank you,? Lucas said through a shaky grin. He leaned back
and closed his eyes, and Helen saw a sweat break out on his forehead.
She touched his head to see if he had a fever, but Jason was
already standing up.
?I got him, Helen,? he said as he came around the table. Jason
went to pick Lucas up, but Lucas wouldn?t let him. Instead, he
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