Annie was tipping a pot of boiling water the size of a small car into a giant colander. From Lucas’s angle, steam from the angel hair pasta appeared to rise from Annie’s body and she looked good enough to eat.Annie glanced over her shoulder and saw him. Did she know he had been looking at her back and her beautiful butt in those pants? “Where’s Jared?” she asked.“How should I know where Jared is?”She poured the pasta into a bowl and dabbed steam from her cleavage and forehead with a kitchen towel. “He’s gone M.I.A for three days.”“And you can’t live without him suddenly?”“Not me...”Annie went quiet when Althea materialized in the kitchen cradling an oversized gray clay mug in her bony hands like it was life support. Lucas could not help but feel uncomfortable around this strange woman. Maybe it was the white sweater and pants that gave her that air of translucence, but today she looked more like a ghost than ever. “Bonjour!” he bellowed gregariously to hide his dismay.