It wouldn’t have fit five easily, so I’d allowed that to be the sort-of excuse I gave to Justin about why I couldn’t see him that evening. As I often did, I requested a rain check. He’d granted it immediately, and I’d almost regretted not inviting him along. Almost. If he’d been here, I suspected that whatever Arlen wanted to talk about would have turned into a benign superstition discussion—and I’d be driven crazy wondering what he really believed to be so important that he thought we needed to get together in private to discuss it. Not quite private. He and Martha considered me part of their family now, and I appreciated it. I also appreciated that they’d brought Gemma into the fold as well. Right now, we were just starting dinner. I’d offered to bring in pizza or even something more formal, but Martha had insisted on cooking. Which was a good sign. Even though she hadn’t been well when I’d first met her, now, despite her age, she was going strong.
