Chapter 23

"I can't believe you had all your windows UV treated in less than a week." Jack had sprung that surprise on me when I'd argued that I couldn't stay the next day for his family dinner. So here I was in his kitchen, watching him cook and waiting anxiously for his relatives to arrive. He'd poured me a glass of wine to ease my nerves, but I sat on a barstool at his kitchen counter like a cat perched on a precarious limb.

"My cousin Kevin runs a construction firm. March is a pretty slow month so he was able to get it done right away." He finished chopping an onion and tossed it into the stockpot simmering on the stove. "You want to tear up that bag of lettuce for the salad?"

Okay, that was within my limited culinary skills. "What are you making?"

"Chicken paprikash. Good Eastern European food - kinda goes with the name Marczeski. My parents and grandparents are originally from Hungary and Poland. But other people will bring all kinds of food, so there'll be something for everyone."

He'd