Tammy left the bathroom and bypassed Ben's room. She decided that she would speak to him a little later on the subject. She would have to. There was no further question about that. First she needed a distraction to help her to calm down. Dinner made sense. Everybody liked dinner. Dinner didn't question anybody's motives. Dinner didn't need to know!

Tammy decided on a sausage casserole with mashed potatoes and got to work like a woman possessed when Ben appeared beside her some time later, notably quiet and moving with caution. She was dicing onions when she sensed him and greeted him with a brave smile. That seemed to have...