"Chicken Stew? Not beef?" The marijuana was calming her nerves and she got up to stand a couple feet to the side of where he was working.

"Well, I work out--."

"It shows," Mandy interrupted him, the color returning with disbelief that the words had slipped out of her mouth.

Again, his knife stopped cutting as he turned his head slightly to offer her a smile.

"Thank you," he said before turning his attention back to cutting the vegetables. "So, I also like to eat healthy. Makes the work-outs pay off more. And beef isn't the healthiest, but I always loved the blended flavors of stew. So... Chicken Stew."

"Makes...