“Neither do I . . . now. Maybe it was coming from somewhere else. Sometimes the acoustics are strange in this building. Sound bounces off these walls because the units are so close together.”

“Let’s check out the other rooms just to make sure,” Michelle said, grabbing the baseball bat that Hannah kept leaning in a corner next to the door.

They checked the rooms one by one, even peering under the beds and inside the closets. Everything was just as they’d left it this morning.

“There’s nothing here,” Hannah said, heading down the hall toward the kitchen. “We’d better get started on dinner. I told everyone to come at seven.”

Hands washed and aprons on, the two sisters started their preparations. Hannah reached into the grocery bags and took what she needed for the noodle casserole. “Here’s the chicken,” she said, handing the white, butcher-paper package to Michelle.

“Why so many chicken breasts?” Michelle asked after she’d opened the package.

“Because extra people are bound to show up. It always happens when we make dinner.”

“But what if we’re only five tonight?”

“Then we’ll have leftovers of Smothered Chicken for dinner tomorrow night.”

“On leftover noodles from tonight?”

“If there are any leftover noodles. And if there aren’t, we can have the chicken and sauce over biscuits or rice.”

“True,” Michelle agreed, opening the drawer under the lower oven and getting out Hannah’s biggest frying pan. She put in a combination of butter and olive oil, and prepared to brown the chicken.

While the chicken was browning, Hannah assembled the noodle casserole and slipped it into the top oven. “I’m all ready,” she said to Michelle.

“So am I.” Michelle sprinkled the rest of the herb and flour mixture on top of her chicken and put the lid on the frying pan. She turned the heat down to simmer and went to wash her hands again. “Do you want me to set the table? Or should I do my workout now?”

“I’ll set the table while you work out,” Hannah said. “Go ahead, Michelle.”

“Okay.” Michelle turned to look at Moishe, whose head was buried in the food bowl Hannah had just filled. “Are you going to come and watch me work out, Moishe?”

Moishe lifted his head to look up at Michelle and then he followed her out of the kitchen. Hannah was amazed. Food had always been Moishe’s number one priority, but it seemed that watching Michelle on the exercise machine was even more interesting than eating.

After she’d set the table and checked the progress of the chicken, Hannah settled down on the couch with a tall glass of iced tea. She was just about to turn on the television to watch the evening news when she heard Michelle calling her from the bedroom.

“I’m here,” she called back. “What is it?”

“Come here, Hannah. You’ve got to see this to believe it.”