“What did you have for dinner last night?” He rose and picked up their plates.

“Fried chicken—’cept she made it in the oven. It was real crunchy and yummy. And she cut up potatoes and made french fries in the oven too.”

His mouth began to water. “That would definitely be an improvement over this.” He tried to scrape their leftover macaroni and cheese into the trash, but it was glued to the plates.

“A big improvement. Why can’t she cook for us every day?”

“Because she isn’t a cook. I only pay her to stay with you while I’m at work. She doesn’t have to cook at all. That was her idea.”

“I’m glad she wants to. She said on Monday she’d fix us—”

The doorbell rang, and they both turned toward the living room.

“Do you think that might be Christi?” Hannah jumped to her feet, anticipation brightening her features.

“No.” At least he hoped not. He still owed her an answer about the masterclass festival, and he hadn’t yet come up with a way to gracefully decline. “But let’s find out who it is.” He rinsed his hands and strode toward the front of the apartment, Hannah on his heels.

Luis Dominguez was waiting on the other side of the door, one of Eleanor Cooper’s legendary fudge cakes in hand. “Good evening. Eleanor asked me to deliver this welcome gift to our newest resident.” The Cuban immigrant who was Eleanor’s right-hand man smiled at Hannah. “I think that would be you, yes?”

“Yes.” Hannah’s focus remained fixed on the cake. “Is this from the lady we met at church?”

“The very one.” Luis held out the cake, and Jack took it. “She sends her best wishes and hopes you will enjoy it.”

“That goes without saying.” Jack had sampled the woman’s specialty only twice, but both occasions had been memorable. “Please thank her for us.”

“It will be my pleasure. Have a wonderful evening.” He gave a slight bow and returned to his car.

“Wow.” Hannah continued to ogle the cake as Jack shut the door. “That’s awesome.”

“I agree. Shall we sample it?”

Hannah caught her lower lip between her teeth. “I think we should invite Christi to have a piece too. That lady told us to share.”

Now that was an appealing prospect.

Except she’d expect him to also serve up an answer about the masterclass festival.

“I don’t know if we should bother her tonight.”

“Why not? I bet she’s all by herself. She could be lonesome.” Hannah planted her hands on her hips. “Don’t you like her?”

Yeah, he did. Too much.

That was the problem.

“I like her.”

“Then how come we can’t call her and ask if she wants cake? She loves chocolate. We had Hershey’s Kisses for dessert last night, and she ate five.”