Sarah giggled, so that the silver flashed. “I don’t mind too much, ’cept I can’t chew gum.” She sent a sulky look over her shoulder in Hunter’s direction. “Not even one stick.”

“Neither could I.” Ever, she thought, but didn’t add it. Gum chewing was not permitted in the Radcliffe household.

Sarah studied her another moment, then nodded. “I guess you can help me set the table, too.”

Acceptance, Lee was to discover, was just that simple.

The sun was streaming into the kitchen while they ate. It was rich and golden, without those harsh, stunning flashes of white she remembered from the cliffs of the canyon. She found it peaceful, despite all the talk and laughter and arguments swimming around her.

Her fantasies had run to eating a thick, rare steak and a crisp chef’s salad in a dimly lit, quiet restaurant where the hovering waiter saw that your glass of Bordeaux was never empty. She found herself in a bright, noisy kitchen, eating pizza stringy with cheese, chunky with slices of green pepper and mushroom, spiced with pepperoni and hot sausage. And while she did, she found herself agreeing with Sarah’s accolade. The best in the stratosphere.

“If only Fred could learn how to make one of these.” Bonnie cut into her second slice with the same dedication she’d cut into her first. “On a good day he makes a superior egg salad, but it’s not the same.”

“With a family the size of yours,” Hunter commented, “you’d need to set up an assembly line. Five hungry children could keep a pizzeria hopping.”

“And do,” Bonnie agreed. “In a bit less than seven months, it’ll be six.”

She grinned as Hunter’s knife paused. “Another?”

“Another.” Bonnie winked across the table at her niece. “I always said I’d have half a dozen kids,” she said casually to Lee. “People should do what they do best.”

Hunter reached over to take her hand. Lee saw the fingers interlock. “Some might call it overachievement.”

“Or sibling rivalry,” she tossed back. “I’ll have as many kids as you do bestsellers.” With a laugh, she squeezed her brother’s hand. “It takes us about the same length of time to produce.”

“When you bring the baby to visit, she should sleep in my room.” Sarah bit off another mouthful of pizza.

“She?” Hunter ruffled her hair before he started to eat again.

“It’ll be a girl.” With the confidence of youth, Sarah nodded. “Aunt Bonnie already has three boys, so another girl makes it even.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Bonnie told her. “Anyway, I’ll be heading back in the morning. Cassandra, she’s my oldest,” she put in for Lee’s benefit, “has decided she wants a tattoo.” She closed her eyes as she leaned back. “Ah, it’s nice to be needed.”

“A tattoo?” Sarah wrinkled her nose. “That’s gross. Cassie’s nuts.”