Tea and Destiny Read Online Free PDF

to clear the table. “You two work it out or leave the table.”
    David moved his chair with a thump. Tracy propped her elbow on the table and settled her chin in her hand. Her expression of exaggerated innocence amused Hank. He waited for David’s next move.
    “What’ll it cost me?” he said resignedly, sinking back in his chair.
    Tracy reacted indignantly. “I am not blackmailing you, you little twerp. Jeez, what’s wrong with you? I was only teasing.”
    Ann paused behind Tracy’s chair and put a warning hand on her shoulder. Hank watched as the girl struggled with her anger. “I’m sorry,” she muttered finally.
    David blinked at the apology, then stared at the table. “Yeah, me, too,” he mumbled.
    “Now how about dessert?” Ann said cheerfully, ending the brief moment of tension. “Who wants strawberries with ice cream?”
    “Me.”
    “Me.”
    The chorus came from around the table. Hank found himself chiming in, though the thought of strawberries brought all sorts of dangerous memories to mind. “I’ll help,” he said, feeling a sudden need to move, a surprising desire to be an active participant, rather than an observer.
    “Not tonight,” Ann said, her gaze pinning him where he was.
    “You told me everyone helped,” he reminded her, wondering if this was yet another attempt to set him apart, to remind him that he wasn’t a permanent fixture.
    She grinned. “We have another rule. No one helps on the first night here.”
    “Yeah, but after tonight, watch out,” Jason warned in a sullen tone. They were the only words he’d spoken since the start of the meal. “Mom’s schedules make the army look like summer camp.”
    “Who’d like Jason’s share of dessert?” Ann queried lightly.
    Though he’d been slouched down in his chair, feigning disinterest, Jason immediately scrambled to his feet and reached for the bowl.
    “Hey, hand it over.”
    A grin on her face, Ann held the bowl just beyond his reach. Wiry and swift, he tried to grab it, but she made a move as smooth as any quarterback could have performed and passed it over to David at the table. Jason didn’t waste time bemoaning the loss. He simply nabbed the one remaining bowl on the counter, and clutching it securely to his chest, went back to his place at the table. The lightening of his mood surprised Hank.
    “That’s mine,” Ann said.
    “Oh, really,” Jason said with exaggerated innocence.
    “Give that back this minute.”
    “Gee, Mom, are you sure you should be eating all this rich food? There’s gotta be cholesterol in this stuff, right? We wouldn’t want to watch you die of clogged arteries or something,” he said in a way that brought a laugh bubbling up from deep inside Hank. She glared at the two of them, though he was sure he detected ahint of delight as she watched Jason interacting like the rest of them.
    “It’s really frozen yogurt,” she admitted with a look of supreme satisfaction.
    “Oh, yuck.” David groaned.
    “What do you mean, ‘oh, yuck’?” Ann retorted. “You ate every bit of it.”
    “I wouldn’t have, if I’d known.”
    “Which is exactly why I didn’t tell you. Next time I take you all out for frozen yogurt, I expect a few less protests.” She scowled at Hank and Jason, who were still laughing. “As for you guys, tomorrow the two of you are on KP and I expect something healthier than hot dogs.”
    “Hamburgers,” Hank suggested hopefully.
    She gave him a wilting look that relegated hamburgers to the same junk heap that contained corn curls and potato chips.
    “I will not fix steamed vegetables,” Hank said staunchly.
    That drew a chorus of cheers. He turned to Jason and said impulsively, “Think we can catch some fish tomorrow?”
    Jason regarded him hesitantly, his brown eyes suddenly hooded and suspicious. There was an instant’s tension before he finally said, “Yeah, I guess.”
    Ann ignored the hesitation and regarded the two of them with pointed skepticism, then