“So you’re saying Sherry and I will drive each other crazy?” Basil asked archly.

“Well, that hardly sounds like life mates,” Sherry said from inside the dressing room, her voice drenched in disgust.

“No, I’m sure Victor didn’t mean you’d drive each other crazy,” Elvi said quickly, raising her voice to be sure Sherry heard her.

“No, I did not mean it that way,” Victor agreed, raising his voice as well. “But you will not let my brother boss you around either, which would be easy for him to do with most women. He needs someone with a solid backbone, and you appear to have one.”

“Yeah, except for the fainting like some Victorian miss bit,” Sherry muttered, her voice somewhat m.u.f.fled, which suggested she was in the process of taking off or pulling on something over her head. The idea caught Basil’s imagination, and he found himself picturing that in his mind. Sherry pulling off the s.e.xy sweater she’d been wearing, revealing a lacy sc.r.a.p of cloth barely covering burgeoning b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

“Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s are not that burgeoning,” Victor said with amus.e.m.e.nt, apparently catching the stray fantasy.

“Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s are perfect,” Basil said staunchly.

“Yes, but they are not as large as you are picturing them in your mind,” he a.s.sured him.

“Yes?” Elvi asked her husband. The tone was sarcastic, but she had a twinkle of amus.e.m.e.nt in her eyes. “Yes, Sherry’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s are perfect?”

“Yours are more perfect, of course, my love,” Victor said with a grin.

“Oh, for G.o.d’s sake,” Sherry muttered. The door to the dressing room burst open and she stormed out, a mountain of clothes caught up in her arms, the hangers sticking out every which way. “I’ll just take these, now let’s go.”

She strode past them and stormed out of the dressing area, charging for the register.

“You’d best hurry and catch up to her, Victor,” Elvi said. “You’re paying.”

“The devil he is!” Basil snapped, rushing after his brother as he strode after Sherry. “If anyone is paying, I am.”

“You are,” Victor a.s.sured him with amus.e.m.e.nt, and then added, “At least part of it. The council is paying, remember? Bricker packed nothing but lingerie for her, so the council gets to pay.”

“Oh right, nothing but lingerie,” Basil murmured, and wondered if he could control himself long enough to allow Sherry to change into one of the outfits Bricker had sent.

“He also packed see-through tops, bustiers, and thong panties,” Elvi announced, amus.e.m.e.nt clear in her voice.

“What else does she need, eh, brother?” Victor asked with amus.e.m.e.nt.

Despite himself, Basil smiled at the words as he followed Victor to the cash register. See-through tops and lingerie. He couldn’t fault Bricker for taste. He was quite sure all of that would look lovely on Sherry. But in the next moment, Basil scowled as he realized that this meant the other man had been going through—and handling—her lingerie, bustiers, and panties.

“Pervert,” he muttered, and scowled at Victor when his brother burst out laughing at the comment.

“Tacos! Yum!”

Sherry glanced up from the cheese she was grating and smiled at Stephanie when the teenager charged into the kitchen on that happy note. While Sherry shredded the cheese, Elvi was dicing onions, Drina slicing lettuce, Katricia chopping tomatoes, Victor cooking the meat, Harper heating the sh.e.l.ls—both hard and soft, and Teddy and Basil had taken on the task of setting the table and fetching the salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. With all of them working, it was going to be the fastest meal ever made, Sherry thought with amus.e.m.e.nt, but it was nice to be part of such a large group. The closest thing she’d had to this, aside from holidays with her families, was when she and Luther used to hold their “dinner and a movie” night. The pair of them would team up to make supper, and then settle in front of the television and watch a movie. It had always been nice and relaxing.

“Who is Luther?” Stephanie asked, pinching a bit of the grated cheese and popping it into her mouth.

“An old friend,” Sherry answered with a faint smile.

“He doesn’t look old,” Stephanie said, pinching some more of the cheese from the bowl.

Sherry wrinkled her nose at the girl. “Poking through my memories?” she asked dryly. When Stephanie just shrugged, she added, “Well, stop it.”

“I wish I could,” Stephanie muttered unhappily.

Sherry glanced back to her task and then said, “Luther isn’t old, old. He’s my age. But we’ve known each other a long time. We went to university together and I still consider him a friend, even though we don’t get to see each other anymore.”

“Sooooo, he’s like a girlfriend but a boy,” Stephanie said slowly, and Sherry glanced to her with amus.e.m.e.nt, and then noted that her gaze was on Basil, who had stopped setting out forks to turn and look at them.

Sherry turned her gaze back to the cheese and continued shredding. “Yes. He’s a friend, not a boyfriend.”

“I could tell,” Stephanie said lightly.

Glancing up with surprise, Sherry arched an eyebrow. “How?”

“’Cause you think of him with his clothes on and don’t strip him like you do Basil.”

Sherry’s jaw dropped open and she was sure she was about as red as the tomatoes Katricia was chopping as the others all chuckled at the words.

“Stephanie,” Elvi reprimanded. “Don’t tease her.”

“Sorry,” Stephanie said sincerely. “I was saying that for Basil’s benefit. He was getting all jealous.”

Sherry glanced sharply toward him, to see that Basil was now studiously back to setting out the silverware, but he was also beet red.

“How long until supper?” Stephanie asked abruptly, and Sherry noted with a frown of concern that the girl was absently rubbing her forehead. It reminded her of what Elvi had said about Stephanie being unable to shut out voices, and that the more there were, the worse it was for her.

“Five minutes,” Elvi said gently. “Do you want to wait in your room? We can call you when it’s on the table.”

“No. I’m okay.” Stephanie lowered her hand and managed a smile, but her gaze turned back to Sherry. “I’m not having trouble reading you anymore.”