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"Abby, although Mrs. Greene didn't say it in as many words," continued Izumi, "I had the distinct impression that she didn't want you to attend the wedding."

"Not go?" asked Abby, still dazed. "Tyler and I have been good friends since we were little kids! Wouldn't my not coming only prove that there's still something between us?"

"Even so," advised Izumi, "it's what Mrs. Greene wants. I think it's best if you stayed away."

"Oh!" exclaimed Abby, angry at the whole situation. "Why did Tyler have to mess up a perfectly good friendship with love?"

"Love doesn't always ruin friendship," pointed out Izumi, wondering how Abby's last remark had made Jake feel.

"You can't prove that by me," groaned her daughter.

After the three returned to the yellow house, Abby went to the kitchen to start dinner. Jake saw that she had a lot on her mind, and made an unexpected offer.

"I'll fix dinner," he volunteered, taking the frying pan from her hand.

"What are you talking about?" asked Abby, incredulously. "You can't cook!"

"I used to work in the prison kitchen," he reminded her, shooing her from the room.

Unconvinced, Abby remained in the doorway, waiting for him to suddenly ask for help. Knowing that he was being tested, Jake grinned, and set to work. Terry had long joked that when Abby fixed eggs, they always had a crunchy quality to them. Even though Jake had never said a word about it, Abby was sure he had noticed. When Abby witnessed Jake expertly crack an egg with one hand, leaving no bits of eggshell in the bowl below, she gasped in amazement. This procedure Jake did a few more times, enjoying the surprised look on her face.

"Okay, okay," she laughed, "I get the point! You obviously know what you're doing. You sure kept it a secret, though!"

"You never asked," he grinned.

"Well," she replied, exasperated by the simplicity of his answer, "I never asked if you could walk on your hands, either!"

Abby watched a little while longer, and then went to the living room where Dennis was watching television from the sofa.

"Jake is going to fix dinner, tonight," she announced, flopping down on the couch and putting her socked feet up on the coffee table.

"I didn't know he could cook," replied Dennis in surprise.

"Neither did I," she confided.

When dinner was ready and everyone had sat down at the table to eat, Abby took the first bite while Jake awaited her verdict.

"It's not bad," she had to admit.

After dinner, Dennis went home, while Abby decided to do a little fly fishing before it became too dark outside. As usual, she soon heard Jake's soft footsteps behind her.

"Are you sorry Tyler's getting married?" he asked Abby, sitting down on the ground a few feet away.

"I guess not," she answered, backcasting her line into the bay. "I just hope he's not marrying Jane because he's on the rebound. I am surprised Tyler could do this so soon after our breakup, though. This is from a man who told me that he loved me, not three months ago!"

"You married someone else, first," reminded Jake.

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