Chapter 723
The square dining table was arrayed with six main dishes, soup, appetizers, and fruit. The main dishes featured shrimp, crab, fish, chicken, beef, and salad, served alongside a butternut squash soup. Daniel noticed that while the variety of food wasn’t overly expensive, it still exceeded what most families would typically have for an everyday meal.
Such a spread seemed reserved for special occasions like Christmas or other important holidays.
Daniel glanced at Felix, who seemed downcast. It dawned on him that these delicacies weren’t specifically prepared for Felix after all.
“Mom, the doctor said I should stick to light, non-greasy food until my wound heals completely. Heavy meals aren’t good for me right now,” Felix said with a forced smile.
Shelly served some salad onto Felix’s plate. “You can have the salad. It’s light.”
Felix couldn’t tear his eyes away from the big crab before him, and his mouth started watering. Seafood was a rare treat in their home. Yet, Shelly was serving seafood when he got injured. Felix hadn’t even taken a bite of the food, yet irritation was already simmering within him.
Shelly used a pair of tongs to place the biggest crab onto a small plate right in front of Daniel. Her smile was warm and inviting. “Daniel, dig in and enjoy some crab.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Lawson,” Daniel replied politely. Uncertain about what to do next, he glanced over at Sienna.
Sienna kept her head down, quietly sipping her soup.
Daniel couldn’t shake the sense that Shelly was being unusually enthusiastic. Did she maybe want to treat him like a son and make him Sienna’s brother?
Later, he glanced at the table and asked, “Do you have any tools to crack crabs with?”
Unfamiliar with eating crab at home, Shelly hesitated. She wasn’t aware of any specific tools for cracking the shells.
Sienna set down her utensils and hurried to the kitchen. She returned with a small pair of scissors and a coffee-stirring spoon.
Handing them to Daniel, Sienna said, “You can use these. We just used to bite into them.”
Daniel smiled and took the tools without saying a word
Sienna returned to her seat and continued savoring her soup and food.
Shelly served Daniel seafood and Felix chicken, urging them to dig in. Everyone enjoyed their meal while Daniel concentrated on cracking the crab shells and peeling the shrimp.
Sienna finished her soup and went
to get more spaghetti. When shez
returned to her seat, she was
l.ne
surprised that Daniel had put a small plate of peeled shrimp and crab
meat before her.
She looked at Daniel with surprise while Shelly and Felix smiled warmly, pausing in their meal to watch the two happily.
Daniel grabbed a wet tissue, cleaned his hands, and said, “Once you finish those, I’ll peel some more for you.”
Sienna blushed, feeling embarrassed and shy.
She glanced over at Shelly and Felix, who instinctively averted their eyes. They quickly looked down and continued enjoying their meals as if they hadn’t seen her watching. With a warm feeling enveloping her, Sienna whispered, “Thank you.”
Daniel smiled warmly as he lifted his spoon and sipped his soup. His gaze involuntarily drifted toward Sienna. He couldn’t resist observing her every move and expression.
A hush fell over the table.
After a while, Shelly cleared her throat and suggested, “Daniel, you should join us for meals more often.”
Daniel felt a pang of unease. He
wasn’t certain about Shelly’s
motives. If she was trying to foster a
sibling-like bond between him and
Sienna, he preferred to avoid seeing
Sienna altogether than to endure
any awkwardness.
With a bitter nod, Daniel simply hummed in reply.
“Daniel, look at Felix; he hasn’t landed a decent job since graduation. Maybe you could-”
Sienna abruptly interrupted Shelly, her voice brimming with frustration. “Mom, could you please just stop?”
She felt deeply embarrassed. Every
time Shelly met one of Sienna’s successful blind dates, she would relentlessly promote Felix, hoping to leverage their connections tohelp him secure a decent job.
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