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Marco hears. "I'd like the record to show that I do have favorites."

"You expect us to believe that?" I ask.

He points at Lucy. "Exhibit A."

Lucy gives us a triumphant smile, then immediately moves on to more important matters. "I need garlic bread."

Marco nods thoughtfully. "Is it for a medical condition?"

She nods gravely. "Very serious."

"I was afraid of that."

Ashby pinches the bridge of his nose.

Torin sketches a tiny garlic loaf in the margin of his notebook and labels it Critical Care Bread.

I catch a glimpse of it and nearly laugh.

The pizza with extra garlic bread arrives and we all dig in. During the course of the meal, Lucy keeps us entertained by convincing Marco she also needs breadsticks, a milkshake refill when she hasn't finished her first yet, and a second dessert because she wasn’t sure the first one tased right.

“Should she be eating all that?” I ask Torin when another dessert magically appears in front of her.

He looks doubtful. “Who ordered it?”

“Not me.”

The mystery is solved when Ashby reaches for the check before anyone else notices it's arrived.

Lucy rewards his generosity by turning to our waitress, pointing at him, and saying, "He's older than my mom."

Ashby freezes.

Torin immediately folds over laughing. I disguise mine as a cough.

The waitress bites her lip, looking at Ashby.

"I'm thirty-five," he corrects.

Lucy nods sympathetically. "I know. Old. My teacher is twenty-three."

The waitress abandons all attempts at professionalism and walks away laughing.

Ashby looks personally attacked. "You people encourage this," he accuses without much heat.

"You're the one buying her the extra dessert," I remind him, and he shuts up.

By the afternoon, we've relocated to the river side again for walk.

Lucy spends the walk collecting rocks, this time claiming they have personalities. But by the time we reach the bank and pause, she's announced a new mission. "We need a fort."

I glance around.

The only available building materials are driftwood, branches, and confidence.

Lucy possesses an unlimited supply of the third one. The sentient rocks are abandoned, and she starts trying to drag a log twice her size across the sand.

Torin watches for a few seconds. "She's got a vision."