"Mom..." Lucas Walker raised his hand to move Summer Gardner's finger away from pointing at his nose. "It's not that serious..."
"Take away that 'not' for me!" Summer slapped his hand away and once again pointed her finger at the tip of his nose. "One word: are you going or not going?!"
Lucas burst out laughing. "You've already said 'one word,' so can I even say 'not'? Fine, fine, I'll go, okay?!"
"That's more like it." Summer's mood shifted from gloomy to cloudy skies. "Xiao Zhou brought back two tea-smoked ducks from Sichuan for me. You can take one home and eat it as a late-night snack!"
"Thanks, Mom!"
Lucas placed the apple back onto the plate and turned to walk into the kitchen. Moments later, he had grabbed a duck leg and returned to sit on the sofa.
"Aren't you heading back to your apartment?" Summer asked curiously.
Lucas took a bite from the duck leg. "Dad's not home, so I'll keep you company!"
