"It needs at least an hour to really let all the flavors blend together properly," she explained, washing her hands and wiping them on a dish towel.
Jacinth's dark eyes sparkled with approval. "I'm glad to see you take the preparation of proper spaghetti sauce seriously. Too many people rush it."
A giggle escaped Mandy's lips at the Djinn's solemn pronouncement about pasta sauce. She turned toward her recliner, but pain shot through her lower back and knees. The time spent standing at the stove had taken its toll, and she couldn't quite suppress her limp as she made her way across the room.
Jacinth frowned, swiveling on the kitchen stool to face her. "I thought the shot they gave you at the hospital took care of your back pain?"
"It's from making the sauce." Mandy eased herself into her recliner, trying not to grimace. "I just need to sit for a while. I'll be fine by the time I need to make the salad."
"Let me make the salad," Jacinth offered, sliding off the stool. "You've already done the spaghetti."
"That would be wonderful, thank you." Mandy settled deeper into her chair, grateful for the offer of help, which she wasn't about to turn down.
Mandy watched as Jacinth moved through her kitchen with fluid grace, opening drawers and cabinets as if she'd lived there for years. The Djinn pulled out lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber from the vegetable drawer, laying them on the counter with precise movements.
"Not that I'm not happy to have company," Mandy said, adjusting her position in the recliner to ease her back, "but I can't help wondering to what I owe the pleasure?"
Jacinth's hands paused in their task of washing the lettuce. "Do I need a reason to visit?" Her chocolate-brown eyes held a hint of mischief. "Maybe I simply enjoy your company."
"After knowing me for all of fifteen minutes in the ER?"
Mozart jumped onto the kitchen counter again, batting playfully at the water droplets spraying from the faucet as Jacinth rinsed the vegetables. The Djinn didn't shoo him away, instead scratching behind his ears with her free hand. Mandy sighed, realizing Mozart would be forever spoiled if the Djinn continued to be a regular visitor.
"Fifteen minutes can be plenty of time to recognize a kindred spirit," Jacinth said, her voice carrying that same melodic warmth Mandy remembered from their first meeting in the ER. "Besides, I've been watching you for longer than that."
Mandy straightened in her chair, her back protesting the sudden movement. "You've been watching me?"
"Mmmhmm." Jacinth began slicing tomatoes with expert precision. "How else would I know you were the right person to receive Kieran's vessel?"
She frowned at the Djinn. "I thought you told me it was yours to give?"
"Well..." Jacinth's lips curved into an impish smile as she continued preparing the salad. "That might have been stretching the truth just a tiny bit."
Mandy couldn't help but snicker. "Yes, but why?"
Jacinth paused in her methodical vegetable chopping, one perfectly shaped eyebrow arching upward. "Why was I watching you, or why did I give you Kieran's Wish vessel?"
"Both," Mandy said, wondering what was it with the Djinn and the eyebrow arching thing. "Why were you watching me, and why did you give me the pendant? I mean, there must be thousands of people more deserving than an old, disabled lady who spends most of her time on the computer or my recliner, and talking to her cats."
Jacinth set down her knife, those dark eyes fixed on Mandy with an intensity that made her squirm in her recliner. "A couple of weeks ago, I was having dinner at Joe's Diner on Fourth Street."
"Oh." Mandy's stomach did a little flip, and she bit her lower lip. She knew exactly which night Jacinth was talking about.
"There was a homeless woman sitting in the booth by the entrance," Jacinth continued, her voice soft. "All of her belongings were piled in a wheeled cart next to her table. She'd ordered the cheapest thing on the menu - a grilled cheese sandwich with fries, and coffee."
Heat crept up Mandy's neck as the memory surfaced. She'd noticed the woman too, trying not to stare while eating her owndinner. The woman had been thin, her clothes worn but clean, and she'd kept her head down as she ate, as if trying to make herself invisible.
"When you went up to pay your bill," Jacinth said, her chocolate-brown eyes twinkling, "you ordered a dessert for her, and had the waiter add her ticket to yours. Then you left without saying a word to her, without letting her know who had paid for her meal."
Mandy shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "I didn't want her to feel obligated or embarrassed," she mumbled, heat flooding her cheeks. "It wasn't like she had much - just a sandwich and drink."
"But it was everything to her at that moment," Jacinth said. "And you did it without wanting recognition or thanks. You didn't even know anyone was watching."
The warmth in Jacinth's voice made Mandy's embarrassment deepen. She hadn't done it for attention or praise. It had just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. The woman had looked so tired, so defeated, and Mandy had thought maybe, just maybe, an anonymous act of kindness might help brighten her day a little.
"That's why I started watching you," Jacinth said simply. "And why, ultimately, I gave you the pendant, which," she added with a mischievous twinkle, "I'd purloined from Kieran ages ago."
"Yes," Mandy said, raising the footrest on her recliner to ease the pressure on her lower back some. "Kieran seemed more than a little upset at having been called..." She paused, remembering his exact phrasing. "Although he called it 'summoned.'"
