While other families had lively New Year's Day celebrations with guests visiting, Ethan Hawthorne's home was completely quiet. It wasn't that he had no friends, but rather that he didn't allow visitors. Now was not the time for making a wide circle of friends.
After breakfast, Ethan Hawthorne went into his study and hadn't come out by noon. Jacqueline Spann helped Bernice prepare lunch, her heart pounding with anxiety. Ever since she had arrived, Uncle Ethan hadn't looked happy once. She worried he despised her.
"Auntie, does Uncle Ethan not like me?" Jacqueline Spann couldn't help but ask.
Bernice, who was julienning ginger, glanced at her and said with a smile, "No, that's just how he is. He rarely smiles. If he didn't like you, he wouldn't have let you stay here."
