But what did it mean.
Jonathan Eames turned his attention to his youngest daughter, who strangely enough was sitting in his sister's place during the meal.
He couldn't understand the change.
What was taking Alexandra so long to change places.
And above all, to take an interest in the conversation he was having with young Goren.
She'd never been interested, well, almost never.
But here he was talking about his profession, and what awaited Goren if he joined the police force after his studies.
But what was even more surprising was that she was taking part in the conversation, as if she had some interest in it.
It didn't make sense.
Alexandra had never been like this.
Could there be something fishy about her behavior.
In addition, what was it with her little smiles and nods to anything Goren might say.
As if he really cared.
- Stop that, will you.
At Elizabeth's murmur, and her elbow in the ribs, Alex turned to her, glared.
- Why did you do it.
Why did she do it.
What kind of question was that.
Did she really need to say it.
Elizabeth could hardly stand her little sister's behavior at the moment.
As if it was really possible that she was interested in what Goren was saying.
At the same time, she found the discussion he was having with her father deadly boring.
Beth definitely didn't understand her little sister anymore.

She'd never drunk so much of a man's words.
Not even their own fathers.
And Goren, yes.
You'd think Alex had a crush on him.
But not small by what she'd seen and was seeing.
Ever since Alex had seen Goren, she'd been trying to get closer to him, any way she could, wherever she could, at the risk of being seen.
And instead of telling her sister to leave him alone, the big jerk was quite accepting of her presence.
What's more, Alex had chosen to sit opposite him during the meal, even though it was her place and they'd never changed places in all her years.
It must have seemed odd to his mother and father, but he hadn't said anything.
And so Alex at this moment was between her and her mother, and the other big dummy between his two brothers, Jimmy and Nathan.
Elizabeth wasn't that blind.
And she'd better calm her sister down, and fast.
She could see that her sister was far from insensitive to Goren.
Even if she loudly proclaimed the contrary, she didn't believe a word of it.
What's more, Beth couldn't really see what Alex liked about Goren.
He was far from handsome.
Yes, he had a mysterious charm, and that was about it.
But most of all, he was a deadly bore when he talked.
The kind of boy Elizabeth could find no interest in.

So how could a teenage girl find any interest in a man like him.
- I asked you why you did this to me.
At the wrong tone of Alex's voice, an evil smile on her lips, and his little fingers nipping at the flesh of her arm, Beth snapped out of her thoughts, wincing in pain.
What a little brat.
- You're...
- Enough, you two. We're at the table.
At their father's shout, Alex and Beth stopped dead in their tracks.
- What kind of outfit is that.
Jonathan Eames had stared at his daughters for some time, and after a moment the mustard had risen to his nose.
Was she forgetting that they weren't alone, and that they had a guest.
It was hopeless the way they could behave when they disagreed.
And strangely enough...
Jonathan was sure that the object of their quarrel was Goren.
You'd think...
- You're lucky you don't have a sister, Bobby.
Sorry about that.
Alex and Beth looked at their older brother Jimmy, shocked by his words.
How dare he.
- Yes and no.
At Goren's words, all eyes turned to him, waiting for further explanation of his answer.
- I only have one older brother.

At the sadness vibrating in his voice, Alex looked at him in surprise.
It was really strange...
Whenever Goren talked about his family, she could feel all his sadness.
First, he'd had this sadness in his voice when talking about his mother, and now he had it when talking about his brother.
What could have happened to make him so sad.

Was Goren dreaming, or were the two sisters at the table in front of him fighting.
Punching and pinching each other, no holds barred.
He'd seen the elbow Elizabeth had given Alex.
But what openly shocked him, and at the same time amused him a little, was Alex's wicked smile, and her little fingers gripping the skin of her sister's arm, pinching it with real pleasure.
But she was a sadist after all.
Beneath her angelic exterior, the girl hid a little demon.
In addition, was this really how two sisters behave.
Could they be worse than two brothers.
Thinking of brothers...
He had Frank, his elder brother.
When he was little, he'd always followed him around.
And as time went by, Frank had grown apart from him.
And it got worse when he told him he wanted to become a policeman.
Goren hadn't understood this change of heart.
For him, Frank had always been his idol, when he was little, following him around and copying him.
Frank had been his role model.

But today was different.
- Enough, both of you. We're at the table.
At Jonathan Eames's shout, Goren snapped out of his thoughts, to see the two sisters stop dead in their tracks, but glaring at each other.
- What kind of outfit is that.
That was the question.
To look at them, they looked like two rag-pickers.
And strangely enough, she was quite amused.
Watching his two daughters argue was quite distracting, and quite amusing.
It showed that their lives were neither dull nor boring.
Everything her life was.
- You're lucky you don't have a sister Bobby.
Yes and no.
On the one hand, he would have had the incessant chatter of a girl, which would undoubtedly have annoyed him.
But on the other hand, it would have been quite invigorating.
He would have had some rather distracting company at his side, which wouldn't necessarily have displeased him.
- I only have one older brother.
At her words, he saw Alex let go of his sister's arm and turn towards him, looking sad.
My God...
Could this kid have understood that he was sad to have only one brother, but one who was mostly absent.
Because he had his own life.
You'd think she could read him like an open book.
It was really getting embarrassing.

- Since the two little girls have calmed down... We can...
- Little girls...
Alex and Beth had just shouted in mutual outrage, looking at their father, who nodded.
Everyone at the table burst out laughing.
Goren smiled at her laughter.
But his heart sank.
In this family, there was something he could never have.
His family had never been normal, and what his family would never be.
In addition, he didn't know what it was like to live in that kind of family.