she shrugged it off and tangled her fingers with jack 's . i sat down at one of the only chairs as he went to the counter and got out a knife and started cutting up the cheese . chess is almost a religion in this house . mat felt like he pushed too much . this could not be happening , not to me . at least that was the front he put on for people . that had n't been quite what he had in mind , but he told them he 'd think about it . 