“I’ll wear the charm you gave me for an extra boost.”
He winked. “Atta girl.”
Out front, Beau told Maurice to bag the items. Without question, he began.
I roamed over to Zhan, who had found the essential oils and was sniffing deep of the scent of some small bottle. “Smell this.”
“What is it?” I leaned into the bottle and sniffed. It was all vanilla, but sweeter, like it had been caramelized with maybe brown sugar. “Wow.”
“I’m buying this.” She carried it to the register. I followed; Maurice was almost done.
Zhan held the little bottle out, and Beau quickly handed it to Maurice. “That too,” he said.
Zhan protested. “I’ll pay for that.”
“Not today,” Beau said firmly.
I thanked Beau again. He rolled the paper top down and gave it to me, quietly saying, “Don’t be nervous. You’re the Lustrata.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
We weren’t too far from home when I called my best friend since college, Celia. She was caring for my foster daughter, Beverley, while I attended my mother in Pittsburgh. After perfunctory greetings, a brief catch-up on what Beverley was doing in school, and my reiteration of how much I appreciated Celia stepping in and stepping up so the kiddo could keep her schedule mostly normal, I spilled the reason for my call. “I wanted you to know I’m back a few days early, but that Beverley should continue to stay with you until next week like we’d planned.”
“What’s happening now?” she asked drily.
“Menessos. Johnny. Lustrata stuff.”
“The usual.”
“Yeah.”
“I have no problem with her staying. We’ve been working on the science project and I’d like to finish it with her anyway.”
In the background I heard, “That’s Seph? Can I talk to her?”
“Is that Beverley?” I checked the clock; it was only one fifteen. School wasn’t out yet.
“Yes.” Celia was quiet.
“And?”
“I wanted to hear what was up with you before telling you this. I picked her up from school today. She, uh . . .”
I heard Beverley say, “Let me tell her, please, please?”
“I’ll let her tell you. But don’t freak out, okay? Everything’s fine.”
That was a terrible thing to say. I was freaking out.
There was a rustling static, then Beverley’s voice filled my ear. “Hi, Seph! Guess what?”
“What?”
“I fell off the merry-go-round and broke my arm! At the emergency room they let me see the X-ray and everything.”
“Oh my gosh! You have a cast?”
“Yeah. You’ll sign it, won’t you?”
She sounded like it was no big deal. I relaxed some. “Sure. Does it hurt?”
“Yeah, but they gave me some medicine for that.”
I spent a few minutes listening as she told me how that morning the whole class had aced their spelling test so the teacher gave them an extra fifteen-minute recess and then Bobby, the boy in her class who she had a crush on, got the merry-go-round going faster than ever before and she got so dizzy she thought she was going to throw up and when she tried to get off so she didn’t “get yucky stuff on the other kids,” she fell.
Finally she gave the phone back to Celia. “Is it bad?” I asked.
“No. It’s actually just a crack, but technically still a fracture.” She snorted into the phone and added in a whisper, “The worst of it is her mouth is running like a race car.”
Relief washed over me and I fully relaxed into my seat, aware only then of how rigid I’d become. “The school called you?”
“Yeah. They couldn’t get an answer on your house phone. I’m listed as your backup. The bones weren’t displaced or anything, but they knew she was hurt by the amount of pain she was having. They said she needed to be checked out, so I took her. The hospital accepted that temporary guardian form you left. They asked about insurance but happily accepted the credit card you gave me for emergencies—guess this really was one.”
“I’m so sorry you had to deal with it. Did you have to cancel client appointments?” Celia was a Realtor. The market wasn’t doing so well lately, so I hoped this hadn’t cost her a sale or anything.
“Oh, no! Not at all. It got me out of phone duty at the office.”
In the background I heard Beverley say, “I’m hungry.”
An idea hit me. “Hey, why don’t you two meet me at the house. I’ll fix lunch. I’d like to see her for a little while—and you, of course.” I didn’t have time for it, but I’d make time. I wanted to see Beverley.
“Is that okay? No danger?”
“The danger isn’t supposed to roll in until tonight.” What if something happened to me? Who would Beverley go to? I was her legal guardian, but I hadn’t adopted her. She’d go into the system . . . though I was sure Celia and Erik would step up, I should talk to them about it.
“Good to know,” Celia said. “We’ll be there in twenty minutes, okay?”
“Perfect.” I hung up and told Ivanka, “Pull in at the gas station ahead.” I hadn’t been home in about a week and hadn’t meant to be gone this long. Any bread that remained at the house wouldn’t be good for sandwiches now.
Celia and Beverley arrived just as we did.
I saw no sign of the perimeter guards, so they were still camouflaged well. The sentinels also made themselves scarce, and my friend and I set about making sandwiches while Beverley sat at the table with her vocabulary book out. Celia had suggested she do a little homework so she didn’t get behind. I knew it was an attempt to keep the motormouth to a minimum.
Dressed as impeccably fashionably as always, Celia tucked her blond hair behind her ears and rolled up her cashmere sleeves, then opened the bread. “I know Theo helped you find the tattoo parlor owned by your mother, and what happened after you arrived in Pittsburgh, but how did you know to hunt for ‘Arcanum’?” She dropped two slices into the toaster.
“Great El’s slate.”
“That Ouija board type thing in your closet?”
“Yeah.” I dropped the bologna into the frying pan, where it sizzled and a delicious aroma wafted up.
“Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” Celia said, crossing her arms and leaning on the counter.
“What?”
“Former vegetarian eating fried bologna.”
I shrugged. “It’s good.”
Celia gave me a sly, sidelong glance. “Talking to ghosts on that slate led you to your mother. And a half brother you didn’t know existed. Ever think of searching for your father?”
It wasn’t exactly ghosts, so I skipped that part and addressed the question. “Like I don’t have enough going on already?” She didn’t even know the half of it.
“Yeah, what am I thinking? You never take on more than you can manage.”
“Just so you know, when I used the slate, I focused it through Johnny. I wasn’t after a personal goal. I was after
