“You have perfect grades in every other class?”
Amber squirmed at the grilling.
“Results, Mom.”
Mary sighed and shook her head.
“I never should have signed that,” Mary said. She turned to Amber. “If you ever have kids, don’t sign a single thing that they put in front of you, even if you’re sure you know exactly what it means.”
“Okay?” Amber said, expecting more of an explanation. None was forthcoming.
They pulled up to a four-way stop sign and George pointed through his window.
“If you’re ever here in the summer, get lunch at this place.”
Amber turned. He was pointing at a patch of dirt in an empty field.
“They have a food truck there and they make the best fries.”
“Not as good as Fred’s,” his mother said.
“So much better,” George said.
Amber watched the passing trees. There was an occasional house tucked back into the woods, but it seemed like mostly empty land until she saw the sign for the golf course. The road up to that seemed like it went straight uphill at a crazy angle. Beyond the course, there were older houses that were situated closer to the road. The next thing she knew, the woods opened up and they could see glittering lakes on either side. The village straddled the road on a thin strip of land between the two lakes. Mary pulled into the lot of the Village Peddler and stopped the car.
“George, wander over and grab us a good booth before the lunch crowd settles in, would you?”
“Lunch crowd,” George said under his breath.
Mary put down the windows a few inches for Tucker and they got out.
# # #
Amber spotted George in the corner, underneath a TV that was showing some twenty-four hour news. The volume was down and the booth was cozy, except for the fact that people kept glancing over in their direction Amber told herself that they were just looking at the TV, but their eyes were lower—they were definitely looking at her.
George watched her for a minute and then figured out what was making her squirm.
“Don’t worry about them. They don’t see a whole lot of new people this time of year and they don’t know how to act,” he said.
The bell over the door rang and Mary crossed the room.
She stood there and shook her head as George began to slide over.
“Nope. Not sitting here. Let’s go out on the porch.”
“It’s drafty,” George said.
“Get over it. It’s bad enough we’re eating here. I’m not going to be on display while we do it.”
The waitress had come up behind her as she spoke.
Amber braced herself for an embarrassing moment that didn’t come.
“Oh, hey, Ruth. We’re going to sit on the balcony. How’s your sister doing?”
While they caught up, George motioned to Amber and she followed. They worked their way around the half-wall near the bar and went to the end of the porch. George pushed aside chairs so they could settle in yet another booth in the corner. In this one, nobody was looking at them. They were the only customers out on the enclosed porch. George was right—it was a little drafty. Still, Amber felt much more comfortable.
He leaned close, “Don’t order anything seafood, except maybe the fried shrimp. Those come frozen in a bag. The grilled cheese is useless—it’s toasted instead of grilled. I mean, it’s right there in the name. How do you mess that up? The fries are okay. The rings are better.”
“Just tell me what you’re going to get.”
“Fish chowder.”
“You said no seafood.”
“It’s an acquired taste.”
Mary joined them and handed Amber an envelope.
Amber furrowed her brow at the cash inside.
“For last night’s labor.”
“Oh,” Amber said. “Let’s call it even. You’ve been so generous with your hospitality.”
Mary wouldn’t reach for the envelope when Amber tried to hand it across.
“I’ll put it towards lunch then,” Amber aid.
Mary nodded at that.
“Speaking of last night,” George said, “could you tell any difference today?”
“How do you mean?”
Amber realized that she had reached up to touch the back of her head as she asked.
“Some people that I read about say that it feels like there was a weight lifted from them. They didn’t even realize that they were carrying it around. This thing has been with you since you were a little kid, right? I thought maybe you could sense something different.”
Amber shook her head.
“Well, give it time,” Mary said.
Ruth came up to take their order. Amber settled on the grilled cheese, despite George’s warning. Mary asked who was in the kitchen. Satisfied with the answer, she ordered shepherd’s pie. George ended up matching Amber’s order with a wink to her.
“We’ll suffer together,” George said while Ruth was still standing there.
Amber looked away, embarrassed for Ruth and George, and herself, for that matter.
“It’s okay,” Ruth said. “Everyone knows the food is no good. That’s not why people come.”
“Some things are very good,” Mary said.
Ruth flashed her a smile before she left.
“I think it definitely worked on Dr. Hugs,” George said. “I could tell right away that the thing was gone. Could just be placebo effect, I suppose, but I’ve been sensing that thing looming for a week. It was good to be quit of it.”
“How could you do that to Dr. Hugs?” Mary said, frowning at her son.
“Which part?” George asked.
“I’m not clear as to why you think the same ceremony would work for both things though,” Amber said.
George turned up his hands. “Same exact type of thing, from what I can tell. They might manifest differently, but that’s only because the folklore around each was developed independently. One was a malevolent helper type of form, and the other was a revenge curse. That distinction colors the expression of the entity, but really it’s just different shades of the exact same thing.”
Mary shook her head and pointed at her son. “Don’t you think it’s a little convenient that Amber shows up with a problem while you’re currently dealing with the exact same problem?”
“Nope,” George said. He took a sip from his water and smiled.
“I’m with your mom,” Amber said.
