“Sure.” She snorted. “I like posses. Count me in.”
“I will, but you have to tell Coop you twisted my arm so he doesn’t bark at me.”
“I’m happy to.” Her brow tightened. “Was Coop in danger tonight?”
I weighed that question for a moment. “Only a little. He mainly helped Doc and Harvey find me in the courthouse.”
“Helped how?”
“Jane’s ghost led him to me.”
“Jane helped? How cool is that?”
“None of today was very ‘cool’ in my book. If Prudence hadn’t possessed Harvey and helped, I might not be here tonight.”
She puffed her cheeks. “This is nuts, Vi. I left a crazy whirlwind down in Arizona for a spiraling shitstorm here.”
“You should have stayed down in Arizona.”
“And miss out on helping you kick ass? No way.”
I leaned in closer. “Did you spy on Hawke and Tiffany?”
“I tried, but Tiffany spotted me on her way back from the bathroom after I sat down and started hiding behind my menu. I think she figured out my game and told Hawke before I gleaned anything juicy. They played it off as just a friendly lunch after that.”
“Crap. Well, it’s probably for the best. You going there alone was risky.” She’d have been better off having Freesia with her so it looked like a casual lunch meeting.
“Risky?” She guffawed. “Says the nutter who let a parasitic devil attach to her on a whim.”
I jutted my chin. “It wasn’t a whim, and you’re the nutter butter.”
She grabbed a fistful of my shirt, pointing her index finger at me. “Next time, you better include me.”
“But Cooper—” I started.
“Screw Coop. Now, pinkie swear you’ll include me.” She let go and held out her pinkie.
I locked pinkies with her. “Okay, but screwing Coop is your job.”
A smile warmed her whole face. “Yeah, it sure is.”
“Oh, gross,” I teased.
She blinked. “What?”
“You’re getting all moony-eyed about him now.”
Laughing, she grabbed my hand and pulled me into the kitchen. “Come see what your kid did downstairs.”
“Uh-oh.”
As she towed me toward the basement door, I dragged anchor next to Harvey, who was stirring a big saucepan full of creamy soup on the stove. “That smells like cheesy-bacon heaven.” I reached out to stick my finger in the soup and he slapped it away.
He looked at me, his shit-eating grin in place. “Did you finish checking out Doc’s pants?”
“What?” My cheeks warmed. How did he know about Rosy’s garage? Had he been listening when I told Natalie?
He feigned innocence. “I said, did you finish checking out Rosy’s place?”
“No, you didn’t.” I snapped his suspenders, earning a hoot of laughter from him.
“You’re right. Nice T-shirt. That’s one helluva love bite ya got there.” He pointed at my neck.
I covered the area with my hand. “There’s no love bite.” Honestly, I couldn’t remember if Doc had given me a hickey or not during the heat of the moment.
Harvey cackled and slapped his leg. “Girl, I’ve seen egg-sucking hounds look less guilty than you.”
“You are such a sucka-fool,” Natalie said when I joined her at the basement door.
“Takes one to know one, toots.” I followed her downstairs, stopping at the bottom to gape at the colorful Christmas lights strung up everywhere. The place looked like a sparkling cave. “Holy wow!”
Elvis strutted past, bobbing her head in tune to the Beach Boys, who were singing “Help Me Rhonda” from the boombox in the corner. I stared after the chicken, trying to figure out if she was really dancing, or if I was seeing things.
“Mom!” Addy rushed over to me. She wrapped her arms around my middle and squeezed me tight. “Do you like it?” she asked, resting her chin on my stomach as she smiled up at me.
I stared down into her bright eyes, which were sparkling with the reflection of so many lights. I’d almost lost this back in the courthouse. Blinking away tears, I hugged her and soaked her up. “I love it, Addy. Where did you get all of the hooks to hang the lights?”
“Aunt Zoe found them in her workshop. Come on, Mom. Dance with me.” Addy pulled me into the center of the room and twirled around me on the cobblestone floor, then started dancing the twist. “It’s perfect for Elvis,” she called over the music. “She’ll lay more eggs for sure now.”
I twisted my hips along with her, laughing as she hip-bumped me, my heart overflowing. “We’ll be up to our necks in them.”
Natalie joined us on the dance floor. She sang along off-key at the top of her lungs, making me laugh harder.
“I’m glad you like it, Mom,” Addy called over the music. “I didn’t want you to have to go into the dark anymore.”
I stopped cold, frowning at my dancing daughter. My pulse pounded, and it had nothing to do with twisting. “What do you mean?”
“You know, the dark place. Where the monsters hide.”
Natalie stopped, too, sharing my worried frown.
“Hey, Mom!” Layne called from the steps. “Can I get a falchion with my allowance?”
It took my brain a moment to stop freaking out on the sidelines about what Addy had said and get back in the game. “A what?”
“A falchion. It’s a single-edged sword.”
Another weapon, gah! I walked over to him so we wouldn’t have to yell over the music. “Why do you need a sword, Layne? You already have a trident.”
“I saw a drawing of one in that female gladiator book of yours. One of the warrior women carried it into battle. She killed a bunch of bad guys with it.”
The “female gladiator book” was what he called our family history volume, and there was no way in hell I was letting him have a sword like that. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Oh, man. Doc said you’d probably shoot me down.”
“Doc was right. Maybe when you’re older.” I grabbed him and pulled him in for a hug, and then kissed his cheek while he tried to fight me off.
“Come on, Mom. None of that mushy stuff before supper.”
I got one more smooch in
