While she’d been reminiscing about her childhood, Chris had lain down on the carpet, and now he was almost asleep. Since she’d managed to think about the bad old days without her stomach getting queasy, she gave herself a mental pat on the back. The last time she babysat, she’d let Chris fall asleep before he was ready for bed. He’d been a total bear when she’d had to wake him up. She walked over to Chris and shook him gently by the shoulder.
“Mommy?”
“No, it’s Auntie Hannah. It’s time for bed. Let’s go brush your teeth.” Chris got up and walked to the bathroom. Hannah was shocked he didn’t beg to stay up later. She played the toothbrush song over the virtual assistant device, and soon Chris had a clean face and mouth and was in bed under the covers.
Hannah had only read a couple of pages ofCreepy Crayon! by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown before Chris fell asleep. She sat on his bed and finished reading the book since it was a new book to her and she really wanted to know how it ended. Once she was done, she put the book in his bookcase and shut off the light. She walked out of the room and closed the door almost all the way.
Now she could send the selfie, but did she dare to do it? Maybe she should forget the whole idea; it was silly. Hannah checked the refrigerator for something to drink and saw that Brandee had Pumpkin Spice beer. “Eww.” She scrunched up her face and moved the beer to get a can of cream soda. She got her deck of tarot cards and shuffled. The cards could decide the whole selfie situation. She wasn’t sure exactly why she was making such a big deal about sending a G-rated selfie alongside a text.
“Some sort of fear of abandonment or something,” she mumbled to herself.
After a very thorough shuffling of the cards, she asked her question and cut the deck. Flipping the card over, she saw it was the Wheel of Fortune, and it was upright. An upright Wheel of Fortune meant good luck and destiny, or fate. That sealed it. She went into the bathroom, smoothed her hair, and made sure she didn’t have anything on her sweater.
She returned to the living room and stood with the back of the door behind her. Then she took a ton of pictures, smiling, not smiling, with a pout, and even ones where she tried to look her sexiest. After thumbing through pictures for at least ten minutes, she found one she liked best. She hoped Kate openedthe picture and replied tonight. She wrote quickly and then sent it before she could rethink it.
Hannah
I witch you were here.
Crud.She hoped Kate didn’t hate puns.
For a while, she looked at her phone, hoping for a response. Then she put the phone down and took the remote to find something to watch, although the likelihood that anything would distract her from her phone was almost zero.
A long thirty minutes later, a text popped up on the front of her phone. There was a tiny picture! She opened the text from Kate.
Kate
I’d love to eat you up, my pretty.
Warmth filled Hannah from head to toe. She scrolled up and looked at the picture of Kate dressed as a pirate, complete with a fake parrot on her shoulder. Her white puffy-sleeved shirt was unbuttoned to her waist. What she would give to be the double-sided tape holding Kate in.
Hannah paused. She sniffed; she was a little sad that she wasn’t out with Kate. But for all she knew, Kate had made her Halloween plans weeks ago. Hannah started to type “Where are you,” but then backspaced and typed:
“I’d walk the plank for you anytime.”
Chapter Twelve
Kate hunched over the bar, looking at her phone. Jax was next to her, leaning back against the bar, facing the crowd of people waiting for the costume contest to start. Jax was about five foot eight, with a slim build. Their long hair was colored ruby red and was in a top knot. Their undercut showed off their neck, which had two spots of dripping fake blood.
“I hate Halloween,” Jax said. They glanced at Kate.
“Did you hear what I said?” Jax turned toward Kate.
Kate smiled at her phone.
Jax rolled their eyes and tapped Kate’s shoulder.
She turned to look at Jax.
“Care to share?” they said.
Kate shoved her phone into her pants pocket. “Nothing to share.”
“Girl,” Jax said.
“I’m just having some fun.” Kate was pretty sure Jax knew Hannah, and she didn’t want to tell Jax they’d been hooking up. “No big deal. How are things with you and your love?”
“We’re fine, I guess.”
