Randal said, “Let’s keep our secret between us.”
“They’d be surprised, wouldn’t they?”
“Your husband would be for sure,” Randal said.
Lea snorted. “If he cared, maybe I wouldn’t be here. Have you told your wife yet?”
Randal sucked in his breath in a way that sounded almost fearful. “I’ll have to hide Kate before I tell her or she’ll take my daughter somewhere. I’d never see her again.”
“She wouldn’t actually do that, would she?”
“You can’t imagine what Ava is capable of. Someone’s coming! Let’s go.”
Greer and Kate ate two pieces of chocolate each before the next couple appeared.
It was Cal with his gray hair and his muscular body. Kate didn’t know him well, but he was nice. She liked his voice. He was with a boy she’d never seen before. He had lots of black hair.
“Come on, let’s get you something to eat, then you can help me repair the window frames.”
The boy said, “I think—” He stopped. Because he was shorter than the adults, he saw the two pair of eyes staring out of the bottom of the cabinet. He didn’t give them away. Instead, he stepped in front, concealing them. “Yeah, I’m starving.” He walked away and Cal followed him.
The girls sat up.
“Who is that boy?” Kate asked.
“Cal’s grandson. He’s Roy’s son, but he doesn’t like his dad.”
“But Uncle Roy is so nice.”
Greer shrugged. She didn’t understand either. She opened the door, but again they heard footsteps. She didn’t get the door fully closed before the person came into their view. Rachel ran past them, something clutched tightly in her hand.
“She has my hedgehog!” Kate tumbled over Greer as she got out of the cabinet. Greer held little Kate to keep her from running after Rachel.
“Let me go! That’s mine.”
“I know.” Greer held on tight to Kate. “You can’t start a fight with her. She’ll win.”
“But it’s mine!” Kate was tearing up. “Aunt Sara gave it to me. She went away and Dad said—”
Greer hugged the child. “I’m sure you’re right, but Rachel is... My brother would say she’s ‘an absolute bitch.’”
With wide eyes, Kate pulled back to look at her. “A what?”
“It’s not a nice thing to say, so forget it. Tonight I’ll sneak into her room and get your toy back.”
“Can you do that?”
“Sure. One advantage of being ugly is that nobody wants to look at me. Wherever I go, they ignore me. Now come on and I’ll sneak you up to the old nursery. You can play there while I iron that hideous old man’s shirts.”
With a sniff, Kate wiped her eyes. “Maybe I could go play with Cal’s grandson.”
Greer laughed. “You’re too young for that. Come on before we get caught spying. I don’t want to give them a reason to send me home.”
“You want to stay here with your brother.”
“Yes I do.” Greer took Kate’s hand, checked that no one was in the kitchen, then they ran through. Greer grabbed half a dozen pieces of fruit and, giggling, they ran up the back stairs.
When they were out of the cabinet, Sara turned to her niece, who was looking a bit dazed. “My guess is that these encounters happened separately, not one after another.”
