‘That’s still a pretty cushy two weeks of work,’ I said. But she was right. There was no way Ava and I would go for that. But she could be a close second-place contender.
‘Bryce offered us twenty bucks each,’ Ava said.
Morgan rolled her eyes.
‘Henry offered a couple of assorted gift cards. Connor said he would let Ava punch him in the jaw.’
‘Twice,’ Ava interrupted, a little too giddily.
‘And … I think that’s it.’ I stopped myself from telling Morgan that her ex, Luke, said he would give us the remainder of his current vape cartridge. There was a little over a third left, and I was definitely leaning more toward that one than the others. Ava and I had a tradition that was going on two years now. Each Halloween we would get a little tipsy – either share a bottle of prosecco she nabbed from her uncle or split a gummy we would buy from Luke – and eat candy we were supposed to be giving out while watching the worst Halloween-themed cooking tutorials or episodes ofUNHhhhon YouTube.
Morgan seemed to detect a hesitation, figure out what it was and let it go. ‘So I’m at least near the top?’
Ava bobbed her head back and forth. ‘You’re up there. First or second.’
‘All right, I can deal with that.’
Before we could discuss any more, the door opened, and we all tensed, probably expecting it to be Natalie.
Gabe gave us a quick glance, then looked around the room. ‘I was starting to think you lied to me and I’d never see this room in use.’
Oh, that’s right. He hadn’t worked a birthday night yet. Before I could say anything, Ava gasped.
‘Is this Gabe-y-Waby’s first b-day?’
‘It is.’ He looked to me. ‘Birthday night?’
‘Second Wednesday of every month is birthday night. Residents who have a birthday that month are invited to dine with us here, in the private dining room.’
‘Yes!’ Ava jumped up and started channeling Kristen Wiig from the SNL Super Showcase Spokesmodels sketch – another YouTube Halloween-night favorite. ‘In the lovely private dining room, you and your guests feast upon snapper soup, a surf and turf delight, and look! What’s that in the corner?’
I lowered my voice and tried to sound like Bill Hader. ‘Well, it looks like birthday cake to me.’
Gabe approached the massive sheet cake that Dante had spent the afternoon decorating. Instead of buttercream roses, Dante had fashioned buttercream pumpkins and fall leaves. Scrawled across the white buttercream in brown, red and orange icing were the wordsHappy Birthday, October Babies!
‘Octoberbabies?’ Gabe asked.
Yes. Babies.
Gabe looked at the menu on each bread plate. ‘Holy shit, we’re serving lobster tonight?’
Morgan snorted and pointed at Ava and me. ‘No.Theyare serving lobster tonight.’
The menu had lobster and filet mignon as the main entrée with green beans almondine and roasted red bliss potatoes, no other choice – unless they asked, of course. Because rule number one is ‘never tell the residents no’.
‘So we get leftover lobster?’ Gabe’s eyes went wide. Morgan let out a loud laugh, and Ava bit her lip.
‘Too late, new guy,’ Morgan said.
‘They buy enough lobster tails for the residents who RSVP.’ Though that was kind of a lie. They bought enough for the residents and a few extras just in case one or two forgot to RSVP, showed up with an extra guest, or one of the lobster tails jumped off a plate and landed on the floor. ‘The only way there’s leftovers is if they change their mind and don’t show up.’
‘But if thereareleftovers …’ Ava said, knowing full well there would be.
I finished. ‘We get first dibs.’
Morgan closed her eyes like she was in bliss. ‘And I don’t know how she does it, but Roni makes the most perfect lobster. I ordered lobster from a nice place I made Luke take me to for Valentine’s last year, and it was garbage. Roni makes her lobster tail so tender and delicate. You don’t even need a knife.’ She fanned herself for good measure.
Ava shrugged. ‘And everyone else has already made their offers.’
