“That’s one way of putting it,” Sylvie said, rejoining the conversation with a happier-looking Eula. “‘Way too fond of using their powers without regard to ethics or sanity’ is another way.”
“Noted,” Chloe said, looking a little concerned.
There was obviously an interesting story there – Ethan made a mental note to follow up on that later.
“I mostly just do odd jobs,” Henry continued. “So if you need me to rescue a cat from a tree, or cook up some killer hot dogs, or build Curtis a pergola, then I’m your man. When it comes to ghosts, though…” He smiled and shrugged helplessly.
“Fair enough,” said Ethan. “I think we’re all in the same boat, then.”
As a group they fell into a dejected silence. Ethan tried not to feel too pessimistic – at least the visit to Eula’s had jogged more memories for Curtis, and maybe a trip back to Chloe’s clinic at this point, without any large, freaking-out dogs around to distract everyone, would yield some further information.
The rattle of the front door jolted him back to attention, and he half stood up, before Eula waved a placating hand.
“Oh, that’ll just be my granddaughter, Janie,” she said, standing up and moving toward the door. “I forgot that she’d be coming round today.”
A girl entered the room, probably about ten years old – though Ethan had no idea, really, given how little time he’d spent with kids. Her eyes widened when she saw the group of people in the room – and widened further still when she saw the jaw-dropping spread of cakes on the table.
“Hi, Grandma,” she said cautiously. “What’s going on? Are we still going bowling?”
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Eula said, giving her a hug. “I just got caught up unexpectedly with some friends, but we’ll get going soon.”
She indicated Ethan and Chloe.
“These two fine people are Ethan and Chloe – they’re new in town.”
“Hi, Ethan and Chloe,” the girl replied automatically, though with a big, warm smile – Ethan could definitely see the family resemblance with Eula.
“Hi, Janie,” Chloe said warmly. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you,” Ethan echoed, hoping he didn’t sound too robotic. He really didn’t have much experience with kids.
Evenasa kid, he’d spent most of his free time either hanging out at his father’s workplace, or playing sports. His teammatesprobably technically counted as kids he’d hung out with, but mostly he’d just been concerned with how best to secure victory, rather than building any kind of friendship.
It made his heart ache a little now to think about it. ‘Fun’ as a concept had never been on his agenda, but now that he’d been experiencing it – albeit in a somewhat stressful, frustrating way – he was starting to realize just what he’d been missing out on.
Janie looked around the room, her eyes settling on Henry and Sylvie.
“Hi, Henry. Hi, Sylvie,” she said, giving a little wave.
Sylvie smiled. “Hi, Janie. You must’ve shot up six inches since last time I saw you!” She gestured at the table. “Feel free to help yourself… as long as your grandma says it’s okay, of course.”
“Hmmm.” Eula scratched her chin in mock thoughtfulness, and the girl practically vibrated with the barely repressed urge to scoop everything up and jam it in her mouth, her eyes pleading.
After a long, drawn-out pause, Eula finally relented. “Okay… but only one piece, you hear me? And use a plate!”
Janie nodded eagerly, grabbing a plate and picking up an enormous slice of what appeared to be black forest cake, dark and rich and moist, with layers and layers of pure white cream and deep red cherries. It landed on the plate with athud, so huge that it peeped over the edges.
Eula sighed good-naturedly, shaking her head. “We’re all going to regret this later,” she murmured.
“Sorry,” said Sylvie apologetically, though she was clearly trying to repress a laugh.
“Just don’t squish any crumbs into the carpet!” Eula warned.
“No, Grandma,” Janie said around a gargantuan mouthful of cake as she looked around for somewhere to sit.
Ethan had a moment of concern – was she going to sit on Curtis? Not that it would harm him, presumably, but it probablywouldn’t be pleasant. It would definitely be awkward, in any case.
He opened his mouth, trying to think of an excuse as to why she shouldn’t sit on that chair – but then she moved across the room and grabbed another chair with one hand, the precarious plate of cake held in a death grip by her other hand.
