His head droops in reverence.“I wish I’d been here.Been at sea with the cruise liners for a few years.I’m sorry for your loss.Jay was a good man—the best, really.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I say as he meanders around the entrance.
“He always spoke highly of you, the history buff, and your kid.He said Henry and Olly would rule his kingdom one day,” Eric chuckles, motioning to the building around us.“Didn’t know that day would come so soon.But the last time we spoke, he seemed off to me.”
I gape at the emotional hit, hearing a stranger say that.“Really?How?”
His bony shoulders bob in a shrug.“He said he’d been tired, didn’t feel like doing much.The Jay I knew never sat still long enough to have a dull moment.You know?”
“Um, yeah, I know.”I think of his collection of concert tickets, the motorcycle we sold after he passed, and the ghost, alien, and monster-hunting adventures he’d tell us about at Sunday dinners, until he stopped coming.My regret sharpens for never questioning his excuses.
“When Jay slowed down, he spent too much time in his head,” he says with insight that impresses and irritates me at once.But I start to remember him—an odd man in the corner behind the counter, leaning his chair back on two legs.He asked Mom on a date a week after she kicked Dale out, and I remember being relieved that she said no.He and Jay laughed a lot.Over beers.Over reruns.Over weird YouTube videos of hauntings and possessions.Over stories that often freaked me out as a kid, at least until I told them to Venus.
She would inevitably convince me that they were scientifically unsound—I appreciated that.
Still, I feel uneasy around him and troubled by our conversation.He either understood Jay’s distress better than his own family, who were right here, or he’s just saying he did, which makes him disingenuous.Either way, I’m not in the mood.
“Mr.Massie, it’s been nice to talk, but?—”
“I hear you’re reopening the place soon.Mind if I take a look around for old time’s sake?”
He doesn’t wait for an answer, but heads to the main room through the short hall, where we’re set up on a makeshift table and mismatched chairs between newly constructed displays and boxes of artifacts.
“Oh, hello, ladies.”He bows dramatically.
“Guys, this is Eric Massie, a friend of Uncle Jay’s,” I say.
“Eric the Sword-Swallower,” he says, shaking Marnie’s hand.
“Eric the Sword-Swallower,” he follows with Dot, who snorts.
“Eric the Sword-Swallower,” he says to Marigold, who offers a brief wave instead of shaking his hand.
He salutes her before he helps himself to the snacks on the table.
“Sword-swallower, huh?Is that some kind of euphemism?”Dot questions.
“Ah, no.I swallow swords for a living.”He hands them business cards from his shirt pocket.“I’m also a juggler, acrobat, and unicyclist.Jay used to let me perform here in the museum for tips.I was a big hit!I’d be happy to give a free demonstration.”
“No!”My abrupt refusal surprises everyone, especially me.“I mean, sorry.I didn’t mean for that to come out so harshly.It’s just?—”
“I understand, Henry.Not everyone can handle swordplay,” Eric says.“I remember you were a bit squeamish.”
“I’m not squeamish,” I counter, pushing my glasses higher on my nose.“But we’re in the middle of our meeting.So, if you don’t mind?—”
His hands go up submissively after he takes a handful of grapes from the platter.“Sorry, son.I didn’t mean to intrude.Jay wanted me to check in on you and the place.”
My eyes narrow.“I’m fine, but it’s not a good time.It’s been a strange few days, and we need to regroup.”
“Looky here, Mr.Sword-Swallower,” Dot says with authority.“Henry’s got a full plate with this place, Olly, and losing his uncle.Besides, he’s gone a bit bonkers over his first love showing up in town?—”
“Venus is back?”he says, brightening.“Jay must be spinning tires on his Harley in heaven to hear that!”
“You know about Venus and me?”I ask.
“Jay thought you and Rapunzel would end up together,” he says, surprising me again with Jay’s nickname for her.“He told me you were lonely—that having a kid wasn’t the same as having a companion.If only he could get Venus back, he said.”
Marnie coos, “Aw, it’s like he knew.”
