I gave him a kiss on the forehead, then dragged over the basket where we keep the coloring books and crayons, not to mention the blanket that goes under them in a somewhat futile effort to protect the carpet. Meanwhile, I walked back into the kitchen to get the Shout and a rag, fervently hoping that the people who’d Scotchgarded the couch had done their job properly.
“You could’ve helped, you know,” I said to Eddie, who had watched the drama play out from his front row seat, better known as the recliner.
“I could have, but I didn’t.”
I rolled my eyes. There was really no point arguing.
I glanced toward the stairs to see if Allie was on her way back, but saw and heard nothing. “What do you think about the boy?”
Although Eddie had skipped Mass this morning—“What’s the point of going if Rita ain’t gonna be there?”—I’d brought him up to speed in the first few minutes of our return home.
Before we’d gone to Rome, Eddie and Rita had been pretty much inseparable. She’d even gone so far as to give Allie a taser for her fifteenth birthday, a gift I’d thought entirely inappropriate until it proved its worth in a demon-related crisis.
“I think I’m glad Rita stood me up today,” Eddie replied to my question about Jared. “I wanna meet this kid who helped Allie out the other night.”
On that, we were agreed. “So why did she stand you up?” I scowled at the stain on the cushion. From what I could tell it was expanding, not shrinking.
“Eh,” he said. “She’s got a cousin in town or some such. Niece, I think. Maybe a nephew. Don’t know, don’t care.”
“Really? You two are so tight. You don’t want to meet her family?”
I gave up and flipped the cushion over, relieved to see the other side was clean and I hadn’t used that trick on this particular cushion before.
Eddie grunted and shrugged his shoulders. I wisely decided not to press the point, because it occurred to me that maybe it was Rita who didn’t want her family to meet Eddie. And if that was the case, I could see why he was grumpy. Although to be honest, curmudgeonly defined Eddie’s usual state.
The doorbell chimed, and I headed that direction as Allie’s footsteps pounded on the stairs. She managed to skid into the entryway ahead of me, now in a pink tee and shorts over her bathing suit. “You’re still going to say okay to the beach, right?” She looked at me with pleading eyes. “A boy hasn’t liked me in forever. I asked Mindy to go with us, but she’s got rehearsal for the musical. But I’m the one he asked out, so please let me go by myself. Please, Mommy, please.”
It was the Mommy that got me. It had been a long time since she’d called me that. “Sweetheart, the last time you went out, you were attacked by a demon.” Although to be fair,attackedwasn’t really the right word.
“Mom! Think about where we live and who we are. One, I go out all the time without getting attacked. Two, it’s not like there was an APB put out announcing that I’ve got some weird funky powers, was there? And, three,” she added before I could answer that there might very well have been, “Jared’ll be with me, and he already proved that he knows how to handle himself where demons are concerned. So it would be the two of us together.”
“Allie...”
“Mom...” she said in exactly the same tone.
“Just let the boy in,” Eddie said. “We’re leaving the poor kid out there in the elements.”
Considering it was a gorgeous California day I wasn’t too concerned about his health and well-being, but Eddie had calledit right with regard to politeness. I nodded to Allie, who hurried forward, gathered herself, then opened the door. “Hey,” she said. “Come on in.”
“Hi.” His smile was equally wide and equally shy, and I gave him points for that. Then he looked at me and extended a hand, which I took. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Conner.”
“Thanks for coming by. I heard about what happened on the boardwalk. So I just want to get to know you a little better before you two head to the beach. It, um, sounds like we may have a few things in common.”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
I gestured toward the living room. “Have a seat.”
“Thanks.” He headed toward the sofa, and I was glad I’d flipped the cushion. “It smells great in here,” he added, making Allie beam.
“Cinnamon rolls,” she said, sounding as proud as if she’d kneaded the dough herself and hadn’t just popped them out of a cardboard canister. “I thought you might want a snack before we go.”
She said the last boldly, as if my consent were a given.
“Sounds delish,” Jared said.
Allie joined him on the sofa, Eddie stayed in his recliner, and I tried to look casual on the pouf we use as a footstool. Timmy ignored us all, wildly coloring one of his Animal Kingdom coloring books.
“So how do you know about demons?” I said, jumping straight onto the back of the elephant in the room.
