“You’ve done it three times, Colleen.”
I could see Grandma pressing her lips together, trying not to smile.
“If Maury is so worried about his glasses, he ought to keep better track of them.” She took a sip of her tea.
The doors opened again, and Maury Haven wheeled himself through. He was completely bald with a bristly gray beard and deep wrinkles, especially on his forehead and around his eyes.
“Colleen, what did you do with my glasses?”
“Hello, Maury,” Grandma said. “Lovely day we’re having, isn’t it?”
His lined forehead creased even more, and his voice was rough and gravelly. “Don’t give me thatlovely daybullshit. Where’d you hide my glasses this time?”
Grandma let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t see how it’s my problem if you can’t figure out the clue I left.”
“Clue?” he barked. “What clue? I didn’t see a clue!”
“That’s because you weren’t looking.”
“Colleen, just tell him where you put his glasses,” Janine said.
I bit the inside of my lip. Part of me felt like I ought to help coax Grandma into revealing where she’d put Maury’s glasses. And part of me wanted to laugh because those two had been pranking each other for years. All because Maury was a Haven.
He was probably related to Theo, although I wasn’t sure how. Maybe a great-uncle or something. There were a lot of Havens in Tilikum. Back in the day, there’d been a generations-long feud between the Haven and Bailey families. My grandma had been on the Bailey side.
Maury and Grandma didn’t seem to realize that the feud was over. Or maybe they just didn’t care. I wasn’t sure who’d started it, but there’d been a regular back-and-forth between them ever since Grandma had moved in.
And despite Maury’s surly expression, I knew he dished it out just as much as she did.
With a growl, Maury turned his wheelchair around. “Don’t let them touch my table. There’s a clue somewhere.”
Janine sighed and followed Maury back inside. “What clue did you leave?” I asked.
“A pencil.”
“How is a pencil a clue?”
“Isn’t it obvious? There’s a cup of pencils on the game cabinet.” She giggled softly, as if it were quite the joke. “I hid his glasses in one of the cupboards and put the pencil right where he left his glasses sitting out.”
“I suppose that’s a decent clue. He’ll find them.”
“Oh, of course he will.” She waved her hand in the direction he’d gone. “He’s a Haven, but he’s not an idiot.”
“I know we’ve had this conversation before, but you know the feud ended, right? The other Baileys and Havens stopped pranking each other. Mostly. I guess they still do it for fun sometimes.”
“Why on earth do you think I do it? Somebody has to. Besides, that crotchety old man loves it. Gives him something to look forward to.”
“What do you think he’ll do to retaliate this time?”
“It better be something good. Last time all he did was replace my sugar with salt. Maury Haven thinks I won’t drink some salty tea? Ha!”
I winced. “You drank tea with salt in it instead of sugar?”
“Absolutely. Didn’t make a single face while I did, either. I couldn’t let him win, could I?”
“What if he puts something worse in your tea next time?”
She shrugged and took a sip. “We’ll see if he’s good enough to get something worse by me.”
