A few moments went by in comfortable silence, and then Ash piped up again.
“Janie and some of the other kids are having a sleepover at her grandma’s house tonight. Would I be able to go? Her grandma and her mom will both be there.”
Diana barely even had to think about it. Janie was one of Eula’s grandkids, not much older than Ash. While Janie andAsh were polar opposites in terms of their personalities, with Janie being outgoing and forthright, they got along oddly well. And Eula was practically like an extra grandma to Ash – not to mention most of the other kids in the town.
If he wanted to go out and be social with other kids, then she definitely wasn’t going to discourage him. And, she realized, it would give her some time alone with Calvin to try and work out how they were going to break that sprite’s curse. She didn’t want to have to try to dothataround her all-too-perceptive son!
“Sure, you can go,” she said, as she slowly turned the car in to their long, steep driveway. She turned her head briefly to see one of Ash’s rare smiles lighting up his face, and her heart almost sang with joy.
“Thanks, Mom,” he said, his happiness evident in his voice.
She smiled back. “No problem, sweetheart.”
The joy in her heart twisted a little as she said the word. He was getting too old for such terms, and indeed, if anyone else was around she called himbuddy, orchamp, or justAsh. She knew she wouldn’t be able to get away with it much longer. But Ash was kind enough to let her keep occasionally saying it for now, without commenting on it or rolling his eyes.
When did he grow up?she thought.It feels like only yesterday that he was a tiny baby in my arms.
Feeling a little deflated, she inched the car down the steep driveway… and then almost jammed her foot down on the gas in shock.
Because there on her porch swing, apparently taking a nap in the drowsy warmth of the afternoon, dragonflies buzzing lazily around his dangerously open mouth… was Calvin.
How did he beat me back home? Does he have pistons in his legs or something?!
Pulling the car to a gentle stop, she turned to Ash with a playful smile, hand poised above the car horn.
“Should I?”
Ash nodded with great enthusiasm – for a kid who was so quiet and courteous, he had a mischievous streak a mile wide – and Diana brought her hand briefly down on the horn, not hard enough to deafen Calvin, but just enough to give him a startle.
“Huh –? Whuh –?”
Calvin leaped up, recovering nicely after the now-wildly swinging chair bumped the back of his knees and almost sent him sprawling.
Scrubbing his hand over his eyes, he took a moment to recover himself, before seeming to finally put the chain of events together and realize what had happened.
“Oh, hi, Diana. Hi, Ash,” he said, with an embarrassed wave. “Sorry about that. It was just so peaceful and relaxing, I guess I just dropped off.”
“No problem,” said Diana with a grin as she hopped out of the car. It made her proud, in a weird way, that her home would be so welcoming and calming that it could lull him into an unplanned afternoon nap. “Come on in. Unless you want to go back to sleep for a bit?”
“No, no, I’m good,” Calvin said, still looking a little flustered. His hair was adorably flattened on one side, and it was all Diana could do to keep herself from going over there and smoothing it out. She didn’t want to gettoolovey-dovey in front of Ash.
She opened the front door for him, watching the way he moved carefully inside the house. She’d kind of noticed it yesterday, but hadn’t really put two and two together, thinking that he was just cautious. Now, however, she knew that he was keeping an eye out for any kind of electrical appliance or device he could possibly accidentally touch. It had never really occurred to her how many things relied on electricity, until she saw how it was affecting him.
We’ll solve the riddle and get to the bottom of this,she thought with new resolve.And if we can’t solve it… well, I’ll go up to that sprite andforceher to remove the curse. She’s not going to get away with this!
A little surprised by the vehemence of her own thoughts, she went to open the back door for Bella, who greeted her with slobbery doggy kisses.
“Did you have a good day?” she asked, peering out at the back yard. The veggie patches were still intact at least, with the only casualty of Bella’s alone time being one of the compost bin lids, which was now lying forlornly on the ground. A good result all around, she thought.
Bella barked in response, and Diana managed to get in a quick pet before she bounded back into the house, obviously excited to see Ash and Calvin. Smiling, Diana followed her back to the dining room – just in time to see her taking a flying leap into Calvin’s lap.
“Hi, Bella,” Calvin laughed, as the overexcited dog writhed about. It was lucky that Calvin was so solidly built – the impact of Bella’s landing would’ve winded just about anyone else!
The scene before her sent a wave of delirious happiness rushing through her body. A couple of days ago, the thought of finding love again had been the furthest thing from her mind. And now, inexplicably, Calvin was here and feeling like a natural part of her family. It was an almost surreal experience.
She fished around in her purse for the yuzu madeleines, which had somehow made it through their adventures more or less intact.
Delivered via wyvern air mail, with one stopover to visit a sprite, she thought giddily.
