“Did you hear about theDead Men Walkingcrew filming here?” Sadie said.
“Sure, it’s all anyone’s talking about.”
“Zora paid them a visit when they were shooting at the coal mine.”
I swallowed, chased it with a handful of fries for the heat, and, still crying, said, “Wait, wait, wait. He needs to hear the whole thing. You’re making it sound like I just arbitrarily decided to go do that.”
“Dowhat?” Dad’s voice dropped.
I cleared my throat. “Sneak into the mine and fake paranormal evidence.”
“And then get caught on your way out andget arrested,” Sadie finished. “Her and Artemis. They snuck in to mess with this film crew and got themselves arrested. I had to pick her up from the police station this morning.”
Dad ran a hand over his face. “Why would you do that, Zo?”
He called meZoand notZoowhen he wasreallydisappointed. I’d already given him my answer. What else was I supposed to say? I knew what I’d done wrong.
“Tourists,” Sadie said. “They did it because they’re tired of tourists.”
“That seems a little reductive,” I said.
“Who isn’t tired of tourists?” Dad sat back. “But that’s not a reason to go into the mine—that makes me worry about you, you know? You could have been hurt, or gotten lost. The mine isn’t safe.”
“Iknow.”
I maybe said it a little too enthusiastically, because he paused. I’d never known him to pause when he was lecturing us. Granted, he didn’t lecture us often. He lowered his eyes and said, “That’s the first time you’ve gone there, right? There hasn’t been more going on before that I didn’t hear about?”
“I would have made sure you heard about it.” Sadie cut a chunk off her pizza wrap. “Don’t worry, I yelled at her thismorning, too. She’s probably heard enough of it.”
If I agreed, Sadie would say I hadnotheard enough of it, so I kept my mouth shut. They wouldn’t be tearing into me if they knew the real reason we’d gone into the mine. They wouldn’t be acting like I’d actually done all the things the town thought I did. But that had been one of Mom’s first rules: Dad and Sadie can’t know about the firestarters. That just meant that now Sadie was on Dad’s side for everything, even though she knew as well as I did that our reputation in town was mostly because of him.
“Anyway,” Sadie went on, “I have some news, too.”
“Did you also go late-night spelunking?” Dad asked.
“Hah, no. I don’t have a ring or anything, but uh—Grim proposed.”
I choked on my water. Dad’s face lit up. He almost knocked over his drink reaching across the table to grab Sadie’s hand.
“What? Really?”
“When didthathappen?”
Sadie beamed at Dad and scowled at me. “A couple of days ago. I didn’t say anything because I wanted to announce it when Dad got home.”
“Grimmie proposed to you and you didn’t tell me?” I said. “I’m surprised he didn’t use a Fruit Loop as a ring.”
“We thought about it. The hole is too small.”
“Well, details,” Dad said. “You’re getting the Fool to cater, right?”
“We still have to figure out how we’re paying for it.”
He shrugged. “Just do what me and your mom did and have the ceremony at town hall.”
“Or elope,” I said.
Sadie threw a piece of lettuce at me. I flicked water back.
