Lib Novel Page 89
“True,” Anna agreed. “He’s a genius with curls.”
“Plus, I was told, then saw for myself, he’s adorable.”
“An adorable genius? I’ll check that out. And how’s Baby Girl?”
Smiling, Anna gave her bump a gentle pat. “Feisty. And I’m enjoyingevery minute—so far. I’m so glad you could both make it today. I know you’re busy.”
“You’re not sleeping at the wheel. Get it? Cleo, wait until I show you Anna’s new pieces.”
They ordered those single glasses of wine, salads, and, at Anna’s suggestion, mini quiche appetizers to share.
“You weren’t wrong about these,” Cleo said after a sample. “I’ve never made a quiche. I should try that. I should try making cute tiny quiches.”
“Cleo’s embraced cooking.”
“See, busy. Trey let the family know what’s going on at the manor. It’s a lot. I want to say it’s way more than I ever experienced when I visited Collin. It always struck me as playful and interesting, but that’s not what you’re dealing with.”
“Most of the time it is,” Sonya told her. “Other times? Other times it’s hard to believe it’s happening even when it’s happening.”
“Hester Dobbs thinks she’s going to drive us out. But she won’t. It’s our place, and we love it, love everything in it. Even back in college Sonya talked about having a house with history and character.”
“I did. I just didn’t anticipate thecharacters.” She emphasized the plural. “But with one nasty exception, we’re enjoying those characters. I’m getting to know my biological grandmother, and she’s wonderful. Oh, Trey saw her again last night.”
“What!” Cleo dropped her salad fork. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“You’d already gone up by the time he came back in, and I was hair obsessed this morning.”
“Sorry.” Anna held up a hand. “Let me echo: What? Trey saw the ghost of your grandmother? And that’s ‘again’?”
“It’s the third time.”
“Okay, back up.” Now Anna circled a finger in the air. “Rewind.”
“He was just a kid the first time. He told me he was trying to learn how to play the guitar and was in the music room at the manor. I think your dad and Collin were playing chess. And there she was. Hot babe, he told me. She talked to him about music for a minute, then gone.”
“He never said a thing,” Anna muttered.
“Then, a few weeks ago, when he was checking the clock in the Quiet Place, she—well—appeared. Last night, he walked Owen out. After Owen left, he heard the window in the library open, looked up, and she leaned out. Blew him a kiss, then?” Sonya flicked her wrist. “Gone again.”
“I think your grandmother’s soft on your boyfriend, Son.”
“And how weird is that?”
“How weird is any of this?” Anna, who’d nursed her once-a-week wine through the meal, now took the last sip. “He told me he’d once seen a woman in white on the widow’s walk, but he never said anything about this.”
“I caught a glimpse once of the boy—Jack. He plays with Yoda, teaches him tricks. And sometimes, if he’s annoyed, opens all the cabinet doors in the kitchen.”
“When I let them out before I left today, Pye was playing with a little ball of string. I hadn’t given her one. So I assume Jack likes cats, too.”
“You have a cat?”
“I have a cat,” Cleo confirmed. “Pyewacket.”
“Oh! Great name. From the old movie.”
“Has everyone seen that movie but me?” Sonya wondered.
“We’ll watch it,” Cleo said.