“I daydream about dull moments.” He knelt beside the large case and asked, “Is there a safe place to hide this where we don’t have to worry about anyone trying to get into it? Normally, I’d shove it under a bed and make it invisible, but with your mother being magically immune, that won’t work.”
“I think my grandmother may be, too. Or crazy. Or maybe both. Why, what is it?”
“Supplies, some reference material. Basically, everything magical I have with me. It’s locked, but if I were a host, I might be suspicious about a locked case like this.”
“You can hide it in my room. She might get nosy and poke around in here to see what she can learn about you, but she thinks she already knows everything about me.”
“Good idea. Thanks.”
I stuck my head in the hallway to make sure the coast was clear, then gestured to him and led him down the hall to my room. Only as he crossed the threshold did I rethink my offer. This meant he would see my childhood room. It was pink. Very pink, as in explosion at the Pepto Bismol factory.
Everything was all ruffles and lace, like a room fit for a fairy-tale princess. I’d tried to temper the effect as I got older by covering the pink floral wallpaper with posters, but since the posters were of castles or were from romantic movies, it didn’t help much. I’d barely been aware of my surroundings since I’d been back, but walking into this room with Owen, I couldn’t help but be slapped in the face with how awful it was.
“I’ll have you know, I picked out the decor when I was five,” I said in a preemptive strike.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were thinking it.”
“But I know better than to say anything. Where should I put this?” He hefted the case. “I wouldn’t want it to clash with your decor.”
“Very funny.” I lifted the pink ruffled and flounced bedskirt. “Here, slide it under the bed, up by the head. Even if someone gets crazy enough to vacuum under the bed, it should be hidden somewhat there because of the nightstand.”
He knelt and placed the case as I directed, then stood up and looked around the room. “I never really saw you as the pink type.”
“That phase only lasted a couple of years. Two years later, it was purple, but Mom wouldn’t let me redecorate. In high school, I wanted to go all modern with red, black, and white. Now I think I’d do it in pale blue and white.”
He raised an eyebrow, but refrained from further comment. “Are you ready to go?”
“Can you give me five minutes to change clothes? I’m kind of a mess from work.” Once I had the door shut with him safely on the other side, I frantically pulled off my clothes, then put on a nicer pair of jeans and a clean shirt. I tugged the ponytail holder out of my hair and ran a brush through it. I limited makeup to a little lip gloss because I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard.
Feeling much better about myself, I found him in Teddy and Dean’s room. I gave him a quick tour of the house, avoiding the kitchen where Mom and Granny lurked. In the backyard, the dogs ran to greet us, going straight to Owen. I was a bit insulted at the snub by my own dogs. The dogs escorted us to the edge of the yard where we could see the fields, which were laid out in stripes in various shades of green. “We don’t really farm as a business anymore,” I explained, “but those are Teddy’s test crops.
He plants different kinds of seeds and tests them with all kinds of fertilizers to see what works best.”
“That would be the formula he was talking about?”
“Yes, and like I warned you, don’t ask him about it. It’s like someone asking you a question about how magic works. Now, over there is the barn, which mostly serves as a storage shed. We have a few head of cattle—again, for comparing different kinds of feed—and some horses that are more pets than anything. And there you are. So I guess we need to go talk to Sam?”
He produced the keys to the rental car and said, “Yeah, we’re set for a meeting in fifteen minutes.”
“Then I am part of the investigation, huh?”
“Only because it would be suspicious if I went off by myself so soon after getting here. That would raise too many questions with your family.”
That wasn’t exactly an enthusiastic invitation, but it didn’t stop me from getting into the car with him.
I couldn’t blame him for being a bit hurt and upset about the way things had happened, but I was sure he’d understood. And hey, it hadn’t been a picnic for me, either.