We left Leona and Ned packing for an overnight trip to Orlando, since Jack wanted them out of the line of fire, so to speak. Then he went to find the commando currently watching them and have a quick word. While he did that, I caught up with Uncle Mike and warned him to be on the lookout for strangers. Then I left voicemail messages for Susan and Alejandro, letting them know about the impending arrival of Everett.
“What else can I do?”
Jack grinned at me. “You can go grocery shopping. The boys are coming over to hunt killers on the dark web for us.”
I thought about how much Jack, with his tiger metabolism, could eat, and I sighed. “Good thing I’m rich this week.”
“I have Atlantean gold, remember?”
“I forget, what is the exchange rate for that at Super Target?”
He laughed, but then glanced over at me. “Not scared of me anymore?”
“Nope. But remember, no capes.” I hadn’t watched The Incredibles six times for nothing.
He was silent for a full beat, and then he shook his head.
“Tess, I might never understand you.”
“So few do,” I told him, turning on the radio. “What are you in the mood to hear?”
He winced. “Not including your singing, right?”
Just to punish him, I played pop music all the way to the store.
I filled a cart with everything I thought I’d need, and Jack filled a second cart with beer and meat. We were almost to the checkout line when I remembered I was out of potatoes and told Jack I’d be right back. He nodded and started unloading groceries. Even he had to realize that nobody was going to shoot me at Super Target. I trotted back to produce and started piling bags of spuds in my cart.
“Hello, Tess,” a man’s voice said from behind me.
It was Oskar Wildenhammer, buying a cart full of sweet potatoes.
“Hi, Oskar. How are you?”
He looked tired. I knew he wasn’t anywhere close to forty, but he looked years older, and much thinner than I remembered, stooped over the handle of his cart. Caring for his dad must be taking a lot out of him. His dirty blond hair was receding from his forehead, and the hems of his pants were frayed, which I immediately felt ashamed for noticing.
“Not so good, actually. Dad’s not doing well at all,” he admitted wearily. “I can’t get him to eat anything but chicken broth and sweet potato casserole. The hospice nurse said it might be soon.”
“Oh, Oskar, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” I stopped short of touching his skin, but I put a hand on his sleeve, feeling a wave of sadness for Mr. Wildenhammer, who’d always been so kind to the kids who came to visit his magical toy shop. “It will be such a loss for the world to be deprived of his toys.”
He closed his eyes and bowed his head, and I felt terrible. I’d probably said exactly the wrong thing. “Is there anything I can do? I know Aunt Ruby will want to make him a pie—”
“No, no. He’s beyond pie. He just wants to live out his remaining hours in peace,” Oskar said. “I’d better be getting back.”
“Of course. Please call me if there’s anything I can do. Anything at all.” I watched him walk off and felt so useless. When it was really the end, there was nothing for the family to do but wait.
I’d text Aunt Ruby, though. I was sure that we should start some kind of dinner brigade. Poor Oskar must be living on broth and casserole, too, while he took care of his dad.
Comforted by the thought of at least doing something, I grabbed one last bag of potatoes and headed for the checkout, where I found Jack explaining the art of barbecue to an overly fascinated teen girl who was staring at him in awe.
When she saw me, she gave me a conspiratorial smile. “Isn’t he just so interesting?”
“Totally,” I said, plopping the potatoes on the checkout counter. “Leave. Now.”
She left.
Jack’s eyes widened. “Tess—”
“Oh, shut up.” He didn’t even realize why girls and women alike fawned over him all the time, which was just annoying. “That’s a lot of meat. How many of the guys are coming over? I might need more side dishes,” I said, starting to worry.
“Two.”
“Two? For all that? How much are you planning to eat?”
He grinned at me and added three candy bars to the pile. “I’m a tiger. I plan to eat as much as I want.”