Halloween
THE SCRAMBLE TO come up with a new theme after Cece had scooped hers had paid off. Chloe’s brainchild, an undead picnic, had worked in all the props they’d managed to find at the party rental places and was easy to split into a ghost party for the little kids, complete with famous dead literary types like Dumbledore, and a vampire ambush for the older trick-or-treaters.
As soon as they’d mentioned vampires, Mari had bared her teeth and whispered, in the creepiest voice Jen had ever heard from a real live human, Blood.
Renita had confessed she might have spent too much time in Forks with the Twilight crew, but Mari promised to be a vegetarian vampire and hand out the hot dog severed fingers that Rebecca had slaved over.
And if the screams and shrieks she could hear coming from the vicinity of her house were any clue, the party was still going strong. Jen stretched out her legs and crossed both arms behind her head as she stared up at the sky through the canopy of the trees. The creek was bubbling and here she could breathe.
Before Luke could say a thing, she sighed. “Did they send you to find me?”
He climbed up on the tree house platform, scooted over to lie next to her, and leaned back. “Nah. I missed you.”
She twisted over to stare at him. He was watching her. “Really. In all that noise, you missed me?”
She didn’t believe it. “How did you find me, anyway?”
He tapped his chest. “Detective. It’s what I do.”
Jen laughed. “Right. I’ll have to work harder to cover my tracks if I want to stay hidden.”
“The judging committee’s been and gone. Aren’t you anxious to see if you’ve knocked Cece from her throne?” Luke asked. “The bloodthirst for revenge totally works with this theme, by the way.”
When she’d gotten into the contest, it had been about the need for something else to fill her time and a whole lot of bragging rights. Now, the bragging rights would be sweet, but her time had been filled with the family across the road. She and Joseph worked on math. The first time he’d brought home a test with a bright red A marked across the top, Connie Hollister had invited her over to enjoy her famous homemade ice cream.
That ice cream was so good it was much easier to imagine being nice to Connie Hollister in the future.
Mari had decided Chloe hung the moon and stars so both weekends her niece had been over to refine their Halloween concept, Mari had been her tiny, fierce shadow.
“Did we win?” Jen asked lazily. She’d been pretty sure they would, but at this point, things were too good to be bent out of shape if they hadn’t. There was always next year.
Luke dangled a blue ribbon close to her face. “First place. Sarah wants you to wear this every day next week, so that everyone, including Cece, can see you do your victory lap.”
Jen sat up and accepted the ribbon. “Winning. It feels good.”
“So you can imagine how the party has taken on a new celebratory atmosphere. You’re missing it.” Luke sat up and shifted close enough to slide an arm under her shoulders. Jen rested against him.
“Why do I feel like I’m right where I need to be, then?” she asked, smiling at him.
“You don’t like crowds or noise or mess.” He sighed. “That’s all I bring with me.”
Jen wrinkled her nose. “Well, not all.” She ran a hand down his chest. “You do look nice in your uniform, too. Besides, I can take control of your noise and mess. Watch me.”
Luke bent his head to study her lips. “You think you’ve got what it takes to whip the Hollister house into shape?”
“I’m a teacher.” She tapped her chest the same way he had. “Bring order out of chaos. It’s what I do.”
His chuckle went all the way through her to settle into her bones. Life was good.
She wouldn’t change a thing.