Brt.
“Be right there from where?” Sonya muttered. “That’s another of her bags up there. Maybe she—”
She broke off as the servant’s door opened.
Cleo stepped out. She shoved a hand at her hair, then lifted her arms in the air. “Surprise!”
“You scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry. I got everything done, and thought why the hell should I wait until morning? So here I am,” she continued as she walked down the stairs.
“How did you get in?”
“The door opened. Just like that one did.” She pointed up. “But manners first as my Mama says. Hi, I’m Cleo Fabares.”
“Anna Doyle.”
“I know. I recognized you from your website. Wonderful work, by the way. The site and the pottery. And would you look! It’s now five-oh-two. Give me some wine, Son. I’ve had my first solo adventure.”
“Sit in the parlor with Anna.”
“Anna doesn’t need to sit in the parlor,” Anna said. “The kitchen’s fine. I’d like to hear about the solo adventure. You don’t seem worried about it.”
“Got some chills, literally, but no, I’m not worried. We have this fierce guard dog.” She crooned to Yoda, gave him some loving rubs. “You’re even more adorable in person.”
She straightened, and continued as they started back, “And I’ve got one of my grand-mère’s charms in my pocket.”
“Her grandmother’s a Creole witch. Maybe.”
“You’ve got my full attention.”
“You get the drinks, Sonya; I’ll put the groceries away.”
“What would you like, Anna?”
Still studying Cleo as if fascinated, Anna said, “Ginger ale if you have it.”
“Okay. To start,” Cleo said to Anna, “a friend’s taken over my apartment. A friend I’m fond of, but grew less fond of every day since she moved in. She’s not easy to live with. Sonya is. So when I realized I had everything done, I ran. Since I’m also fond of the surprise, I didn’t give Sonya a heads-up. That’s on me.”
“I would’ve been here.”
“Yeah, but then I wouldn’t have had my first solo adventure. You got Toaster Strudels! She knows I have a weakness. So, when I didn’t see Sonya’s car, I realized my surprise might have been a little ill-conceived, but what the hell. She’d be back. I hauled one of my ridiculously heavy suitcases to the door. And it opened.”
She picked up the wine Sonya set in front of her. “I came in.”
“I don’t think of myself as a coward.” Anna considered as she sipped her drink. “But I don’t think I’d have done that.”
“She would.”
“And did. And the house sang ‘Welcome Back.’ Or I should say Clover played me in.”
“Clover?”
“You haven’t filled her in?”
“I guess not.”
“Then over to you for that.”
Sonya picked up her wine. “Let’s sit at the table.”
She filled in some gaps.
“And you knew that, and still came in?”
“I think Clover and I will get along fine. We’ll see about the rest. So, I dragged the first suitcase up those awesome stairs—I love clothes.”
“Me, too!”
“We’ll shop. I dragged up the suitcase, and the secret door opened.”
“And you walked in there, too?”
“I thought about it for a second, since I heard those bells? The call bells downstairs?”
“I remember those, sure. They were actually ringing?”
“One was. I started down, and the door slammed behind me.”
Shaking back her hair, she lifted her glass.
“I admit, without shame, that scared the shit out of me. But the lights came on when I found the switch, so that was better. When I got down there, the bell for the Gold Room’s banging, doors are slamming. The TV in the media room came on, top volume. A lot of screaming seeing as it came on with the latest Halloween movie.
“I love Jamie Lee Curtis.”
“Jesus, Cleo.”
With a shrug, Cleo topped off her wine. “I wasn’t what you’d call sanguine about it at the time. Then everything stopped. The slamming, the banging, the screaming. And I felt this cold, a whoosh of it. Did you see my hair when I came out? It blew right through it.
“Then you texted. So either Grand-mère’s charm or you coming home, or both, shut her off.”
“I wish I could have some wine,” Anna murmured.
“I dedicate this glass to you and your adorable baby bump. I’m going to white sage down there,” Cleo decided. “I don’t think that’s nearly enough, but I’ll do it anyway.” Already at home, she put her feet up on the empty chair, turned to Anna. “So how many weeks along are you?”
“Almost twenty.”
“Halfway.” Cleo lifted her glass in toast. “Do you know the variety?”
With a laugh, Anna patted her baby belly. “We just found out yesterday. Think pink!”
As easy as that, Sonya thought, they transitioned from hauntings to babies. Engaging others stood as one of Cleo’s top skills.
“Who runs the world?” Cleo sang. “Got a name?”
“The middle name’s easy. My mother-in-law’s first name and my mom’s middle is Kate. For the first name, we’ve got our list down to, oh, about a dozen. We’re hoping to tighten that up before she starts preschool. But now that we know, decorating the nursery’s top of the list.
“And since I happen to know an artist or two, I may hit them up for advice.”
“I’m there!”
Now Sonya laughed. “Cleo’s a baby magnet, or babies are a magnet for Cleo. Was helping with nursery decor what you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Oh no, that one just came to me. It was some other things. One was about work. They can wait.”
“Now’s fine. Did you want something changed on the website?”
“Not a change. Bay Arts is having their May Day open house in a few weeks, and I’m one of the featured artists. I wondered if we could do something to promote it on my site.”
“Not only could but should.” Sonya took out her phone to take notes. “Dates, times?”
“Second weekend in May, ten to eight on Saturday, noon to six on Sunday.”
“It’s annual?”
“They do a weekend every year, second weekend in May, and for the holidays, the second weekend in December. Featured artists, some demonstrations, specials, refreshments, door prizes.”
Nodding, Sonya got it all down. “They’ll do their own promotions, flyers, but we can do a flash on your social media. Do they include online sales?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay, we’ll do a card to include in the sales off your site, hyping it up.”
“That’s good. I wouldn’t have thought of that.”
“That’s my job. I can send you some options tomorrow.”
She set her phone aside. “What else is on your mind?”
“The other was … well, it’s personal.”
“I’ll just go haul another suitcase upstairs.”
“No, don’t leave,” Anna said as Cleo started to get up. “It’s clear the two of you are close, so you’d know Sonya and Trey are seeing each other.”
Cautious, Sonya trailed a finger around the rim of her glass. “He told you.”
“No, and he wouldn’t unless I asked directly. But you’ve had dinners together at the Lobster Cage, and he’s made the turn on Manor Road several times lately.”