My eyes widened. “That’s actually pretty good.”
He tried to play it cool, but the praise affected him.
Winnie leaned forward slightly, completely engaged. “And what clues are you planting beforehand?”
CJ’s eyes sparkled. “Oh, there are tons. Weird shipping records. Contradictory witness accounts. Somebody mentions hearing chains instead of monster noises early on, but nobody pays attention because they’re distracted by festival stuff.”
“A twist is only as good as its setup,” Winnie said approvingly.
CJ gave her a lopsided smile. “Exactly.” Then he winked.
I stared at my son. “When did you learn to wink for emphasis?”
“I’m an artist now.”
Winnie chuckled. “You’re getting the hang of it.”
The pride on CJ’s face nearly wrecked me. A few months ago, he would’ve hidden all this under jokes and nonsense stories. Now, he was sitting at the dinner table, talking openly about plot structure while somebody listened like his ideas mattered.
Winnie had done that simply by treating his imagination like something valuable instead of something to manage.
Billie announced she wanted to write “a horror cookbook,” which Bianca said was just Victorian cuisine. That had CJ cracking up.
Winnie was looking at them as if she wanted to bottle the moment.
And I?—
I was fascinated by everything about her. The way she tucked her hair behind one ear while listening. The way she paid complete attention when one of the kids spoke, even if the subject was objectively ridiculous. The tiny crinkles near her eyes when she laughed for real. The way she moved, with complete and utter grace.
It had been three years since I’d looked at another adult this way.
Jade’s face flashed through my mind so suddenly it almost felt physical.
I quickly averted my gaze. The guilt still surprised me sometimes. It wasn’t that I thought I’d never move forward. People moved forward. The world demanded it eventually. But there was some part of me that still felt disloyal whenever happiness arrived unexpectedly. Especially this kind.
Especially her.
After dinner, Winnie stood and started clearing the dishes.
“No,” I said.
She frowned at me. “No?”
“You cooked.”
“Yes, that generally precedes washing dishes.”
“Sit down,” Bianca said firmly.
CJ pointed toward the family room. “Retire, kitchen sorceress.”
“We shall clean!” Billie proclaimed, slamming her hands down on the table.
Winnie looked between all of us with visible confusion. “You do realize I’m perfectly capable of helping?”
“Yes,” Bianca said. “But this is equitable labor distribution.”
“Also, Daddy’s trying to impress you.”
