Page 34 of Call Off the Dark

“I like the wolf,” Helen said. “He’s clearly a genius.”

“You’re dark.” Tyler laughed and reached into the back seat to grab the box of chocolates and the bottle of white wine. “Which do you want?”

“The wine.”

He handed her the wine and kept the chocolates. Then he took a deep breath, and she watched as the playfulness left him on the exhale and tension replaced it.

“What was that?” she said.

“What?”

“I just watched you turn from Tyler the Magical Professor of Grimms’ Fairy Tales to Tyler the Uptight Mall Security Guard.”

“I think some mall security guards would object to that description,” Tyler said with a deadpan delivery. Then he said in a more thoughtful tone, “We need a code word. In case you need me to rescue you.”

“No, if you go in there expecting things will go badly, you’re setting yourself up for failure.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I mean it. Let’s go in there expecting the best from your stepmom and dad, expecting to laugh with your brother, and expecting the unexpected from your sister, and that in and of itself will be a fun surprise. Let’s go in there like rays of sunshine.”

A sweet, slow smile spread over Tyler’s face. “How about we go in there like wolves?”

“Even better.”

At the front door, he reached for her hand and said, “The code word is ‘lumberjack.’ Just work it into any sentence.”

Helen laughed and squeezed his hand as they waited for someone to answer.

That someone turned out to be the Wicked Stepmother Evelyn. As the woman said, “Hello, Tyler!” Helen told herself to stop thinking of her as the Wicked Stepmother.

“Hi, Evelyn!” Tyler let go of Helen’s hand and stepped forward to give Evelyn a quick hug. Then he stepped back, angling his body toward Helen, gesturing her into the fold. “This is Helen.”

Helen went for the hug just as Evelyn extended her hand to shake, and she accidentally crushed Evelyn’s hand between their chests, because the hug was already in motion as Tyler put an encouraging hand on Helen’s back.

“Sorry,” Helen mumbled. The confidence she’d felt was already fading. “So nice to meet you.”

When they stepped apart, Evelyn straightened the pearl necklace that hung over her crisp white blouse, and Helen straightened her blue cotton sweater—not because it needed straightening, but because she was instinctively mirroring the older woman. Evelyn reminded Helen of a character in a daytime soap opera, elegant but overly dressed and pressed for what was just a family barbecue. Evelyn was in her early fifties, but her refined appearance made her seem both older and timeless.

“Something for your sweet tooth.” Tyler handed Evelyn the box of chocolates, and Helen was surprised by how formal it all felt. She had expected it to be more casual. She wanted to hold up the bottle of wine and say, “Something for the awkwardness,” but of course she didn’t.

Evelyn said, “Thank you, dear. Your father’s in the kitchen prepping the burgers.”

So they followed Evelyn from the foyer down a hallway, Helen still clutching the bottle of wine.

“How were your accommodations?” Evelyn asked over her shoulder.

“So nice,” Helen chimed in. “Have you ever seen the Ambrose? It’s really romantic. It was actually a brothel,” she said and instantly regretted it, so she quickly added, “But it’s not anymore.” Shit, obviously.

Helen shot Tyler an over-the-top desperate look, but underneath the humor, her nerves were truly starting to fray. He gave her a reassuring look.

“You two could have stayed here, you know.” Evelyn’s tone was an indictment.

“Next time,” Tyler said. “We wanted to book a couples’ thing.”

“Already needing to schedule your romantic time?” Evelyn said, and then she laughed as if she’d only meant it playfully, but it didn’t really feel that way.

Tyler rolled his eyes at Helen, and she forced a smile.