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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 latestHalloweenmovie.
“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 afew weeks, and I’m one of the featured artists. I wondered if we could do something to promote it on my site.”
