by Pandora Pine
“We’re gonna be in a tougher spot if this goes haywire somehow.” Ten shook his head.
Kevin stopped dead again. “What are you talking about?” His green eyes burned. “What do you know?”
“Calm down, Kevin. I don’t know anything. Secrets have a way of coming out. You know that. We all know that. If it somehow comes to light that the BPD knew about possible exonerating evidence and didn’t do anything about it for days on end, that could look bad for you and the department. People love to shit on my gift until it helps them out of a jam and then you know they’ll shit on you for keeping a lid on it.” Ten shook his head. This day was getting worse by the minute.
Kevin nodded. “I know that, Tennyson. I have to wait until I get word from my superiors. Isn’t there anything you can do with your gift? From a distance?”
Ten thought about that for a minute. He’d heard of remote viewing but had never tried it before. The only person he knew of who had that gift for certain was Madam Aurora. Under any other circumstance he wouldn’t mind asking for her help, but in this situation, the fewer people who knew about this potential evidence the better. “There might be a way I can look into things without leaving the house. I’ll check into it.”
Ronan picked up his hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.
“Tennyson!” Kaye angry whispered.
Greeley leaned over and said something to her.
“Yes, Mother,” Ten said, feeling very weary. He knew what was coming. Kaye was going to dress him down about holding his husband’s hand in public.
“You look very nice today.” Kaye managed a small smile before she turned back to Greeley and stepped onto the escalator leading down to the baggage claim area.
“We’re stuck in The Twilight Zone,” Ten muttered.
“She’s your mother,” Ronan mumbled back. “I just came along for the ride because we’re going out to dinner.”
“Shit like that’s gonna get you kicked out of your house if you’re not careful,” Kevin pointed out. “And you know who’s sleeping in our spare bedroom, right?”
Ronan turned to Ten. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
“Nice save, Columbo.”
***
“Greeley, tell me more about this grinch-popping you’re doing with the turkey tomorrow,” Kaye asked when they were finally settled into Kevin’s SUV and were heading north toward Salem.
“It’s spatchcocking, Grandma Kaye,” he laughed. “It’s this thing the big-name chefs on The Food Network do where they cut out the backbone of the turkey and flatten it out.”
Kaye frowned. “Young man, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Think about a book that you open in the middle and lay flat. After I cut out the backbone and flatten it a bit, I’ll put a super-secret, fresh herb mixture under its skin and it will cook on the grill for a few hours.”
“What’s my role in the Thanksgiving festivities?” Kaye sounded excited to participate.
“Chief dragon in charge?” Ten volunteered.
“I heard that,” Kaye said from the backseat. “I don’t know why you think I’m the enemy here.”
“Neither do I, Mom. I must have imagined the last thirteen years.” Ten went back to staring out the window and watching the scenery roll by.
“Has everyone picked up or downloaded their copy of Twilight?” Greeley jumped in. “It would be awesome if we could start reading together tomorrow night after dinner. Maybe we could take turns reading the first chapter out loud?”
“I downloaded it, but are you sure this book isn’t going to scare the pants off me?” Kaye reached over for Greeley’s hand.
“You know how to download books, Kaye?” Ronan turned around from the front seat to look at his mother-in-law.
“Yes, Ronan. You all told me that if you bought me the technology that I had to learn how to use it. Greeley and I have read a few books together since you all left Kansas.”
“I think that’s wonderful, Kaye. What have you read?” Fitzgibbon looked up at her in the rearview mirror.
“We read Jurassic Park and Pride and Prejudice. The dinosaurs scared me, however, Mr. Darcy was delightful.”
“I also enjoyed the witty banter in P&P,” Greeley agreed. “It’s a shame that letter writing is a dying art.”
“You write beautifully, Greeley.” Kaye patted his hand.
“Twilight Zone,” Ten whispered.
“What was that, Tennyson?” Kaye asked sharply.
“I said Twilight, Mom. Ronan and I need to download our copies. We’re joining in the book club too.”
“Me too,” Fitzgibbon chimed in.
“It will be fun discussing the book with everyone, right, Kaye?” Greeley elbowed her.
“Yes, Greeley.”
“Wasn’t there news you had to share about Union Chapel?” the teenager prodded.
“You’re a very tiring young man to spend time with.” Kaye sighed. She patted the left side of her hairdo.
“Uncle Tennyson is going to want to hear this news.” Greeley reached up to squeeze Ten’s shoulder.
“You mean you didn’t tell him?” Kaye sounded shocked.
“It’s not my news to tell.”
“Hmm.” Kaye crossed her arms.
Tennyson prayed for patience. His mother could give stubborn lessons to a pack of mules. Of course, he already knew what the news was. Kaye and Greeley were both broadcasting it like a fifty-thousand-watt radio station, but he’d keep his mouth shut until one of them said it out loud.
“I had a chat with Shelly Brinkman.” Kaye shot Greeley a dirty look that asked if he was satisfied now.
“That’s great, Kaye!” Ronan said.
“Yeah, well someone had to water my tree,” she grumped. “According to the book I downloaded, it wasn’t going to survive without me for a month.”
“You mean the bonsai tree we gave you?” Ten asked. Shelly Brinkman had been Kaye’s best friend back in Union Chapel, but they’d had a falling out over Kaye’s feelings about Tennyson being gay. Kaye reaching out to Shelly was a step in the right direction. A step Ten hoped his mother would be extending in his and Ronan’s direction.
“The bonsai tree my grandson gave me,” Kaye insisted, sounding more stubborn than ever.
Ten set his head on Ronan’s shoulder and prayed Kevin would drive faster.
“Tennyson!” Kaye half-yelled from the backseat.
Ten didn’t have the energy to move. “Yes, mother.”
“I thought you said you and Ronan were working on making me a grandmother too.”
Ten pulled his head off Ronan’s shoulder. They both turned around to look at Kaye. “Are you serious?”
“Well, I’m not getting any younger. I like babies.”
For lunch? Ten couldn’t help but wonder. “We have an appointment at the clinic on December 4th.”
“Good, I’ll come with you,” Kaye announced as if her word decided the matter.
Ronan turned to look at his husband. “Twilight Zone!” they said in unison.
31
Ronan
Ronan and Tennyson were still sleeping when their doorbell rang early Thanksgiving morning. Groaning, Ronan rolled over and cracked an eyeball open to read the alarm clock.
“What the hell,” Ten muttered.
“It’s 6:30am. I’ve got one guess who’s ringing the doorbell and it ain’t the Avon Lady.”
“It’s the dragon lady,” Ten giggled, just as the doorbell rang again.
Dixie barked from her dog bed and scampered out of the room.
“Okay, I’m up.” Ten stumbled out of bed and grabbed his tee-shirt from off the edge of the bed.
“I’m right behind you.” Ronan didn’t even bother to comb his fingers through his hair. If his mother-in-law wanted to ring the doorbell at zero-dark-thirty then she deserved to pay the price.
“Mom!” Ten announced when he swung the door wide. Dixie ran between his legs and kept barking at
the newcomer. “Dixie, you remember Grandma Kaye. Be nice.”
“Awww!” Kaye practically squealed and scooped up the tiny dog. “Hello, love muffin. I missed you. Why do the two of you look like you were still sleeping.” Kaye walked past them into the house carrying Dixie.
“We were sleeping, Mom.” Tennyson raked his fingers through his hair.
“Whatever for? There’s work to do!”
“We’re only making side dishes, Kaye. Everyone else is making turkeys.” Ronan scratched his stomach and headed toward the kitchen. He was going to need coffee, and a lot of it. He’d never seen his mother-in-law first thing in the morning. If she was one of those bright-eyed and bushy-tailed nut-jobs then he was going to need some octane.
“I’ll make the coffee, babe.” Ten patted Ronan’s shoulder. “Mom, if you open the sliding door, Dixie can go out and do her morning duty.”
Kaye raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Her morning duty? Are you a soldier, cutie pie?”
Ronan snorted. “Kaye, if you open the sliding door, Dixie can go out and take a piss and a shit. How’s that?”
Kaye’s nose wrinkled. “Okay, Dixie. Time for your morning duty. I think Grandma will come too so your Daddy can wash his mouth out with soap.”
When the glass door slid shut behind Kaye, Ronan burst out laughing.
“You’re awful. You know that, right?” Ten giggled.
“Did you see the look on her face when I said shit? It looked like she had a mouthful of it.” Ronan slapped a hand on the table, making the salt shaker jump.
“Ronan…” Ten warned.
“I know, babe. She’s here. That means she’s trying to get along with us. It means we need to try to get along with her.” Ronan pulled his husband into his arms. “It’s a day for giving thanks. I, for one, am thankful for you and this family we’ve built from the ground up.”
“Me too,” Ronan agreed. “I’m still stunned that she wants to come to our baby appointment in two weeks. Greeley must be weaving some kind of magic.”
“I certainly hope there is no magic going on in this house!” Kaye said as she led Dixie back into the house.
Tennyson started to laugh. “The only kind of magic going on here, Mom, is the metaphorical kind. Can I make you a cup of coffee?”
“Yes, thank you. Dixie was a good girl out in the yard.”
“I’ll get her breakfast while Ten gets the coffee started. Kaye, what kind of Thanksgiving meals did you make when Tennyson was little?” Ronan grabbed Dixie’s water dish and brought it to the sink to wash out and refill.
“Thanksgiving was always a day of service for us. We’d drive out to one of the larger churches over in Severance that had a food pantry and we’d help prepare the meal. Tennyson was usually on potato peeling duty and then I would cut them up and man the boiling pots of water. David was one of the turkey carvers. We’d both help out in the serving lines too.”
“Ten didn’t help serve the meals?” Ronan shot his husband a questioning glance.
Ten shook his head. “No, they always kept the kid helpers in the kitchens so that we wouldn’t recognize any of our classmates. It was bad enough for the adults to know who among the congregation needed a hand up, but it would have been hell on the kids…” He trailed off.
“Bullies suck!” Ronan set Dixie’s food and water dishes in their usual spot. “Breakfast is served, Dixie, my little pixie.”
“While I don’t agree with your language, I do agree with the sentiment, Ronan,” Kaye agreed. “After the meal was over, we’d all pitch in to clean up and our treat was to have Chinese food at the Coral Dragon.”
“You didn’t eat any of the Thanksgiving fixings at the food pantry?” Ronan asked curiously.
“Oh, heavens no!” Kaye shook her head. “The hardest luck cases knew that if they stuck around or came late, that not only would they get their Thanksgiving meal, but we’d box up the leftovers for them in those Styrofoam take-out containers too. That food was for the needy. We would get a turkey breast and make a Thanksgiving dinner the week after. We’d have mashed potatoes and gravy and cornbread. I think that was Shelly’s recipe, Tennyson.”
Ten nodded. He set mugs of coffee down in front of his mother and husband before returning to grab the cream and sugar. “I love that recipe. Shelly sent it home with us. Ronan can eat the entire pan by himself. We’re making it today.”
“Ten says I have to share.” Ronan was not happy about that development, but he figured there would be plenty of food to fill up his belly.
“Why are you here with us, Mom. Why aren’t you chilling with Greeley?” Ten set a boxed coffee cake on the table and passed out plates.
“Boy wonder is working this morning. Cassie opened her bakery until 10am for last minute Lucys who need a pie or cupcakes to bring to their gathering. It looks like a nice place from all of the pictures that Greeley’s sent me.”
Ronan exchanged a silent look with Tennyson who raised an eyebrow in return. “You know, the bakery is only a five-minute ride from here, Kaye.”
“Kevin had mentioned that. Why are you telling me this, Ronan?” Kaye gave him a suspicious look.
Ten sighed. “If you give us a minute to change and clean up, we could take you over there so you could surprise Greeley.”
“You mean my grandson could wait on me?” Kaye looked enchanted by that idea.
“I think we could arrange that.” It struck Ronan in that moment that Kaye kept referring to Greeley as her grandson. He vividly remembered a conversation from a little over a month ago where Kaye pointed out that neither he, Ten, nor Fitzgibbon were related to Greeley by blood and now here Kaye was considering herself a member of the boy’s family. She’d certainly come a long way.
He could almost say the same thing about her relationship with Ten, if there weren’t that pesky thirteen-year gap in the middle. He supposed what was important now was that Kaye was here and making an effort. “I’m gonna run upstairs and change. Come with me, Nostradamus. We’ll pick out matching shirts.”
“Surely the two of you don’t need to be that cute. Do you?” Kaye called after them.
“What’s your game?” Ten asked when they got to their bedroom.
“Just another step in the process.” Ronan pulled his tee over his head and shucked out of his sleep pants. He walked to the closet and pulled out a faded pair of Levi’s.
“What process is that?” Ten joined him in their walk-in closet and grabbed for pants of his own.
“When Kaye was here for our wedding, she didn’t want to see things that were part of our life and that included the bakery and the shop…” Ronan trailed off hoping Ten would see where he was leading.
“You think she might want to see where I work?” Ten sounded dubious.
“I think if Greeley offers to show it to her then anything is possible. Maybe if she sees that the Magick shop isn’t filled with ghosts and demons and God knows what else she thinks she’s going to find in there, it will be one less thing for her to fear about your life and your gift.”
“What do you mean fear?” Ten narrowed his eyes before slipping into his shirt.
“It’s all about semantics, babe. Think about the word crystal, right. It sounds new age and mystical, but when you see it’s just a rock, that takes some of the magic out of it, doesn’t it? A dream catcher is just feathers and twine. A tarot is really just a deck of cards with pictures. It’s all a matter of perspective and vocabulary.”
“And belief,” Ten said, as if he’d never looked at it from that point of view before.
“Exactly. Maybe that’s all Kaye needs is a different point of view. Greeley has been good at giving her that with other things. Finish changing. I’m gonna call Truman and see if they want us to pick them up coffees or muffins.” Ronan smacked a kiss against the side of Ten’s head.
“Ronan!” Ten called.
“Yeah, babe?” He turned back to see a happy look on his husband’s face.
“If I forget to tell you
in the madness of the day, I’m thankful for you.”
“That’s goes double for me, Ten!” Ronan meant it. No matter what the day had in store for them. It was their first Thanksgiving as a married couple.
32
Tennyson
The line for the bakery was out the door when Ronan drove past it. They ended up having to park around the corner.
“Is the bakery usually this busy?” Kaye asked from the backseat of the Mustang.
“No,” Ten said. “Cole mentioned to Cassie that it would be a good idea to open for a few hours this morning for people who needed things at the last minute. It was Bertha’s idea, actually.”
“Carson and Cole’s dead mother thought opening the bakery would be a good idea?” Kaye asked, one eyebrow was raised so high, it almost escaped into her hairline.
Instead of answering, Ten hopped out of the Mustang and pulled the seat forward to help his mother out.
“Bertha is a brilliant businesswoman,” Ronan said. “She was the one who opened and ran West Side Magick all by herself after she kicked her husband out. She was a single mother raising two small sons and running a fledgling business at the same time.” Ronan offered his mother-in-law his arm.
“Don’t you mean Bertha was a brilliant businesswoman?” Kaye asked.
“No, Mom. Bertha is still very active in everything that goes on in the shop and here at the bakery.” Ten held the door open for his mother and husband when it was their turn.
“Oh, wow!” Kaye sounded impressed when she got her first view inside the bakery.
Ten could smell coffee and pumpkin pie. He could go for a slice right now, barring that, he’d love a pumpkin muffin. Cassie made the best muffins in town and they were the size of a softball. Ten’s attention was focused on his mother who was trying to catch a glimpse of Greeley over the heads of the other customers in the store.
When they got closer to the counter, Kaye pulled her iPhone out of her purse and tapped on the camera.
“Look at you, Kaye. You’re an expert at this.” Ronan laughed.
“Greeley was very persistent in teaching me how to take pictures to send to him. Especially selfers. I don’t know why he needed to see a picture of me every day, but he insisted.”