He selected a cookie and bit into it, the buttery crispness dissolving on his tongue—not overly sweet, with a nice kick of vanilla. It was a damn good cookie.
“You know what I mean. Obsessive research, relentless phone calls, and frequent drive-bys are not going to work here. It will only result in a restraining order.”
He picked out another cookie, then held out the container to Lucy. She shook her head no.
“I know how to court a woman.”
“It didn’t look like it. I don’t expect you to be a chick magnet like me, but what I witnessed was embarrassing for our entire family. I’m happy to give you some pointers.”
“I’m good.”
Ray hadn’t dated in over a year—not since his last disaster of a relationship had ended. He’d been too focused on caring for Uncle Harry and getting The Otter Club off the ground. Now that the supper club was going well, he had time to think about other parts of his life. Meeting Sabrina reminded him that he had come for another reason, too. Uncle Harry had always spoken about the people in the Dells as if they were dear friends, people he could borrow the proverbial cup of sugar from at any hour of the day, people who watched out for one another. Not just friends, but neighbors.
He ate another cookie.
It was time to be more neighborly.
3
Sabrina shoved their bag into the trunk of her car while Arabella, the eldest of the trio, helped get the younger kids strapped in. She hadn’t stopped to put on her flip-flops, and the warm blacktop rapidly approached blistering temperatures. The shower at home beckoned her, a siren’s song so beautiful it would make Josh Groban give up singing forever.
By the time Sabrina was buckled, Molly had materialized next to her in the passenger seat, wearing a crisp white cotton shirt with high-waisted navy-blue pinstriped pants, her hair wrapped in an elegant matching turban. Sabrina could only yearn for that shower.
It had been too much: the margarita, the handsome man with his crabby swim trunks, and Molly shouting encouragement at her from behind him. On a scale from one to ten, her anxiety teetered at a full eight.
Deep breath. Belly out. Belly in.
She had to get them all home.
“What an adorable meet-cute,” Molly said. “Hollywood couldn’t write a better one. A damsel in distress, a knight with fluffy towels. Take him up on the drink.”
“I’m not going to have any drinks with anyone. This isn’t open for discussion.”
“Who are you talking to, Aunt Sabrina?” Arabella asked from the middle seat in the back. She was the only one old enough to use a regular seat belt without a car seat and was the de facto leader of their little cousin gang, a born dictator and future princess. She kept the younger cousins occupied and having so much fun they never noticed she made the rules. The other two flanked her from their own thrones of safety, Lilly in her small booster and Oscar in his enormous car seat.
“Molly.” Sabrina left the waterpark parking lot and merged into traffic.
All three perked up. They loved anything to do with the family secret. She had been that way once, too.
“Tell her we say hi,” Arabella said. The other two nodded their agreement.
Molly peeked over her shoulder and waved.
“She’s waving hello.”
“I’ll get to see her first, won’t I, Aunt Sabrina?” Arabella said. She scratched her arm that itched from the drying chlorine. They hadn’t taken the time to rinse off, so they would all need showers when they returned to her parents’ house.
“Probably, but Lilly and you are pretty close in age, so she might beat you.” Not to mention that no one in the family was sure if Arabella came from her brother’s DNA or Cal’s, so she might never get to see Molly. When they’d used a surrogate, they had agreed to never find out whose sperm won the race—though Arabella’s amber eyes were just a little too much like her own for them not to be related.
“It happens at pew-berty,” Lilly said, drawing out the first syllable. Arabella nodded in agreement.
“When will I get to see her?” Oscar asked, squinting at the empty seat next to Sabrina, trying to see what he never would.
“Oh, honey, you won’t. Only girls can see the ghosts,” Sabrina answered.
Oscar scowled.
“I want to be a girl.”
Sabrina laughed and Molly giggled.
“Times have changed. No boy would have ever said that when I was breathing.”
“Give him a few years. It’s still a man’s world.”
Molly tucked one of her curls into her turban. Some days they bounced around her earlobes, other days they curled like vines down her back, but they always looked perfect. Molly might be dead, but she liked to look good.
“Arabella says I’ll only see ghosts when we visit Grandma and Grandpa,” Lilly said.
“That’s true,” Sabrina answered.
“Aren’t there ghosts in Minnesota?”
“Yes, but another family helps them. Our family helps the ghosts here with their unfinished business. Other families help in other places. That’s how it’s always been.”
“Where do they go when you can’t see them? Do they sleep?” Arabella asked.
Sabrina smiled and took a moment to sort out her reply. Since leaving the waterpark, she’d focused solely on what she needed to do next, then the next step, then the next step. Collect the kids, wrap them in towels, get to the car, don’t drop anything, and drive. She didn’t want to process what had happened lest the mortification send her into a spiral. She tapped her hand on the back of her phone, eager to disappear into the news and other people’s problems, but that would have to wait.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, Molly,” Sabrina said. “Being visible takes energy, so when Molly wants to rest, she disappears, but she’s still there. Molly can go anywhere within a certain distance.”
“She can see me in the bathtub?” Oscar asked.
“She would never,” Sabrina said.
“Depends on the cutie. Like that Ray might get a visit,” Molly said with a wink.
“Why don’t you live here, Aunt Sabrina?” said Lilly.
Sabrina licked her lips—they tasted like cheap tequila.
“Because Grandma does such a good job, and you’ll be able to help her soon.”
Sabrina glanced in the rearview mirror to see Arabella squinting at the front seat, trying to force her eyes to see what they weren’t ready to. She wanted to grow up so badly, but Sabrina wanted to tell her it wasn’t all adventure and excitement. Kids were mean. She would be different. Though, unlike Sabrina, Arabella thrived on separating herself from the pack. She hoped that continued.