Page 17 of Thunder with a Chance of Lovestruck

“Wet through her diaper, pajamas, and bedding. Don’t worry. I changed her bedding, gave her a quick bath, put her in a fresh diaper and new jammies, then got her settled in. She’s asleep again, and Torid is with her.”

“Torid?” she asked.

I held up a hand. “Astria called Toirdhealbhach it, and it stuck. He’sinsistingon being called it now.”

“Of course he is. Torid is a perfect name for him.” Amice smiled. “Thank you for handling things, Rachael.”

I winked. “Wishing you’d have taken Astria duty to escape all thefunbeing had down here?”

“Yes,” she said fast. “You missed the fireworks.”

“Nah, I caught a little of it from the stairs and the foyer,” I returned, thumbing in that direction.

Henry was standing near the head of the table where Uncle Nile normally sat. He looked at my outfit. “You went from looking like a hippie to a strumpet.”

Amice jerked, causing her chair to scrape over the floor. “Henry!”

I touched her arm. “It’s okay. I’m used to him. He’s in a foul mood, so he’s going to take it out on everyone. So, right now, he’s channeling our uncle. That’s something Nile would say.”

Henry’s gaze wavered.

I lifted my chin, paying attention to his wife. “If he keeps it up, I’m going to play the song ‘Believe it or Not’on the piano for an hour straight while he’s trying to go to sleep. You know how much helovescurrent music.”

She smiled. “I do.”

“We could force him to participate in a sing-along,” I said with a grin.

Amice chuckled. “Oh, fun! We could theme it around being a family, since I wanted this to be a nice family dinner.”

“The Hunter is not family,” pressed Henry.

I held a hand up, silencing him as I locked gazes with Amice. “Did you hear something? Because if I heard my brother say anything other than he’s sorry, I’m going to take your advice about picking a song about families.” I nudged Amice lightly. “Sister Sledge sound good? You know their song, ‘We Are Family’?”

“Perfect.” Amice smiled widely and put an arm around my shoulder, leaning against me as she did. “I miss having you around, Rachael. You always bring so much laughter into the house.”

Henry groaned. “There will be no sing-alongs.”

“That’s what you think,” I returned, winking at him.

He shook his head but laughed all the same.

I went to him and hugged him before taking his hand. “I know you can’t really carry a tune, so how about a dance-off?”

His eyes widened.

Amice snorted and fanned her face. “His expression right now is priceless.”

“He’sbiginto disco,” I said, doing the point move as I rocked from side to side next to him. “Come on, brother, join in.”

Amice laughed more.

I pursed my lips and batted my lashes. “How about we put on some roller skates and head down to the basement? It’s huge down there. Plenty of room to skate while listening to music.”

Amice squealed with laughter. “Yes! That. I want to see Henry on skates.”

Henry groaned. “You really don’t.”

I grinned. “Come on, big brother. It will besomuch fun.”

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