Page 26 of Clouded by Envy

A tickling sensation filled her stomach as she replied, “I’m ready.”

With her hands gripped between his, together they swung the mallet back to strike the ball … and missed. The ball went around the metal loop instead of through it.

“Oh. Come. On!” Luca sighed and hurried over, brushing Wes to the side with the tip of his blue-striped mallet, then dragged the green ball back with it. “I guess it’s time for the master to help the lady out.”

“I think so, too,” Bray joked, laughing as she turned to Wes, who was watching them with a genuine smile on his face.

Luca wrapped his gangly arms awkwardly around her, his head somewhere just above her midback. Swinging the mallet backward together, they struck the ball, and it went beautifully through the hole.

Pulling away from her, Luca snapped his fingers and pointed the index ones at Wes, eye partially in a wink. “It takes a master, Wes—only a true master.”

An eyebrow drew upward on Wes’s forehead. “Let’s not get cocky now.” He lifted his wrist up to check the time. “Anyway, you better hurry and get ready if you want to go.”

“Yes!” Luca said excitedly and rushed inside.

Turning to Bray, Wes said, “I’m still surprised he wants me to go with him. He’s getting to that age where he’s going to want to do everything with his friends and without me.”

Bray doubted that would happen.

“You are a really good brother, but you’re more than that. I’ve only seen you two together for a short while, but you’re his father, his mother, his friend, his disciplinary, and his heart. It’s beautiful.” She meant every one of those words.

“I think you just made me feel sappier. After our parents died, it was hard at first. We had our grandpa who was able to step in, and I worked part-time with him at his landscaping company while I went to college. When the heart attack hit him, I—I had to drop everything. My focus has only been on Luca—is on Luca.” His voice broke, and she caught his eyes becoming glassy. He rubbed a hand against the back of his neck and changed the subject before Bray could respond. “You know you’re welcome to come tonight.”

She wanted to ask Wes more questions about his life, but instead, she just grinned and started to help put away the croquet set. “Luca is ahead of your game, he already asked me.”

Wes dropped the balls in the black bag. “I’m surprised he didn’t ask you to dress up, too.”

“Oh, he did. He wanted me to be Tinkerbell.” Bray laughed.

“You should have told me. I could have picked something up for you.”

“I got crafty while I was alone today and made wings with coat hangers and pantyhose.” The hanger took a while to curve just right, but eventually she accomplished it.

“Where did you find the pantyhose?”

“I have all kinds of treasures in the tree hole.” Bray couldn’t remember where she had found them. It might have been the garbage, but they had been unopened.

A mixture between a frown and confusion crossed Wes’s face. “If you consider that a treasure, I need to find you some better things.”

Bray scurried away and climbed up the tree to find the dress for her costume, since she didn’t want to morph outside in the open.

Looking down at the ground, she saw Wes had moved closer to the tree, and watched her with what may have been a little worry.

“Couldn’t forget this.” She held the tiny green dress she had cut earlier down toward his face. It was much easier for her to cut a small dress than a large one.

Once inside the house, she headed to the bathroom, changed to her bat size, switched clothes, and then returned to her human form.That was easy, she thought.

Bray found the flat shoes by the front door that Wes had gotten her the other day from Walmart—which he had said was a step up from the flip-flops. Then she grabbed the wings from the coffee table, put them both on, and waited for the boys.

Luca strolled into the room with his hair slicked back and a little poof in the front, bags of feathers in hand. “Can you help me with these? I can’t put them in right.”

The costume almost exactly matched the character in the movie—tight black shirt showing some skin, ripped black pants over red leggings, red shoes, some type of vest with fringe, and a necklace that resembled bones. “You look great, Luca. Now, turn around so I can work on this hair.”

Following her instructions, Luca held up the bags of feathers, his hair rock hard from a little too much hairspray.

She began lining the feathers down the right side of his head, then moved toward the middle, followed by the left side. “I think we are going to need a little more hairspray to keep them in place.”

Carefully, she pulled him in the direction of the bathroom to make sure he didn’t move his head. Taking the can of hairspray, she spritzed way more than she probably should have, but at least they were glued into his hair now.

---