Page 17 of The Best Trick

“Yeah,” Odin said.

“Both of them?” Thor pressed. “Twenty minutes twice a day, and the progressive relaxation one before sleep?”

“This doesn’t just go away with a snap of the fingers,” Odin barked.

“But if you’d give them a try,” Thor said.

“We’ll see, okay?” Odin snapped.

Thor stared into his coffee. Was Odin even trying the meditations? Thor was a dedicated doctor with exactly one patient—Odin—and he was desperate to help him. Maybe too desperate.

“I bet they would help if you tried,” I said. “We have to find a way for you to sleep with us.”

“After what happened in Rome?” Odin scoffed. “Impossible.”

“Nothing’s impossible,” I said as Zeus strolled in from the veranda.

“About time you losers woke up.” Zeus refilled his coffee and glanced at weary-looking Odin. He, too, was worried about Odin’s sleep issues, but he didn’t want to say anything. Instead, he asked about my vertigo.

“Not much change to report,” I said.

“Mmm,” he said.

I think we were all feeling pretty confident that the vertigo would get us out of any balloon rides, but then, after lunch, Zeus said, casually, “I think we should go into town. I think we should get our disguises and go to town and walk around. I might have found something fun for us to do.”

“What would that be?” Odin asked.

“You’ll see,” Zeus said.

“What do you mean by ‘into town?’” I asked. There were several little towns around, one of them near Harley’s.

“Just into town,” Zeus said.

“Is this our surprise?” Thor asked.

Zeus shrugged.

“Come on,” I begged. “A hint?”

“You guys suck the most. Yes, it is the surprise, okay?” he said, annoyed.

“Is it going to aggravate my dizziness?” I asked.

Zeus frowned. “I hope not. It’s just some walking around.”

“Perfect!” I said happily.

We got into our Newsome disguises and piled into the car. Odin and Thor and I exchanged relieved glances as we headed in the opposite direction from the Harley balloon emporium, eventually heading up along the sea.

Disaster averted!

“Is your vertigo okay with all of this driving?” Zeus asked at one point.

“Way better,” I said. “I think the fresh air and scenery is doing wonders for it.”

Next to me, Thor rolled his eyes. I brushed some of the powder from his sleeve. His old man hair and mustache required a lot of powder. He smiled and his face cracked a little.

Sometimes we argued about which of our Newsome disguises was the most uncomfortable. Odin had the bushy artist beard and man bun hairpiece and shaded glasses, and he often complained that he was hot. I had that stuff that fit around my teeth and made my cheeks different, plus a wig and fake brows—it was a lot! Thor mostly had face makeup and hair powder. Zeus had to wear padding to give him a belly, plus the wig. But please. Cheek puffers!

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