Page 77 of The Big Easy & Other Lies
“We didn’t go to that room,” I said, indicating the door at the end of the hall.
“I kind of forget about that. That’s Angelique’s project room. She does all her capstone stuff in there, but she keeps it locked.”
The two days a week that Angelique showed up in seminar, I never saw her working with any fabric. She sketched or drafted patterns, but that was it. I’d assumed she was working on them in private like I was, but probably for different reasons. She probably wanted her pieces under wraps for dramatic effect. For me, it was purely pragmatic. I didn’t want to attract any more attention than I already had, and I definitely would if word leaked out about the edgy feel of my Urban Renewal looks. As much as I could have used the extra time at school, I didn’t need prying eyes while I tried to make the outfits work.
“A whole workroom,” I said. “I’m jealous. I kind of want to gnaw through the lock and check out her set up,” I said.
“I thought your new machine was working out,” he said, surprised.
“It’s amazing. I can’t believe how much faster it is to get stuff done now that I can sew at home, too.” I reached over to graze the door nearest us. “But it would be nice to have one of these to close, so I don’t have to listen to Delphine hack away.”
He grimaced. “The medicine isn’t helping?”
I shrugged. “Apparently, this is the kind of thing that doesn’t get better. It’s just the kind of thing that the meds keep from getting worse for a while.”
“Did you see that those ceramic cats sold for almost a hundred dollars?” Play-by-play of the eBay status on the items we’d posted had become a regular part of our conversations.
“Yeah. It was so hard to get Delphine to agree to put those up. I thought for sure that they must have come from a friend or something, but no. She admitted she had bought them at a yard sale because they reminded her ofLady and the Tramp.”
“Why does she need the statues if she can pop the DVD in and—never mind. I forgot who we were dealing with for a minute.”
“Exactly.”
He pulled me against his chest for a quick hug. “You want to go downstairs and play hide-and-seek with Angelique?”
“That sounds delightful.”
He laughed and led the way, stopping every now and then to stare around corners and throw me meaningful glances over his shoulder. “All clear,” he said.
“Ha ha. Make fun if you want. It won’t be so funny if Angelique sees me.”
He rolled his eyes. “Stop worrying.”
I remained unconvinced, but he humored me and threaded a path through the crowded hallway. “Let’s go out through the study. Aunt Cecilia hired an event company to turn the pool house into a spook alley. I want to check it out, and then she can say hi to you.”
We crossed the lawn and I nearly slammed into a fairy who had gotten one of her spiked heels caught in the grass. I skirted her and tried not to laugh. “Since when do fairies wear four-inch heels?” I whispered to Rhett.
“Not to be a pig, but there are worse holidays,” he said as a busty blonde in a skimpy “nurse” uniform tottered past us toward the house.
“Pig,” I said.
He grinned. “What? There’s lots of stuff for you here too.” He nodded at a muscly guy bare-chested in a toga. And a gorilla mask.
“I don’t even know what that is. A Greek monkey? I’m confused.”
“I think he’s commenting on his future as a frat boy chauvinist. Or else he’s showing off his pecs and disguising his identity so he can commit a pumpkin-smashing vandalism spree later.”
“Multi-tasking. He’s smart,” I said, as the ape lurched to the left and splashed the contents of his red cup all over himself. “So smart.”
“Guess he found the special punch,” Rhett said. “Special punch for a special guy.”
The gorilla head swiveled to face us, its blank eyes staring us down. “Your aunt is the real witch, Hawker,” it said, before lurching off toward the house.
Rhett glanced past the drunk Greek monkey and his eyebrows rose. “I guess I should have dressed up in shining armor because I think I’m about to need it. I better go see what that was all about.” I followed his gaze to where Mrs. LeBlanc, dressed in a witch costume, stood outside of the spook house, angrily waving her hands like she was battling a bee swarm.
“What’s going on, Aunt Cecilia?” he asked.
She whirled and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him. “Rhett! I was about to send for you. And Camille, honey, I’m so glad you’re here,” she said, while crushing me into a giant hug against her chest. “I so wanted to sit and visit with you, especially now that you’re dating this handsome nephew of mine, but I have got a situation here. You come on by for supper some night this week, you hear? I’ll keep my dear daughter in line.”
