Page 198 of A Dead Girl's Guide to Living
“Great.” Relief flickered across her face. “Um, also, it’s not just Mom and Dad anymore. It’s Thomas as well, and his new girlfriend.”
“Cool,” I murmured, picking up my tea.
“And my grandmother and grandfather,” Ellis continued, gauging my reaction as she spoke, while I noted the casual growth of her dinner list.
“That’s fine,” I told her assuredly.
Ida gave me a wink as Ellis went back to her phone, her energy the same old frantic buzz of anxiety. It was clearly something so deeply built into her—but I liked it. She kept me on my toes, kept things interesting, even if she went a little crazy every now and then.
She was fun to calm down.
The bell above the door jingled, and I set down my tea, looking up eagerly to see who had come in—we’d been a little quiet today, not that the three of us hadn’t had fun together. We’d spent the better part of the day messing around.
My stomach tightened at the figure who walked in—the cocky swagger belonging to no one other than Uncle Bill. My skin prickled at the sight of his smug grin, balding head, and shirt tucked neatly into his pants. He walked in as if he owned the place, regardless of the fact that it was my name on the paperwork.
Ida glowered as Ellis looked up with a frown.
“Well, well, well,” he drawled, his eyes darting greedily around the store. “If it isn’t my favorite little con artist, carrying on the legacy of another con artist.”
Ellis stiffened and set down her phone, her cheeks turning pink as rage filled her eyes, and God damn it if that didn’t make her even more attractive to me.
“What do you want, Bill?” I asked flatly, turning my attention to him and schooling my expression, refusing to give him the satisfaction of pulling anything real from me.
He smirked as he picked up a book on crystals, flicking through it before dumping it back on the shelf unceremoniously. “Oh, nothing,” he said with a smug air. “Just wanted to check in, see if this place was still running. It’s a little quiet in here, no?”
Fool, I thought with my own smug grin. Most of my sales were coming in online now, thanks to Ellis and her content creation skills. She wiped the floor with what I had been doing and created me an online persona I never would have been able to curate.
“We’re closing soon,” I told him sweetly. “It’s often quiet around this time.”
“Hmm.” He ignored my words, scoffing at the deck of cards on the counter as he came closer. His stubby finger tapped the stack, condescension dripping from him. “You haven’t been over to see Margaret’s ashes.”
Bingo.
Joy sparked through me as Ellis coughed and bent back over her phone. Ida busied herself with her tea. I looked at Uncle Bill, knowing full well that darling Margaret had been scattered across the Pacific months ago—and all he had were the contents of her vacuum cleaner sitting inside that expensive urn.
“I’ve been very busy.”
“Mmm. Too busy to see the woman you claimed to love so much?” His voice slipped into a mocking, cooing lilt.
“Margaret isn’t in your house, Bill,” I told him with a shrug. He’d never know just how true those words were. “Margaret isn’t just a pile of dust for me to stare at. She’s in every part of my life. I can see her whenever I want.”
Uncle Bill rolled his eyes and tapped the deck again, his mouth twisting into an ugly scowl as he eyed it with disdain. “This useless crap you let Margaret suck you into.”
“You seem awfully interested in the cards, Bill,” I said gently, shifting my tone and treating him like a customer instead. I leveled him with a flat look. “Do you want a reading?”
He snorted. “The witchy show, eh?”
I laughed as I grabbed the deck, pretending I thought he was funny. His eyes flickered. Idiot. The cards were never a show. They had always been a way for my hands to tell the truth—especially now, when my mouth only wanted to spit at him. I breathed and shuffled.
He didn’t move.
The cards whispered against each other. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ida perk up, watching with interest. Ellis had her arms folded, glaring unblinkingly at Uncle Bill. I reminded myself I never wanted to be on the receiving end of an Ellis Langley glower.
I licked my dry lips, stopped shuffling, drew a card, and laid it on the table. I had to stifle a laugh as his eyes followed it.
The Lovers.
“Oof, well, that’s a little on the nose, isn’t it?” I said airily.
