Page 31 of Big Witch Energy

“I don’t love it, but there’s a certain karmic balance to it,” Mina grumbled.

“This feels weirdly unethical… Isn’t this how that fake pilot in Seinfeld started?” Caroline asked.

“I just need adult supervision while Dad’s working—because again, bad things—and besides, hanging around a bar can only help my new-kid street cred,” Josh told her.

“No,” Ben said, shaking his head.

“What’s Seinfeld?” Mina asked.

“Oh my god!” Caroline yelped. “What have you been teaching this child?”

“I’m not a child. What’s Seinfeld?” Mina asked again, the rosy color slowly returning to her face.

Ben scrubbed his hand over his face, but behind his fingers, Caroline could see the beginnings of a smile. “You know, out of everything that’s happened today, this is the most mortifying.”

“Well, clearly, my first task is pop culture education,” Caroline gasped. “Ben, how could you?”

Both kids looked a little uncomfortable at Caroline’s raised voice, so she decided to dial it back a notch, even if she was just joking. It wouldn’t do to make the kids uneasy when she was apparently going to be supervising them for the foreseeable future.

Wait, did she just agree to be Ben’s nanny?

“Mina likes to read,” Josh told Caroline. “She didn’t make her Netflix profile until we moved to the island.”

“I will make you a watch list,” Caroline told Mina. “And a booklist, because I see how you’re eying my shelves there, girly.”

“There’s just so many of them,” Mina said, making subtle grabby hands toward the sage-green floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that Caroline had installed herself.

Caroline laughed and then regretted it. “My mom’s always said that if this half of the island slides into the lake, it’ll be from the weight of my books.”

It was as if speaking her mom’s name had summoned her. Gert bustled into the house, holding a covered dish with her right hand because her left arm was in a sling. Will and Wally trailed in behind her, empty-handed. Ben’s brows arched as she crossed into the kitchen and preheated the oven.

“Mom, what happened to your arm?” Caroline cried. “Why did I not notice the sling before?”

“Uh, she may have hurt her shoulder when you yanked her out of imminent danger and threw her on the ground,” Mina said, chewing her lip.

“It’s not a big deal,” Gert insisted from the stove. “It’s just a mild sprain.”

Caroline looked to Ben, and he shook his head.

“Should you even be carrying a hot dish around?” Caroline asked, trying to sit up and wincing at the pain radiating up her middle. When was that going to stop?

Gert waved her good arm. “It’s fine.”

“You couldn’t have carried the dish?” Caroline glared at Will, who flopped into an oversized cream-colored armchair while Wally nudged at Caroline’s feet.

“Budge up, will ya?” Wally said, tapping at her uninjured foot.

“Um, no?” Ben said, frowning at him. “She needs to keep that ankle elevated.”

Wally just blinked at Ben, as if he didn’t understand the words coming out of Ben’s mouth.

“Your dad said he’ll be by in a few days,” Gert said, sliding the casserole in the oven.

“A few days?” Mina said, frowning.

“He just can’t see you this way,” Gert told Caroline, ignoring Mina. “Once the bruises heal up a bit, he’ll be ready.”

“I could be back at work by then,” Caroline mused.

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