Page 13 of Big Witch Energy

“It’s not like he’s donating bone marrow, Mom. I’m pretty sure he’s playing video games in his underwear,” Caroline shot back.

Gert shook her head. “You don’t know that.”

Caroline pulled out her phone and checked Will’s favorite social media app. She showed the screen to Gert, whose face registered disappointment as soon as she recognized Will’s shirtless couch selfie.

“‘Just a chill day ahead, killing beers and shooting zombies,’” Caroline read aloud, her eyebrows arched. “‘Hashtag, Me Time.’”

“Your brother helps in his own way,” Gert insisted. “You know how he is.”

“Unreliable? Feckless?” Caroline suggested.

“That’s not fair,” Gert said, her cheeks flushing red. Caroline was grateful, she supposed, to have at least put some color on her face, even if it was from anger.

“You’re right, he wouldn’t be much more useful if he actually showed up for work,” Caroline muttered. “Could you at least call Wally in?”

“Oh, I don’t want to bother him,” her mother said dismissively as she waved Caroline away from the fryer. “It’s easier if I just do it myself. I can handle it.”

Caroline knew better than to suggest her father come in. Denny had barely stepped out of the house since Chris died ten years before, another Wilton curse statistic. He’d just dropped the bar into Gert’s hands and retreated into his easy chair.

“Mom, you’re getting older,” Caroline said.

“I beg your pardon?” her mother gasped, turning around and wielding her spatula like a sword. Caroline reminded herself that half of bravery was doing something stupid, and the other half was knowing it was stupid and doing it anyway.

“You’re not going to be able to keep this pace up forever, and you’ll have even less time if you keep pushing yourself like this,” Caroline told her. “I can help you, but that help only goes so far because I stubbornly insist on having a life. Ask for help. From the boys.”

“The boys help in their own ways,” Gert insisted.

“What ways exactly?” Caroline demanded. “Challenging your ability to improvise because they ditch work? Keeping the account books balanced by promptly cashing their checks?”

“Caroline, stop it,” Gert hissed. “If you’re so worried about me, you could help out more. You know how to work the griddle.”

“Right, because that’s obviously the more reasonable solution, so much better than asking your employees to, you know, be employed,” Caroline shot back. “Would you at least consider hiring outside help who might actually show up for their shifts?”

“Someone outside the family?” Her mother scoffed. “Where are we supposed to get the money for that?”

“Well, we might be able to take in more money if customers know they have an above-average chance of getting their food,” Caroline muttered, backing out of the kitchen. Her own cheeks flushed red when she saw the expressions on Alice and Riley’s faces. While the other customers were blithely munching on their lunches, it was clear her friends had overheard everything.

“Sorry,” Caroline muttered.

“I think we’ve both established that our own dysfunctional family backgrounds leave us uniquely qualified to understand,” Alice replied quietly as Riley reached across the bar to squeeze Caroline’s hand. Alice balanced it out, placing her hand on top of theirs. Instantly, Caroline felt settled as their magic wrapped around her own and soothed Caroline’s nerves. She smiled at them and reluctantly pulled her hands from theirs before her mom could come out and see that particularly demonstrative waste of time.

“Where is that contractor to distract you from my mortification?” Caroline whispered, searching the bar for an unfamiliar face.

“Yeah, sorry to use your workplace as my conference room, but the fewer potential breaches of Shaddow House, the better,” Riley replied.

“Eh, I’ve met Cole Bishop a few times, when he did the kitchen remodel for your Aunt Nora,” Caroline said. “He’s nice, easy on the eyes. Doesn’t say much.”

“It was before Natalie’s time, so she can’t help much there,” Riley said.

“I still don’t get how construction is going to work, letting a civilian in the house,” Caroline noted.

Riley shrugged. “The ghosts have to choose to show themselves, for non-witches to see them. Plover has practice, keeping the other ghosts under control because of previous construction projects. As for Cole, Plover only said that he was ‘less annoying than Mr. Edison.’ Unfortunately, he said that in front of Edison, which started a whole new thread of conversation, and I had to play mediator between my boyfriend and my British…squirrel father. And Cole has considerable experience working with historical buildings, which is its own construction specialty. Aunt Nora’s journal describes Cole as ‘reliable and unremarkable,’ which makes him invaluable.”

“Which means he may be of use to me,” Caroline said, pursing her lips and waggling her eyes with a speculative sass she didn’t quite feel.

“Don’t use my contractor to release your unresolved high school sweetheart tension,” Riley gasped, though she was laughing. “I need him to stay on task.”

“I may also need him to stay on task!” Caroline retorted.

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