Page 15 of Samhain

“How are you affording this?” she murmured.

“Miri’s my friend, Mom,” I said. “She’s helping me.”

She narrowed her gaze and nodded, but there was something else behind that expression, something she held back, something she wouldn’t hold back forever.

I followed Miri and my sister outside, sitting at the table where Miri and I had spent the morning preparing lunch. We both liked to cook for ourselves. In fact, the kitchen was one of the places we’d bonded. Today, I’d made finger foods and a light salad to refresh us in the summer heat.

“What’s it like to live in a castle?” Lizzie asked, hanging on Miri’s every word.

“Amazing,” she said, playing into her childlike wonder. “But sometimes, it’s creepy.”

“Really? Why?”

“They’re haunted.” Lizzie gasped, and I chuckled, meeting Miri’s stern gaze. “You think I’m teasing, but I’m serious.”

“Haunted?” I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “Lots of terrible people did horrific things in those walls, Carter.”

I pursed my lips. “No argument here.”

“Have you ever seen any ghosts?” Lizzie widened her eyes.

Miri shook her head. “Not me. But my cousin, Edward, swears he saw Henry VIII once.”

“Really?” Mom cut in as she took a drink of her water. “Where?”

“Whitehall,” she said. “Edward stayed there a lot as a teenager.”

“Was he as mean as everyone claimed?” I asked.

Miri laughed and took a sip of lemonade, smiling in that charming way of hers. “Worse. He walked into my aunt’s room while she was showering.”

That made my mother and Lizzie laugh.

“What a pervert, right?” Miri added.

Lizzie giggled, her crooked twelve-year-old grin tugging at my heartstrings. I’d missed her more than I realized, and now that she and Mom were here, I found myself grateful to be around family again. Eventually, the conversation drifted, and somehow Lizzie conned Miri out of her old clothes.

“I think I still have some boxes around here with things that will fit you.”

“I wasn’t serious,” Lizzie cut in.

“Thank you, Miri,” Mom said. “But I couldn’t?—”

“Oh, please. I haven’t worn them in ages. I’d rather them go to someone who will use them.” Miri stood and grabbed Lizzie’s hand, dragging her back inside the house.

It was silent for a few moments, but I felt my mother’s stare on me. When I lifted my gaze to hers, she smiled and grabbed my hand.

“I’m so proud of you,” she said.

“I haven’t done anything yet.” I took another sip of lemonade.

“Yeah, but to have the courage to even try?” She shrugged. “I had you when I was nineteen and that was it for my Hollywood dreams.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Do you regret having kids?”

“God no,” she said. “Every day, you bring me such joy.”

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