Page 127 of Lyrical

After digging his grubby hands through the bowl several times, the tinman asked, “Do you have any licorice?”

Shoving the bowl at me, she said, “Oh! I do. Hold on. Be right back.”

I shook my head, rolling my eyes. The shiny little fucker seemed a little ungrateful if you asked me. They were getting monster-sized candy shit, and it wasn’t good enough?

Jills returned, dropping a large package into his bag. To top it off, he didn’t even say thank you. When he turned to leave, I said, “Hey, Tinboy. What’s the magic word?” He stared at me blankly. He should have been the one without a brain. “It’s thank you.”

“Thank you,” he finally muttered. Jesus, it was like pulling teeth.

I shut the door and Jills stood glaring at me with her arms crossed. “Was that necessary? Just let them be. It’s Halloween.”

“That’s no excuse for shitty manners. You’re too damn nice.”

She placed the bowl on the table and began resticking peeling window decals. I’d just plopped back down on my usual spot when the front door pushed open, making me almost shoot to the ceiling.

“Chase.” Jills rushed over from the other side of the room. He stepped fully inside, a jug of something in his hand, and she grabbed it and put it by the cauldron. “Aww, you remembered. Thank you.” She looked at me. “Fog juice. We’re running low.”

“Right.”

Chase pulled her in for a long hug like he hadn’t just seen her that morning. “You’re welcome.” After kissing her first on the mouth, he gave her belly a kiss. Something he always did. “How are my girls doing?”

They’d recently found out they were having a girl. I liked surprises so I’d talked Stephen into waiting. That wasn’t what he would’ve chosen, but he did it for me.

Fuck, I miss him.

“We’re doing amazing,” she said, “and can’t wait for more kids to come.”

“We’ll get started on that as soon as our daughter arrives.”

She laughed and pushed away, batting him on the chest. “I meant the trick-or-treaters.”

“I like your costume.” Of course he did. Her boobs looked ginormous.

“And you need one.” She stroked his face. “I’ll have to figure something out.”

Oh fuck. I noticed that look. “No, Jills. You are not dressing him up like some Chippendale’s dancer.”

They both looked over at me and the doorbell rang, causing her to jump away and get the candy. She smiled big. “I wonder who we’ll have now.” She pushed open the door. “Aw, look at you, sweetie. Perry, it’s a little cowboy. He’s even riding a horse. And we also have a… unicorn?”

“Dinosaur,” the kid said.

“Right. Dinosaur. Well, you’re adorable too.”

I watched out the window as they left. “That is totally a unicorn, Jills. Dinosaur, my ass.”

She laughed. “It doesn’t matter, Perry.” She glanced around. “Where’d Chase go?”

“I’m getting the music going,” he called from the other room. “You don’t have any playing.”

“Damn, I knew I forgot something,” she said.

I noticed a truck pulling into the driveway. “Are you expecting Daniel?”

“No. He’s going to a party tonight. Why?”

“Because he’s here.” I sat up straighter. “And holy fuck, Jills. He’s got a girl with him.”

“Really?” She darted over and nearly plowed me down to spy out the window with me. They were both heading up towards the house dressed in 20s costumes. Flapper and gangster. Her eyes popped wide. “Do you think….” she whispered.

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