could either caress you like a long-lost lover, elevating you to gastronomic raptures, or they could blindside you, leaving you reaching for the nearest beverage with enough bite to resurface your tongue. Oddly, she couldn’t seem to tell the difference herself.
It was a gamble, but since the pizza looked stale enough to shatter if I dropped it, I decided to risk the casserole. Peeked under the tinfoil. Leaned over it, into the fridge. Sniffed cautiously.
“Don’t do it.”
I jerked upright, banging my head on the freezer compartment’s door. Spun around to find James studying me.
“Ow. Geez, don’t sneak up on me like that.” I rubbed my scalp vigorously, trying to dilute the pain.
His eyes smiled. “I wasn’t sneaking. You were merely too preoccupied to notice my arrival.”
“Huh. Well, you could at least update your fridge. Maybe get one that doesn’t attack.”
He shrugged. “Sorry, but I have better things to spend my grant money on. Besides, this refrigerator is perfectly adequate for my needs.”
“So is this one of Mom’s, um, more interesting recipes?”
“Yeah. I’ve been throwing it out one serving at a time, in case she comes and checks on it. She gets suspicious if the whole thing disappears too fast.”
I grinned and closed the fridge. “You always were the smart one. So, did you pass Billy on your way?”
“Billy’s out? When?”
“Just a little while ago. He popped in, said good-bye, and took off. Wouldn’t say where he’s going, only that he had to disappear for a while.”
“Oh, boy. Thomas is going to—”
The door to the lab crashed open, rattling beakers and test tubes, and wrenching the resident orang from her peaceful sleep directly into a tornadic frenzy.
“Where is he?” Thomas thundered. He has a moderately deep voice normally, but when he’s mad he can give Metatron a run for his money. That was him now—the Voice of God, in full wrath mode.
“Who?” I said, though I had a pretty good idea, and ducked out of his way, running after Molly. She was dragging the afghan behind her, scattering video game disks and empty soda cans as she spun her way through the alcove like the Tasmanian Devil. If she made it to the lab proper, James’s temper would be a match for Thomas’s, and two roaring brothers was more than I could handle.
“For God’s sake, Thomas, what are you yelling about?” James said, spreading his arms to block Molly.
“ Billy. Where is he?” Thomas ignored the three of us and stalked through the lab, looking behind every freestanding counter and in every cabinet.
I grabbed the trailing end of the afghan and yanked it, pulling Molly, who refused to release it, toward me. “Will you just calm down for a second?” I said to Thomas. I was about to execute my brilliantly improvised plan of throwing the afghan over Molly’s head to catch her when something must’ve tipped her off. She sidestepped at the last second, clinging relentlessly to her security blanket, and circled me, cocooning my legs in hideously crafted yarn. I was on my ass in two seconds flat, eye to agitated eye with Molly, propping myself up with my hands on the floor behind me, one of them resting in a half-finished carton of Rocky Road.
“Argh!” I said. “ Stop! Everybody just stop .”
Miraculously, they did.
Molly blinked, yawned, and crawled onto my lap. I sighed and patted her back. Since I’m nice, I used the hand not covered with Rocky Road.
“Now then,” I began. “Tell us what is going on, Thomas. Try to use your courtroom voice,” I added, earning a brotherly glare.
He took a deep breath. Lawyer-like reserve washed over him in a deceptive wave of calm. “Billy left his holding cell. Unofficially.”
“He told me the judge let him out,” I said, seeking to calm the troubled waters. Thomas probably didn’t know about the judge’s daughter.
“Yeah? Well, if he said that, he lied.”
“Actually, he didn’t so much say it. It was more like he
It was a gamble, but since the pizza looked stale enough to shatter if I dropped it, I decided to risk the casserole. Peeked under the tinfoil. Leaned over it, into the fridge. Sniffed cautiously.
“Don’t do it.”
I jerked upright, banging my head on the freezer compartment’s door. Spun around to find James studying me.
“Ow. Geez, don’t sneak up on me like that.” I rubbed my scalp vigorously, trying to dilute the pain.
His eyes smiled. “I wasn’t sneaking. You were merely too preoccupied to notice my arrival.”
“Huh. Well, you could at least update your fridge. Maybe get one that doesn’t attack.”
He shrugged. “Sorry, but I have better things to spend my grant money on. Besides, this refrigerator is perfectly adequate for my needs.”
“So is this one of Mom’s, um, more interesting recipes?”
“Yeah. I’ve been throwing it out one serving at a time, in case she comes and checks on it. She gets suspicious if the whole thing disappears too fast.”
I grinned and closed the fridge. “You always were the smart one. So, did you pass Billy on your way?”
“Billy’s out? When?”
“Just a little while ago. He popped in, said good-bye, and took off. Wouldn’t say where he’s going, only that he had to disappear for a while.”
“Oh, boy. Thomas is going to—”
The door to the lab crashed open, rattling beakers and test tubes, and wrenching the resident orang from her peaceful sleep directly into a tornadic frenzy.
“Where is he?” Thomas thundered. He has a moderately deep voice normally, but when he’s mad he can give Metatron a run for his money. That was him now—the Voice of God, in full wrath mode.
“Who?” I said, though I had a pretty good idea, and ducked out of his way, running after Molly. She was dragging the afghan behind her, scattering video game disks and empty soda cans as she spun her way through the alcove like the Tasmanian Devil. If she made it to the lab proper, James’s temper would be a match for Thomas’s, and two roaring brothers was more than I could handle.
“For God’s sake, Thomas, what are you yelling about?” James said, spreading his arms to block Molly.
“ Billy. Where is he?” Thomas ignored the three of us and stalked through the lab, looking behind every freestanding counter and in every cabinet.
I grabbed the trailing end of the afghan and yanked it, pulling Molly, who refused to release it, toward me. “Will you just calm down for a second?” I said to Thomas. I was about to execute my brilliantly improvised plan of throwing the afghan over Molly’s head to catch her when something must’ve tipped her off. She sidestepped at the last second, clinging relentlessly to her security blanket, and circled me, cocooning my legs in hideously crafted yarn. I was on my ass in two seconds flat, eye to agitated eye with Molly, propping myself up with my hands on the floor behind me, one of them resting in a half-finished carton of Rocky Road.
“Argh!” I said. “ Stop! Everybody just stop .”
Miraculously, they did.
Molly blinked, yawned, and crawled onto my lap. I sighed and patted her back. Since I’m nice, I used the hand not covered with Rocky Road.
“Now then,” I began. “Tell us what is going on, Thomas. Try to use your courtroom voice,” I added, earning a brotherly glare.
He took a deep breath. Lawyer-like reserve washed over him in a deceptive wave of calm. “Billy left his holding cell. Unofficially.”
“He told me the judge let him out,” I said, seeking to calm the troubled waters. Thomas probably didn’t know about the judge’s daughter.
“Yeah? Well, if he said that, he lied.”
“Actually, he didn’t so much say it. It was more like he
Similar Books
