“Trying to decide where I want the lights to go before the guys get here. I think we string them up the columns and then line the railings before we add in the cobwebs to make it very haunted house like. Do you have a fog machine to make it spooky for the kids?”
“Um…I don’t think so. I’ll text Dylan to find one, though. He’ll know where to look.”
“What do you think so far?” I sweep my hand around the porch and front yard. It looks like a graveyard. The inside is still a work in progress, but I chose to do the outside to not have to chit chat with everyone all day.
“It’s amazing. We’ve never done anything except hang a few things and string some lights. I can see why you want a fog machine.”
“As soon as I’m done, I’ll come inside and…”
“No, we’ve almost got that done. If you want, you can help me make some things for the party tonight. I was going to attempt do some kind of baking.”
“I can do that. Do we have everything we need?”
“Um…not sure?”
“Let’s go on in and we’ll see what we need.”
“Are you done out here?”
“Yeah, pretty much. All that’s left is the lights and the guys can do that. I tend to obsess over my decorations and change very little anyway. I can obsess in the kitchen instead.”
“Did anyone go to the store for the baking supplies?” Jenny yells out when she enters the house.
“I did!” I forget the girl’s name. I’ve only met her once in passing.
“Did you get enough, though?”
“Maybe?” She shrugs and goes back to carving her pumpkin.
Jenny shakes her head and starts poking through the pantry. She sighs heavily. “One bag of flour does not equal enough, Lisa!”
“You just said to get stuff for baking. I got stuff for baking.”
“Let me see.” I gently brush Jenny aside and look through the pantry, the cabinets and the fridge. “How many people are you having over?”
“From the time we open the doors until we kick everyone out…it could be a couple of hundred.”
“I need a pen, paper, and we are going to need several hundred dollars.”
“You hear that? I want a fifty from everyone!”
“I don’t have fifty,” Mary, the girl from the basement says. “I can do twenty. That still leaves me enough for gas to get to work this week.”
“That’s fine, Mary.” Jenny smiles gently at her. “The rest of you, I want money!’
While Jenny hassles everyone for money, I start making a list. This will keep me busy the rest of the afternoon and then I’m handing out candy. After that, I’m upstairs in the quiet of my room.
Today might not be so bad after all.
CHAPTER 29
Hutch
It has beenthe fucking day from hell. But it’s also been the most amazing day in the world. Contract was signed less than an hour ago at 7:45 pm. We arrived at the Raptor’s arena at eight this morning and we didn’t leave until eight tonight. Mom was my first call and Daisy my second, but she didn’t pick up the phone. She’s probably at the party by now. I let Jenny know it’s her birthday so I’m confident she will have incorporated that into the party in some way shape or form. And it means she won’t have been alone all day on her birthday.
The entire front of the house has been transformed into a spooky graveyard complete with eerie fog. I’ve been to the parties here for the last two years and they’ve never gone all out like this for any holiday. It’s fucking sick. I bet it was Daisy. She did say she loves Halloween and not just because it’s her birthday.
I park my Jeep across the street, grab Daisy’s gift, and then high tail it to the house, barely remembering to hit the button to lock the Jeep. The music is blaring and I look around for my girl,but the bodies are pressed so tight together, it’s hard to move. No way she’d be in here, so I force my way through the crowd to the kitchen, but no Daisy. Where the fuck is she?
