Daniel held out a hand and Julian came around the far side of the booth to perch on Daniel’s knee.
“Snakes, Jules. It was definitelysnakes,” Daniel insisted.
“Are you sure? Because I really thought—”
Daniel leaned across the table toward Liam and me, “So sad. Denial is a powerful thing. Surely you remember, babe. The viper that got loose. And laid eggs.”
Julian’s lips pursed and he was visiblyvibrating,probably with the need to insert some obscure animal fact that would make this improbable taleimpossible, but instead he nodded slowly. “That’s… yes. Silly me.Vipers in the heating duct. It slipped my mind.”
“So have you called someone else? Animal control? Or the police?” From the look on his face, Liam obviously suspected everyone in O’Leary wasinsane, rather than just insanely meddlesome.
“Obviously.” Daniel squirmed in his seat. “As any reasonable people would.”
“And?”
“And what?” he hedged.
“Andwhat did they tell you to do?” Liam said impatiently. “How will they get rid of the snakes?”
“Oh, that.” Daniel hesitated. He looked blankly at Jules, Jules looked blankly back at him. “Julian tells the story better than I can. Fill them in, baby.”
I recognized the moment when Julian found himself trapped and decided to go all-in. “They suggested we, um.” He coughed gently. “Charm them out.”
“Charm them? Like withmusic?” Hazel’s eyes were wide.
“Mmhmm. So Daniel’s learning to play the pan flute.” He coughed again. “Those snakes will be gone… any day now.”
“I’d hate to hear whatunreasonable people would do,” I said to no one in particular.
Daniel buried his face in Julian’s back and his whole body shook. Julian patted his arm comfortingly. “He gets embarrassed,” Julian whispered to Liam and me. “His flute playing is…” He tilted his hand from side to side. “At best.”
“Hey!” Daniel’s face emerged from behind Julian, his eyes wet and his cheeks red. “I’ll have you know I have never had a complaint about my flute playing! Admittedly, I’ve only ever played the one flute.”
“It’snotabout the number of flutes you play,” Julian said solemnly. “It’s about how often you practice.”
Daniel poked Julian in the ribs, making him laugh. “At leastIcan reademojisintextmessages!”
“Are we still talking about snakes?” Hazel wanted to know.
“As much as we ever were,” I told her dryly. To Daniel and Julian, I suggested, “Maybe you should run along and play Pied Piper now?”
“Good idea,” Daniel agreed, pushing Julian to his feet. “Just… to avert a public health situation. Hey, Gideon, you have plenty of room in that big, old house of yours. Couldn’t they stay—”
“No,” I said shortly.
“Sorry, guys,” Jules said, looking anything but. “Um. If you need a place to stay, maybe check with Silas and Everett? Ev has an art studio over their garage he might let you use!”
“Who are Everett and Silas?” Liam asked, looking tired and more than a little shell-shocked after Julian and Daniel left. “And what are the chances they’re having a plague of locusts? Or a sewage leak? Or hosting a convention of platypuses?”
“High,” I snorted. “Very high.”
“Is everyone around here just super unhelpful to newcomers?” Liam demanded. “I don’t get it.”
“No! No, not at all.” I paused and thought about it. “Okay, yes, sometimes. But with you, it’s more like they’re trying to ensure you never leave O’Leary.”
Liam’s eyes widened.
“No, no. Not in a serial killer way. More like… more like… think of the cheesiest rom com you’ve ever watched and multiply it by a dozen Santa wannabes.”
