“I thought so too. As for why she hasn’t told us…” Ten trailed off. Everly’s silence didn’t make sense to him. “We’re going to need to have a talk with her.”
“Agreed,” Ronan said. “Maybe we send Ezzie for a sleepover with Jude and Cope and we take her out for dinner at her favorite place and then come home and talk about all of this.”
“Sounds good to me,” Ronan agreed. He got up from the chair and headed toward the bathroom, pausing after he turned on the light. “She’s not in any danger, is she? I mean if she can conjure the light are there darker things she could also conjure up?”
It was on the tip of Ten’s tongue to tell Ronan that where there’s light, there’s darkness, but he looked scared enough for the moment. “I don’t think so. I’m going to have a chat with the others in the morning though, just to see what they think. I’ll call Madam Aurora too.”
Tennyson was going to need all the help he could get.
17
Ronan
Early the next morning, Ronan was surprised when Spencer Stephens called. He had some things he wanted to talk over and wanted to stop by. Ronan agreed. The sooner they got through the three conditions in Aunt Effy Lou’s will, the better.
Ronan agreed to meet Spencer in Cassie’s bakery for lunch. Surprisingly, Spencer was on time.
“Hey, man. Good to see you.” Spencer held out his hand.
Taken aback by Spencer’s promptness and sudden manners, Ronan shook his hand. “Let’s grab some lunch. Cassie makes the best sandwiches in town. He ushered Spencer into line and gave the menu his full attention. Tennyson was a creature of habit, always ordering the same thing, turkey and Swiss on rye, while Ronan liked to mix things up. “Hi, Cass! Long time no see.” Ronan chuckled at his own joke. The last time he’d been in the bakery was two hours ago when he’d ordered a coffee.
“What can I get you?”
“I’ll have the roast beef sandwich and a cup of the corn chowder.” Ronan turned to Spencer. “Plus whatever he wants.”
“Everything looks so good. I’ll have a tuna sandwich with tomato soup, please,” Spencer said.
Grabbing the tray when the food was prepared, Ronan led Spencer to a booth in the back. Minutes later, they were joined by Fitzgibbon and Jude. “I hope you don’t mind that the others are joining us.”
“The more, the merrier.” Spencer offered both detectives a smile.
“Okay,” Jude said, narrowing his eyes, “who are you and what have you done with Spencer? This is someInvasion of the Body Snatchersshit here.”
Spencer took a bite from his sandwich, looking as if he was buying a little time to formulate his answer. “I did a lot of thinking about things last night and decided that Aunt Effy Lou is trying to help and not hurt me. I actually missed her ragging on me last night. Without her, the house was cold and lonely, which made me see things from her side of things. I’ve been a little shit. Didn’t go to college or trade school because I thought Effy Lou would take care of me forever. Why did I need to get a job when she was paying for everything?”
Ronan was stunned by what he was hearing from Spencer. “It’s great that you took stock of things and when you found yourself lacking decided to make a change instead of going on like you were.” He couldn’t believe those words were coming out of his mouth. He’d thought the process with Spencer was going to take weeks, possibly months. “Do you have a plan on how you’d like to move forward?”
Taking another bite of his sandwich, Spencer nodded. “Yeah, I think so. I always like working on cars with my dad when I was a kid, so I thought I’d look into automotive programs.”
“It’s a good start,” Fitzgibbon said. “Where are you with the three conditions of the will?”
“That’s why I called Ronan. I’ve never donated money to anything or anyone but myself and have no idea what to do. I was hoping you’d have a suggestion or two.” Spencer’s eyes moved between each of the three detectives.
“I might be able to help you with giving your time,” Fitz began. “My husband runs the Tremont Street Mission. It’s a homeless shelter in Boston. I’m sure he would be happy to have you on board for a day, serving food, wiping down tables, cleaning up from meals, or being a listening ear. What do you think?” He pulled out his phone and looked to be typing a message.
“Your husband works withactualhomeless people?” Spencer asked, looking a bit confused.
“Did you think homeless people were fake?” Jude asked, looking as if he couldn’t believe he was asking the question.
“I don’t know. I guess. It never really computed that there were people who actually slept on park benches or what not.” Spencer wore an embarrassed look. “I always had a house to live in, so I guess I just assumed everyone else did too.”
“Jace said he’d love to have you down to the shelter this week. You in?” Fitz asked.
Spencer paled, looking as if he’d bitten off way more than he could chew. “Uhhh…”
“I’ll go with you,” Ronan offered. “It won’t be as scary if you’re with someone you know.”
“Okay, let’s do it.” Spencer still looked concerned over the idea of spending the day at the shelter.
