Everly looked over at her father who was lining up his shot. “Fuddruckers.”
“Fuddruckers is a bad word?” Cannonball asked looking surprised.
“It is the way my father says it.” Everly laughed and focused on her father.
Ronan struck the ball and it sailed up high, hitting the T-rex, mid-chest. It ricocheted back and hit him in the head. “Fuddruckers, that hurt!” he shouted, rubbing the red mark, while Wolf chased after the ball.
Tennyson grabbed his husband’s arm and tugged him away from the start point. They spoke in low tones for a few seconds with Ten patting his shoulder. He rolled his eyes when Ronan’s back was to him.
“What did they say?” Cannonball asked.
“Well, I’m not supposed to listen in on their conversations, but Daddy said that now isn’t the best time to teach every kid in Niagara a new word. CJ’s gonna say it all the time. He thinks my Dad is pretty neat.”
“Why is that?” Cannonball asked, sounding more sad than curious.
“Because my dad loves to play and laugh with us. When we’re at home, Dad is the Fly Piper, all the kids want to hang out with him.”
“The Fly Piper?”
“Yeah, you know the story where the man blew a horn and led the kids out of town.” Everly giggled and ran to the start position and set her ball up for her shot.
“She’s gonna hit a hole in one,” Cope said, when Cannonball moved to stand beside him.
Everly pulled back her club and took a swing. The ball rolled straight under the T-rex and fell into the hole. “Hole in one!” Everly bounced into Ronan’s arms. He swung her high above his head as he warbled the chorus to “We Are the Champions.”
“Is he always like that?” Cannonball asked.
“Annoyingly so.” Cope grinned. “Ronan was still working for the Boston Police Department when Everly was born. He actually took paternity leave so he could stay home with the baby and after going back to work for a few days, decided to retire so he could spend more time with her.”
“Wow, that’s really something. He must have had the best dad when he was growing up.”
Cope shook his head. “Actually, Ronan’s father left the family before he could walk. He was raised by his mother, who never remarried.”
“If he didn’t have father to mentor him, how did he learn to be such a good Dad to Everly?” Cannonball sounded stunned,as if he really couldn’t believe someone could be a good parent without a role model.
“He mostly followed Everly’s lead. When she got interested in Disney princess movies, he learned all the songs and bought the dolls to play with together. When she started speaking to spirits and having visions, Ronan read every book he could get his hands on, so that he might understand her gifts better.”
“I never thought of it that way. I just always did what I wanted and figured CJ knew that I loved him.”
“You’re the same kind of father that Rooster was to you?”
Cannonball nodded.
“When he died, did you know that he loved you?” Cope hoped the stubborn man would see his point.
“No.” Cannonball’s mouth fell open. “So you’re saying that if I die tomorrow, CJ won’t remember that I loved him?”
Cope shook his head. “No, he will remember things quite differently. That his father thought fame and trying to best his own father were more important than he was.”
The blood drained from Cannonball’s face. He looked as if he were about to faint. Cope led the man to a nearby bench. “My father hated me. Hated that I was a gay psychic witch who didn’t want to run his natural gas business alongside him.”
“You’re a witch? They’re actually real?” Cannonball’s eyes were so wide that Cope was afraid they’d drop out onto the ground.
“Yeah, we’re real. I’m a fifth generation legacy witch. My mother’s family fled France several hundred years ago to escape being burned at the stake. I know some spells that would knockyour socks off, including one that would give you a fear of the water.” Cope waggled his eyebrows.
“Did you do it or cast it or whatever?” Cannonball asked, looking strangely excited.
“No. You need to make this decision on your own. If not, you’ll just try this again and we won’t be here to save your dumb ass.”
