affairs,” Mr. Tom grumbled. “I was storming the gates when his parents were in diapers.”
I nudged him with my foot, hoping my mom hadn’t noticed.
“I am hurrying, miss. Please, have patience,” he responded, clearly misreading that nudge. “There are fine things in this house.”
“How about you, Austin?” my mother said, sounding like she was continuing a conversation no one had started.
“How’s that, ma’am?” Austin asked, stepping up to the corner of the island, his arm brushing mine.
“You’re a handsome young man. Do you have a woman nailed down yet?” she asked.
“Mom,” I said through my teeth. I knew where this was going.
“Not yet, ma’am,” he answered.
She clucked her tongue. “Well, isn’t that a shame. Such a well-mannered, handsome man with no attachments.” She shook her head. “Yes, such a shame. Does your mother have as hard of a time setting you up as I do with Jessie? I swear, everyone I mention isn’t good enough.”
“I live five hours away from all of them, Mom,” I said, staring daggers at her. “I’m just taking a little me time after the divorce.”
“I’ll never understand this new emphasis on me time. Back in my day, if you had a bump in the road, you just got on with things, right, Tom?”
Mr. Tom finally pulled out a crystal set. “Yes, madam, on that we can agree. I have repeatedly told the miss that she must get back out there. She has had a few failed dates, not strictly her fault, but that is no reason to give up.”
“Yes. Exactly. My, isn’t this beautiful? Jacinta McMillian, when did you get such beautiful dishware?”
I didn’t bother correcting her on the last name. She’d never acknowledged the name change before; it seemed less than likely she’d start now, which was actually preferable. I didn’t really feel a connection to it anymore, anyway.
“It was left over from the last owners,” I said. “Most of this stuff came with the house.”
“Such a steal.” She finished transferring the items into the new bowls and pushed them into the center of the island. “Though I did see a couple cracks forming in the TV room.” She waved her hand at the far wall. “Must be the plaster or something. The plaster is coming off. I just pushed on it, and it seemed to click back into place, so that’s good.”
I widened my eyes, looking at Mr. Tom. His brow furrowed. Could she be talking about the secret doors? They were innocuous enough to look like cracks in the wall when they were popped open. What else could it be? But why was Ivy House opening the secret doors for them?
“I better get a bowl for your father,” she muttered into the suddenly still room. “He won’t want to come all the way in here to get it, and I doubt all these young people with good hearing want to go into that room with the blaring TV. They’ll be deaf in an hour!”
“Let me, madam.” Mr. Tom reached for the Tupperware of clam dip, prepared to scoop some into the smaller dish he already had at the ready.
“No, no, I have it, don’t worry.” She shifted, throwing her shoulder against his arm, knocking him out of the way. I’d never seen her so pushy. “Anyway, Jessie, you have a handsome young man right there. He looks about your age. You two should go out. What are you waiting for?”
“We can’t, Mom. We work together.”
“What, on the woods stuff? That’s not really work. You don’t have a boss. I don’t think it’s a problem.” My mom took the bowl from an increasingly hostile Mr. Tom and spooned some of the thick white dip into it.
“I do owe you that date,” Austin said, watching me pull the chip bowl closer and grab a ruffled chip.
“You going to try that stuff, alph—Austin?” Ulric asked. Jasper leaned over the island, watching.
“When in Rome…” Austin reached for a chip.
“There, see? A date is a great idea. You two seem like you get along.” My mom beamed.
“It’s just as friends,” I said, my voice tinged with warning, hoping my mother would just drop it. I wasn’t so sure a date, even as friends, was a great idea. Not after that episode outside. When it came to Austin, my brakes weren’t holding up as well as I would like. “Anyway, Mom, what about the dolls?” I said. “You can’t leave those things lying around the house. Wait…did you leave the door to the doll room open?”