Phantom of the Library - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,78

conversation outside.

Jake flung open the door. “Ma! Come in! Hey, Grandma…oh, man, did you bring this on the plane? Yum. Dad—‘sup? You look good. Heyy, I didn’t know you were coming, Aunt Liz! The baby is looking huge! Did Uncle Steve come?”

“Naah, he stayed home with the other kids.”

Jasper pulled me toward this unexpected group of people. I saw a big grubby 90s van parked outside. They drove from Massachusetts? Wow.

“Mom, Dad, Grandma Sullivan, Aunt Liz, and baby Sean,” Jasper said by way of a quick introduction.

“Helena! I’m so excited to finally meet you!” Grandma Sullivan gave me a huge hug while Jake took the food dish from her hand. “You’re too pretty for these two!”

“We’ll rough her up before long,” Jake said, as Jasper said,

“Grandma’s the one who made you the birth control.”

“Boys! Is that any way to talk? I’m sorry,” Jake and Jasper’s mom said.

“You look like one of the family to me,” their dad said.

“That’s a nice shirt and oh wow, I love your sweater!” Aunt Liz said to Graham.

“Thank you,” Graham said, giving me a superior look.

I shook my head at him.

“Sorry about the mess,” Jake said. “It’s strange to have you come out to a house we’re working on for Christmas.”

“Sunken living room, huh?” his dad said. “I don’t know. Do they like that in California?”

“I love it,” Billie said. “This is a Frank Pedrewsky original, you know.”

“Ahhh, I see. Well, I guess it’s all right.”

“He doesn’t know who that is,” their mom said dismissively.

“Of course I know who Frank Pedrewsky is!”

“Well, who is he then?”

“He’s the guy that designed this house! I do like the fireplace. That has to be original.”

“You like the fireplace?” I said, as Jake shot me a look that said, If you tell my dad I wanted to get rid of the fireplace, I will never forgive you.

“Gosh, I’m not sure that I shouldn’t have brought Steve with me,” Aunt Liz said, looking at Byron. “You’re the god, right?”

“Demigod. But…basically.” Byron kissed her hand. “There is no harm in looking.”

“Yes, Liz, see, like I was telling you, they opened up the magical world so we can use Ethereal magic now,” Jake and Jasper’s mom said. “You don’t know how much good you’ve done for our community already.”

“I am very glad to hear it,” Byron said.

Their mom shivered a little. “Ohmigod, just his voice,” she said to Aunt Liz, who definitely had to be her sister.

“I know, it’s like an angel.”

“Oh, it’s not like an angel. It could get a woman in some serious trouble.”

“See, if you weren’t wearing that Christmas sweater I bet they’d notice how sexy your voice is too,” I told Graham. “You’re letting Byron show you up like that?”

“I’m okay with not getting hit on by the moms,” Graham said. “It’s seeming like a better idea all the time.”

“So let’s see the rest of the place,” Jake’s dad said. “The kitchen’s not bad. Hmm…” He was obviously looking for flaws everywhere. “Hmm, not bad. So…two master bedrooms? This is the biggest one, I guess. The closets are a little small, but…oh, nevermind. I spoke too soon. That’s nice. I like that.” I could see Jake and Jasper both getting relieved, but then came the grotto, and as soon as their dad went marching up to the pool they both started saying, “Dad! Dad, not too close to the pool—!”

“Why?” he said, as the undine grabbed him.

Well, it made for some interesting dinner conversation anyway.

All around, Jake and Jasper were right. Their family was incredibly welcoming to every last one of us, and while Jake and Jasper might be used to having a big family for the holidays, I wasn’t used to this kind of warmth and lack of judgment in a family gathering, while Graham had never had family like this ever, and I’m sure being a ghost didn’t lend itself to good holidays either. Even Gaston seemed to be unusually merry, putting his arm around Billie at one point.

“So are you kids coming back to Boston?” said the Sullivan father, who told me to just call him “Dad” already (“since I heard you call your parents ‘Mother and Father’, it won’t be weird at all, right?”).

“Actually…,” Jake said. “Hel, I wanted to surprise you with something, but stop me if you don’t like the idea. The rest of us all talked it over already, and we have a feeling you’ll like it too.”

“Oh?” I was getting nervous.

“We want to buy Greenwood Manor.”

“Greenwood Manor!?”

“I know you love