“Oh, no!” I moan, chasing after him. “You’re leaving.”
“I have to. The time is growing near. Come, my dear. I’ll escort you back to Greystone. They must be worried, wondering where you’ve gone to.”
I try for a joke. “Sure, why not? There’s nothing like being escorted by a ghost on Halloween.”
“Or out taking a stroll with a witch.”
We walk slowly. “I’m going to miss you, Archie,” I tell him.
“I’ll miss you, too, Vanessa. Mayda is my granddaughter, but you’re my friend. My dearest friend, after all that we’ve shared.”
I nod. “Thank you, Archie. And I will encourage Daddy and Aunt Mayda—but maybe not yet. For now, I promise not to give them a hard time.”
“Fair enough.” Archie laughs. “I shall miss our little chats.”
“Me too. And I’ll miss your recipes.”
“Really?” He sounds pleased. “In that case you’ll be happy to know that Elizabeth jotted some down in the journal you found earlier today.”
“You were watching us!”
“I’d nothing better to do,” he admitted. “And I’m delighted you found Elizabeth’s journal. Mayda will be happy to have it.”
“Oh, Archie!” I exclaim. “I could hug you!”
“Hug Mayda and Robby and your father.”
I stare wide-eyed as Archie fades into the night. “No!” I cry. “Not yet!”
“Good bye, Vanessa. I wish you a long and happy life.”
Tears stream from my eyes as I walk toward the mansion. I’m not looking where I’m going, and so I walk into a bush. I stumble backward. Someone catches me from falling.
“Careful!” Daddy says. I wipe my eyes and look up at him. Even in the dark, I can see my father’s as bent out of shape as he’s ever been.
“For God’s sake, Vanessa! What are you doing, wandering out here on your own? I was about to call the police.”
“I—I just needed some air,” I tell him, sniffing.
He puts his arm around me. “That wasn’t very smart, coming outside without your jacket. You’re shivering. Do you want to catch pneumonia?”
“No.” I keep my face down so he won’t see I’ve been crying.
“Hurry inside. They’re about to start judging the costumes.”
“Oh, Daddy.” And I’m off and crying again, the kind of gut-wrenching sobbing I haven’t done since Mom’s funeral.
“Now, now, Vannie.” Daddy holds me close. I feel the beating of his heart, the stubble of his chin as he rubs his face against my forehead. So familiar and soothing. “You don’t have to be in the contest if you don’t want to. I only hoped you’d win a prize because—because I’m so proud of you.”
I sniff and look up at him. “You are? What for?”
“What for? For the way you’ve been looking after Robby and cooking, and seeing to it that we’re still a family.”
“Oh.” I sniff again.
Daddy hands me his handkerchief. I use it to blow my nose and wipe my tears. He takes it and puts it back into his pocket. It strikes me that only a parent or someone who knows you forever would take back a dirty handkerchief and put it back in his pocket.
We walk in silence toward Greystone. When we get to the three broad steps, Daddy stops. “I know I haven’t been pulling my weight, but I will, honey. From now on, I will.”
I nod.
“Vannie.” He clears his throat. “One more thing.”
I wait. “You’ve made it pretty clear that you’re not too happy about my, er, friendship with Mayda. I want you to know that I won’t—that is, you and Robby come first and—”
“It’s okay, Daddy, if you two want to—” I take a deep breath, “date.” There! I said it. “You know I like Aunt Mayda, but this is different. It takes getting used to.”
Daddy laughs. “That goes for both me and Mayda. It’s weird how it just happened to us. Like catching the flu.”
I shrug. “It’s not so weird, if you think about it. After all, you and Aunt Mayda are good friends. And you both love MG. It’s even kind of normal.”
“Normal?” Daddy says it as if he’s checking out the water at the beach. To see if it’s warm enough to go swimming. “I suppose you could put it that way.”
I’m about to start up the steps, but Daddy doesn’t move so I don’t, either.
“I want to make it clear there’s nothing serious between Mayda and me, Vannie. We want to get to know each other better.”
“You mean date,” I say. This time the word comes out easier.
“Right.”
We climb the three steps to Greystone. I stop and look at Daddy. “I feel like I’m getting back to normal.”
“I’m glad, honey.” He smiles. “I’m kind of getting there myself.”
“In that case,” I say as he reaches for the door knob, “can we move back to our house?”
Daddy shakes his head. “Not that house, Vannie. I’m sorry, but I can’t live there again. We’ll buy another house not too far away.”
I’m disappointed, but not really surprised. “Soon? I really hate the cottage.”
He laughs. “So you’ve told me often enough. We’ll start looking next week.”
“Really?”
“I promise.”
Daddy opens the door. I hold my ears. From all the shrieking and clapping, I know they’re choosing the best costumes.
“Ready to join your fellow witches and monsters?” Daddy shouts over the noise.
“Ready as ever,” I say, and step inside.