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“She liked me.” Trey’s smile reeked of satisfaction. “She googled me, and decided I might do.”

“Oh God. Sorry.”

“I kind of liked her little-bit-scary style. An interesting evening to be a part of. One thing’s for certain: They all enjoyed it, and each other.”

Cleo came in, dropped down, said: “Whew!”

“Are they settled in?” Sonya asked.

“They are. My grand-mère brought us a box of about two dozen bottles. Witch bottles to hang. Good mojo. And some more white sage cones she made herself, candles ditto. A gorgeous hunk of fluorite, another of rose quartz, a pretty brass gong for when we meditate.

“I didn’t narc on you and tell her you never manage over ten seconds.”

“I made it to thirty once.”

“You’d been drinking,” Cleo reminded her. “Doesn’t count. She put crystals and candles around the apartment before she unpacked her clothes, and my father gave me a list of more plants he tells me we need. My mama just oohed and aahed over everything. She said to tell your mama she’d help with breakfast in the morning.”

“She’s gone up to bed.”

“That’s a damn good idea. I’m going to do the same.”

She pushed up, tossed her hair, then gave Owen her arched-eyebrow look. “Interested?”

“Am I alive?”

He got up, and so did Jones, then the cat.

“Job well done,” Cleo said to Sonya. “See y’all in the morning before a reasonable hour.”

“I’m still a little wired,” Sonya realized. “You might be able to help with that.”

“Bet I could.”

She pulled the tie from her hair, slipped it on one wrist as she ran her other hand through.

“You know what I noticed tonight?”

“There was a lot going on.”

“There really was,” she agreed. “But I noticed just how easily you slid right into all of it. Didn’t take you two minutes. You’re just good with people.”

“It helps to be when you deal with them on a daily basis.”

“Not just deal with. You like people.”

“By and large. Don’t you?”

“By and largefits, I guess. I’m not shy, and I like the interaction. But I’m not sure how I’d deal if I couldn’t balance that with the quiet time. Which I like more than I realized I would when I worked in an office.

“Tomorrow? Really looking forward to it. All those people, all that interaction. But then, I’ll be glad to sock myself back into the quiet and the work.”

“Another reason this house fits you like a glove.”

“You’re right. It does. Everything, one exception, suits me to theground. I loved showing it off to my family. Which gained me Grammy’s very hard-won approval. Louisa.”

“I got it. Grammy, Louisa. Nan, Martha. Granddad, Bill. Grandpa, John.”

“You would get it. And I expect, after meeting your family tomorrow, you’ll also get Grammy’s very hard-won approval, if that matters.”