“And you know how Aunt Irene is when she gets into her work,” Coop continued. “So you need me and Cherise here. We can help each other and help you. For once.”

Toni thought about telling her brother that she was only going into the office to quit the job she was so ill-prepared for, but she didn’t have the heart. He was just so damn proud of himself. She hadn’t seen him look like that since he was ten and was asked to perform for Queen Elizabeth of England in London. Although he did ask Toni later, “Is that the redheaded one?” Then he’d whispered, “Isn’t she dead? Will I be playing for a zombie?” Her fault. She’d let him stay up with her so they could watch Night of the Living Dead while their parents were out of the house, and the babysitter was clueless.

“No,” Toni had explained. “This is that Elizabeth’s, like, great-great granddaughter or something. She was born, like, a hundred years ago or whatever.”

Thankfully Toni’s understanding of history had improved with age.

But whichever Elizabeth that had been, Coop had had a look on his face of pure pride then, and he had the same expression now. It meant a lot to him to help his family.

So although Toni was going to quit this job because she was woefully under-qualified, she didn’t have to tell her brother that. And maybe, if she was lucky, she could find a job better fit for her skills and Coop could spend the summer helping with the rest of the kids.

Hell, if it made her kid brother happy, who was she to argue?

“Thanks, Coop. I appreciate your help.”

“You’re welcome.”

Toni stood, picked up her backpack. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

“Don’t worry about it. I know that new job will keep you busy.”

“Yeah.” Toni started to walk out but stopped. “Can I borrow your phone until later?”

“Sure, but Freddy didn’t take that new one you got apart, too, did he?”

“No, no.” She took the phone from her brother. “But I don’t want to talk about what did happen to it.”

Toni left the room and walked down the two flights of stairs to reach the front door. With her hand on the knob, she glanced back down the hallway and saw Oriana, Kyle, and Troy suddenly dive into the living room. Only Freddy stood his ground. He waved at her, and Toni smiled, winked, and blew him a kiss.

She walked out of the house and stopped when she came face to face with Delilah.

“Are you just getting home?” Toni asked, glancing at her watch.

“Mhmm.”

Delilah tried to move around her, but Toni cut in front of her and asked, “Where have you been, Delilah?”

“Just walking.”

Delilah tried to step around her again, and again Toni moved, blocking her. “Walk around where?”

Slowly her sister raised those blue eyes of hers to look at Toni. “Just around.”

“You’re being careful, right? Manhattan isn’t Seattle.”

“I know.” She gently patted the oversized shoulder bag she always had with her. It kept her drawing pad, notebook, and pencils. It was her ability to draw like artists thirty years her senior that had made Delilah a prodigy. But that wasn’t why Toni still kept a close watch on her eighteen-year-old sister. No. It wasn’t her skills as an artist that made Delilah so unique . . . and they both knew it.

“Don’t worry about me, Toni.” Delilah stroked her fingers gently down the side of Toni’s face, and it took all of Toni’s strength not to flinch away from that touch. “I’m always careful.”

“I know.”

With that soft smile, Delilah moved around Toni and headed inside.

“But it’s not really you I’m worried about . . . is it, little sister?” Toni said to Delilah’s back.

In the doorway, Del slowly turned around, her head dipping down a bit as she focused on Toni. Her smile spread—stretched—into a leer before she closed the door in Toni’s face.

Toni released the breath she always held whenever she attempted to figure out what the fuck her sister was up to.

Deciding she didn’t have time for this, Toni headed down the steps but stopped when she reached the second-to-last step and saw Johnny DeSerio standing in front of the wild dogs’ house and staring across the street. He was a young wolf and yet he wasn’t moving. That seemed strange. Young canines were known for their high energy.

Concerned, Toni waited until traffic cleared and jogged across the street until she reached Johnny.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“My feet stopped moving,” he muttered. “I’ve lost the ability to walk.”

“Okay. But you are standing. Standing is good. So there’s been no damage to your spinal cord.”

Toni moved around until she stood right beside him.

“I see you have your violin,” she noted.

“Do I? Maybe I should leave it inside. I’m not very good.”

“That’s not what my mother says.”

“Your mother is a foolish woman!” he suddenly exploded, and Toni had to move fast to stop herself from laughing. Biting the inside of her cheek definitely helped. When she finally got control, Toni placed her hand on his forearm.

“Would you like to get a cup of coffee with me?”

“I want to hide in my basement.”

“I know, but I think coffee and maybe some breakfast would probably be better.” She tugged his arm. “Come on. There’s a coffee shop down the street.”