“Or that some of their next-door neighbors were really Earthbounds and not humans,” I added with a wink. “By the way, speaking of demonic neighbors, Mrs. Marsh was asking about you yesterday. Let me know and I’ll hook you guys up … I’m just sayin’.”

He patted my shoulder. “My dear, if the good Lord has helped me to resist temptation this long, I assure you that your Mrs. Marsh would not be the thing to send me over the edge.”

15

I knocked on Lon’s door at five till nine, still contemplating Father Carrow’s fairy tale; it worried me.

“Hi,” Lon said upon opening the door.

“Hello yourself. Is my date ready?”

“He’s getting his jacket. It’s supposed to get cooler tonight.”

“You’re awfully spiffed up.” Not really, but he was wearing a short-sleeved button-up shirt that wasn’t covered in stains. Nice jeans, chunky silver belt buckle. His wavy brown hair was neatly tucked behind his ears, and a couple of seconds after I noted all this, the front of his neck darkened. Then I observed that he was blocking the doorway.

When he didn’t answer, I glanced behind me toward the gravel driveway. There were two cars parked, one of them being the black truck he’d used to haul the hematite powder over to my house. The other was a small blue sports car, but I just figured it was his. I had no idea how many cars he owned. But now …

“I’m sorry,” I said, stepping back a foot. I was pretty certain I was out of his empathic range. “I didn’t realize you had company.”

“Tell her I’m coming, Dad! I can’t find my jacket.” Jupe’s voice carried like the west wind from the upstairs balcony inside the house. When Lon turned to answer him, I caught a glimpse behind him into the house. At the far end of the living room was a tall blond woman wearing a curvy, dark green sleeveless dress and heels. She was holding a wineglass and looking at a picture on the wall. Lon noticed that I’d seen her and moved to block the door again.

“Oh.” I took one more step back. Our eyes met, and I knew immediately that he knew I was trying to get out of range. I didn’t care, as long as I got there. “Gosh, Lon,” I said. “A little free time on your hands, and you’ve already got a model lined up, huh?”

“She’s not a model.” His voice was deliberately hushed, almost a whisper.

I shrugged. “Long legs, pretty face. Might as well be.”

“She’s a photography rep.”

“Regardless, I’ll try to keep Jupe out as long as I can to give you guys time to … whatever.” I tugged my purse higher up on my arm and crossed my arms over my chest as I gave him a sugary smile.

Stupid, stupid girl. There I was thinking that just maybe, possibly, he might have been showing a spark of interest on the phone the day before, but I was obviously wrong. Though I was accustomed to being the rejector, not the rejectee, I reprimanded myself for even entertaining the notion that any silly attraction I had for him might be mutual. Like Jupe had told me, Lon probably didn’t think of me that way. Too young.

“I’m not dating anyone. It’s not a date,” Lon argued in a low voice. By now, the redness in his neck had darkened and was creeping upward in splotches. Wasn’t a date, my ass.

“None of my business.” I spoke as nonchalantly as I could manage, keeping my eyes low as Jupe ducked under his father’s arm and burst through the door.

“I’m ready!” he announced gleefully. “Let’s go so we can hit the snack bar before the movie starts—come on!” He grabbed my hand to tug me across the graveled driveway.

“Enjoy yourself,” I said to Lon before succumbing to Jupe’s pull and turning away. It wasn’t until we were halfway down the cliff that I realized I’d completely forgotten to tell Lon about Father Carrow’s theory.

I was still stewing about Lon’s date when Jupe and I found a parking space at the drive-in a few minutes before the movie was supposed to start; we’d already made a quick trip to the concession stand and had loaded up with popcorn, Cokes, and three kinds of candy. Revenge is sweet, right? Well, I was going to have the damn kid bouncing off the walls with a stomachache when I took him back home later.

Jupe showed me how everyone else had backed into the parking spaces with their trunks facing the screen so that they could sit outside the car with the radio tuned to a station that played the soundtrack to the movie. A few people had even set up portable lawn chairs and small hibachis. Since we didn’t have chairs, we popped the back door to the rental and stowed the rear seats in the floorboard to make some room, then sat in the back with our feet dangling against the bumper.

“So, who was that chick your dad was seeing tonight?” I asked, unable to stop myself from prying.

“Huh? Who knows. Someone from work. I tried to check her out but she was kinda snotty and talked down to me.”

“I bet he has a ton of women from work come over.” I hoped he wasn’t realizing what I was doing.

“Not really. He says models are nothing but trouble and that he’d never date another one again. Crap, I almost spilled my Coke. That was close.”

Best not to keep prying. The kid was smarter than I thought. “So … do all the other people in your class like these old movies?” I asked, not really knowing what kids his age were into these days.

“Are you kidding? Me and my friend Jack are the only people with taste. Everyone else is into those dumb Hollywood action flicks they play at the newer cineplex down in the Village. They only show those kind of movies here on the weekends. All the good stuff like this is during the week.”