“Ean’s right, Meggie.”
“Don’t call me that.” Her cousin added insult to injury with that obnoxious nickname.
Ramona continued, unfazed. “Doreen’s giving him coffee. He’ll sober right up.”
“Have you seen him?” Megan’s throat ached under the strain of keeping her voice level.
Darius snorted. “There isn’t enough coffee in the store to sober up old Stan.”
Ramona frowned. “He promised me he wouldn’t drink before the reading.”
“He lied.” Quincy stated the obvious.
Ramona’s dark eyes snapped at him. “He said he needed work to rebuild his self-esteem and get off the alcohol.”
Megan took a deep breath. She counted to ten, then exhaled. “How are you going to fix this, Ramona?”
“Me?” Ramona pressed her index finger against her chest. “Why do I have to fix it?”
“Because . . .” Megan pressed her lips together, hating herself for not being able to stand up to her older cousin.
Quincy crossed his arms. “You hired him. You should be the one to fire him, Mona.”
“Don’t call me that.” Ramona gave the group a stubborn look. “Let’s wait and see. Once Stan’s sober, he’ll read to the children. It’ll boost his self-esteem, and your party’ll be a howling success, just as it always is.”
Megan’s skull started to ache. She was sympathetic to Stan. She really was. But Ramona had taken empathy to the edge of reason.
“The parents who brought their children here are on a schedule. So is the store.” Megan checked her red Timex. “The reading is supposed to start in seven minutes.”
“You and your schedules.” Ramona rolled her eyes. “What’ll happen if story time starts late? Will the kids turn into pumpkins?”
Darius bent over, laughing.
Megan thought her head would explode. “How long will it take for Stan to get sober?”
Quincy scratched his chin. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him sober.”
Darius shrugged. “There was that one time we saw him walking into the bar off Vine Street.”
“Oh, yeah.” Quincy nodded.
Megan closed her eyes briefly. “Fine. I’ll take care of it.”
Just as she’d dealt with other messes Ramona had made of her plans. She turned to stomp away, but a firm grasp held her in place.
Her cousin’s sigh was suffering yet irritated. “I’ll handle Stan.” Ramona released her. She adjusted her pointed hat and smoothed her dress.
It really was a great costume. She’d gotten into the spirit of the event, as she always did. The long-sleeved black dress had a neckline that was just short of daring, a figure-hugging bodice and a pencil-thin, ankle-length skirt. The pointed black hat balanced at a cocky angle on her head. Spiders danced at the end of her dangling silver earrings. Skeleton-shaped charms hung from her necklace.
Megan wasn’t the only one who watched her cousin. Quincy’s mesmerized gaze followed Ramona’s every move.
Megan allowed herself to hope. “You’ll take Stan home?”
“Later.” Ramona shook her head. “Keep him in the kitchen, drinking coffee. I’ll take him home after I
read to the kids.”
“You’ll read to them?” Quincy’s voice rose with surprise.