Fairy Bad Day(39)

“Er, yeah. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.” Emma reluctantly stepped out of the cool autumn evening into the warmth of the house. Curtis followed.

“Don’t be silly, you’re not interrupting anything,” Olivia assured them before ushering them into the living room, which had once been papered in sky-blue stripes but had now been painted a pale yellow, while the old comfy sofas that Emma had bounced on as a child had been replaced by stiff brown leather ones. As for the floor, the white carpet that she remembered had been ripped up, and in its place were polished hardwood floors and large Turkish rugs.

“You’ve redecorated?” Emma felt a lump form in her throat as she tried very hard not to notice that her mom’s antique console table was no longer under the window and there were no signs of the silver-framed photographs that used to sit on top of it.

“Oh yes, I forgot you haven’t been here in a while. I know there’s still two months to go, but we thought we’d better start making the house baby-proof. Do you like it?” Before Emma was forced to answer, her dad came into the room.

“Ah, so you haven’t been eaten by swamp monsters. I was starting to wonder when I didn’t hear back from you.” He crossed over to her as he undid the frilly apron that he insisted on wearing when he cooked.

“Hey, Dad. Sorry I haven’t been in touch. I know I promised I’d call every day after the accident. It’s just, well . . . it’s been a weird week.”

“Well, at least you’re here now,” he said as he hugged her before stepping back so he could inspect her face. “So how’s the eye? I see the patch is off, which is a good sign. Does it still hurt?”

“No, it’s better now,” Emma hastily assured him, feeling guilty that she kept forgetting to return his calls. Despite how awkward things sometimes felt, she knew he probably had been genuinely worried. Then she realized her dad was looking at Curtis with interest, and she reluctantly nodded toward him. “Anyway, this is Curtis. He goes to Burtonwood with me.”

“Ah, the dragon slayer. Olivia told me she met you at the mall.” Her dad held out his hand. “So have you had any luck with a kreplin yet? Most of the time I’m happy to be sight-blind, but I must admit when Emma’s mom used to talk about the green kreplins, I had a longing to see them for myself.”

“Hey, Mr. Jones.” Curtis stretched out his hand. “I actually managed to slay my first kreplin the other day. As you can see, it left me with a souvenir.” He nodded down to his cast, and her dad instantly lost his easy smile.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Curtis.” He started to frown. “Any parent who has a child at Burtonwood worries about injuries. Thankfully, except for her sore eye the other day, Emma’s been lucky.”

“I’d hardly call it lucky. I just haven’t had anything decent to slay,” Emma mumbled as she picked up a weird-looking plastic thing on the mantel and started to fiddle with it before realizing it was actually a blue baby toy that said IT’S A BOY across the front. She instantly put it back down and tried not to think about the fact that she was going to have a half brother.

“Well, call me an old-fashioned sight-blind civilian but I’d rather you be safe than injured,” her dad merely said before shooting her a hopeful glance. “So can you both stay for dinner? Olivia always teases me that I make too much food, but the advantage is that there is always plenty for extras.”

Emma shook her head. “Sorry, but we’re kind of in a hurry. We have a taxi waiting outside. Actually, the reason I’m here is because I need to look at some of Mom’s books. Is it okay if I go up to the study?”

“Oh.” A flash of guilt ran across her dad’s face. “Do you mean all the old ones with the brown leather covers?”

“Yes.” She croaked as a stab of panic raced through her body. “Why? Is there a problem?”

“It’s just—Well, we decided to turn the study into a nursery.” He shot her an apologetic look. “Right now the only books in there are of The Very Hungry Caterpillar variety.”

“And you have no idea how long it took him to set up the crib,” Olivia teased as she put an affectionate hand on his arm.

“Hey, those things are hard to do,” her dad protested as he returned her embrace, and Emma stared at them in horror.

“S-so what about Mom’s things? You didn’t . . . ”

“What?” He looked at her blankly for a moment before shaking his head. “Oh sorry, honey, I didn’t mean to scare you. Of course I didn’t throw anything out; they’re just up in the attic. Do you need them right away?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of important,” she said, just as a timer went off in the kitchen.

“Bill, I’ll check that and you can go get the books for Emma,” Olivia suggested in a sunny voice before heading for the kitchen while her dad went upstairs.

“Are you okay?” Curtis whispered to her when the room was empty. “You went a little pale for a minute.”

“I’m fine. I was just worried they threw out my mom’s books and then we would be back at square one.”

“Why would they throw them out?” Curtis looked surprised.

“Same reason they’ve changed the furniture and put away all the photos.” Emma shrugged as she glanced around the room and tried to connect it with the home she had once known. “Out with the old and in with the new, I guess.”