The Skeleton Haunts a House by Leigh Perry Page B

them up, too.”
    â€œSchool books? What are you—? Wait, is Louis right there listening?”
    â€œObviously.”
    â€œOkay. What time should we be over there?”
    â€œSometime this afternoon, maybe one or two. I’ll call when I know for sure.”
    â€œOne or—” I looked at the clock. “Deborah, it’s eight o’clock in the morning. Why did you call me so early?”
    â€œNo, no trouble at all.”
    She hung up before I could tell her what a miserable piece of sacrum she was, so I hung up my own phone and rolled back over, determined to get some more sleep.
    Until I smelled bacon cooking.
    I cannot fathom how anybody could have slept after that tantalizing scent wafted through the house. After five minutes of trying to resist, I gave up, took a quick shower, put on my Saturday loafing jeans and a Boston University sweatshirt, and made my way downstairs to find Phil once again at the stove.
    â€œYou really did miss cooking, didn’t you?” I said.
    â€œTremendously. How do pancakes and bacon sound?”
    â€œAs good as they smell.”
    â€œI was going to make omelets, but there weren’t enough eggs. There’s not much maple syrup, either.”
    â€œI was planning to shop today,” I said a little defensively.
    â€œNo problem. Your mother went to the grocery store to stock up. Oh, she had to take your car because we haven’t picked ours up yet. Is that all right?”
    â€œSure,” I said, trying not to sound annoyed. “It’s low on gas, but there should be enough—”
    â€œDon’t worry, she’ll fill up the tank on the way back. Now if you’ll set the table, I’ll have the pancakes ready in a couple of minutes.”
    I saw that Byron was in his favorite spot under the table, hoping that somebody would drop some food, and it seemed plain that he’d already adjusted to having Mom and Phil around.
    â€œI should get Madison up to tend to the dog,” I said.
    â€œOh, let her sleep. I took him for a quick walk when I got up.”
    â€œIt’s okay to wake her to take care of him, Phil. She knows Byron is her responsibility.”
    â€œI don’t mind.”
    I made a mental note to remind Madison that she was not to take advantage of my father’s willingness to help. Of course, I’d be more convincing if I weren’t eating a batch of Phil’s pancakes at the time.
    Despite his apologies that he was off his game, I’d made it through a stack of them plus accompanying bacon when Mom got back with vast quantities of groceries, and it took all three of us to put it all away.
    â€œAre you planning to feed an army?” I asked.
    â€œI remember how much teenagers eat, and I expect Roxanne will be coming around.”
    â€œFunny how often grad students show up near mealtimes. Which reminds me, I should write you a check for Madison’s and my share.”
    â€œOh, don’t worry about that,” Mom said. “You can buy the next load.”
    Phil took advantage of the additional available ingredients to make omelets, despite my insistence that I’d already had plenty to eat. I only ate mine to keep from hurting his feelings.
    Afterward, as we sat sated at the table, I said, “You know I’m really glad you two are back, but it did catch me bysurprise. I haven’t even started looking for a place for Madison and me yet.”
    Mom said, “Your father and I were talking about that last night, Georgia, and there’s no rush. In fact, maybe we should consider making this a permanent solution. After all, the house was big enough for all of us when Madison was a baby.”
    â€œAre you sure about that?” I said. “Teenager Madison takes up a lot more space than infant Madison. Plus we’ve got the dog now.”
    Byron, who is no dummy, picked that moment to lean lovingly against Phil, who patted him and said, “Oh, Byron is