I would rather have sat by Alex, too, especially now that Chris seemed to have blown me off, but it wasn’t worth making a fuss over. So I perused the menu, eyed the wine listings wistfully, and decided against anything stronger than a milkshake. That and a burger should hold me through whatever other shopping we decided to do. I still needed to get something for Tobias, and probably small things for the clan elders, as that was sort of expected. For them, though, I could gift some of my talismans, which would certainly be more appreciated than anything store-bought.
“…should head home before dark,” Henry was saying to Phil.
Setting down the menu, I sent Henry a quizzical look. He lifted his shoulders and said, “I know we’d discussed going more places, maybe staying down here for dinner, too, if it shook out that way. But after what happened back there” — a significant jerk of his chin in the direction of Nordstrom Rack — “I think it’s safest to do what we can here and then get on the road. Too many isolated spots on the highway once you get out of Phoenix.”
That was true enough. Yes, you could always count on there being traffic, but even so, there were long, dark stretches with no off-ramps, no towns…no nothing. It was easy enough to imagine the Wilcoxes lying in wait there, maybe with a spell ready that would blow out one of the van’s tires, or kill the engine, or….
Quickly banishing that thought from my mind, I nodded. “You’re probably right.” Once we got off the highway at 260 and were heading to Cottonwood and then Jerome, we’d be safe enough. But there was a lot of open road before that, and night came early at this time of year.
The waitress showed up to take our orders then, so we cut the discussion off until she left. Henry repeated his suggestion, and although both Aunt Rachel and Allegra Moss looked a little disappointed, once he added, “And Angela agrees with me,” there was no further discussion.
So apparently my word as prima had some weight, even with my aunt.
* * *
After lunch we told the de la Paz crew of our plans. Alex protested, saying that they’d follow us all the way home if necessary, but I said, “No, we couldn’t ask you to do that. You’ve done enough already. There’s plenty to keep us occupied here for the next hour or so, and then we’ll get on the road. Besides, leaving so we can get home before dark will also get us out of Phoenix before the worst of the rush hour, right?”
He gave a reluctant nod. “All right. But I had to offer, or my abuela would have my hide.”
I grinned at that. “I’ll make sure she knows.”
It was silly for all fourteen of us to be marching around the place in lock-step. There was no sign of the Wilcoxes, and we each had our own shops that we wanted to visit. Groups of three seemed safe enough, especially since one of the de la Paz crew’s particular gift was being able to sniff out dark warlocks, which was why their prima had included him as part of the group. He informed us that he couldn’t sense the Wilcoxes anywhere near. So I had him and Alex accompany me while the rest of the Jerome contingent went their separate ways, with a de la Paz in tow, of course.
At Pottery Barn I found a fun leaf-shaped candle bowl for Tobias, who always had some kind of interesting lighting going on. As the sales clerk was wrapping it up for me, Alex said, “You seem pretty calm about the whole thing.”
“Well, I am now,” I replied. “That was a pretty good show of the cavalry coming in to save the day back there.”
I’d kept my tone light on purpose, but his expression was serious. The dark eyes scanned my face. “You took a risk coming down here, you know.”
“We thought we’d taken the necessary precautions.” Was Alex Trujillo trying to tell me we’d been foolish for coming to Phoenix? “What, are we supposed to just cower in Jerome indefinitely?”
“Not indefinitely, but…you know….” He let the words trail off, then appeared to be holding his tongue as the clerk came back with my package.
“Are you saying I shouldn’t be out and about in my delicate condition?”
He didn’t rise to the bait. “It was risky. My abuela, she thought the same thing, which is why she sent us to watch over you. I wonder if you know exactly what the Wilcoxes are capable of.”
“Probably more than you, since it was my great-aunt they tried to kidnap back in the day,” I retorted. Then I let out a sigh. “Wow, I really am cranky today.”
This time he smiled. “I think you’ve had reason.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the time. “Almost three. I’d better get you back. Everyone should be meeting up in the courtyard now.”