In true Zadie fashion, she let his sympathy slide off her. “We’re hoping you can help us. We’re trying to figure out where she went.”
“Yeah, of course,” he said. “I’m happy to answer any questions you have.”
Before they could take him up on his offer, the front door swung open and Rowan, Hazel, and Juniper bustled inside, screen door slapping behind them.
“Hazel! Cut it out!” Juniper whined as her older sister held her by theYof her overalls. Hazel let go, and Juniper stumbled forward, nearly falling on her face.
“Hazel, stop strap-dropping your sister.” Myron attempted to sound authoritative, but it didn’t quite land.
“What? She thinks it’s funny,” Hazel shot back.
“No, I don’t!” Juniper had pulled off one of her boots and lookedlike she was in the process of deciding how to best hit her sister with it.
“Hey!” Myron said, pointing to the muddy footprint his youngest had made on the floor. “Bathroom. Now.” The girls sighed collectively and trudged into the hallway. Myron turned back to his guests. “Their feet are usually dirtier than their shoes.”
Finn swallowed the urge to ask him about his daughters’ trances. “I’m the same. I love being barefoot,” she said.
“Then you get it.” He laughed weakly. He was tired. It was etched all over his face, his voice. “Anyway, like I said, I’m happy to tell you everything I know, but if I don’t feed these girls soon we’re going to have a riot on our hands. Would you guys want to stick around for dinner? We can talk more after.”
Zadie answered, “Sounds good.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Finn said quietly, even though the thought of spending a minute longer in that house made her stomach ache.
The card stuck to Joel’s forehead read:POTATO.
“It’s a food!” Rowan shouted.
“Uhhh… bread!”
She shook her head.
“Bacon! Lettuce, tomato, mayo—”
“Are BLTs the only thing you eat?” Zadie teased.
“Ssshh! I’m trying to concentrate.”
The last time Zadie had played this game, she was at a slumber party in the third grade. Watching Joel reminded her of why she often turned down game night invitations from friends. The Van Houten girls, on the other hand, were having a blast watching a grown man struggle to guess kindergarten-level vocabulary words. So much so that they abandoned their teams and decided to all gang up on Joel instead.
It was Hazel’s turn. “You fry them.”
“Pickles, onion rings, cheese, umm…”
“Sometimes they look like a face!” the youngest shouted. The only person worse at this game than Joel, it seemed, was Juniper.
“How is he supposed to guess it from that?” Hazel scoffed.
“Because that’s what they look like,” she said as if she were stating the obvious. Juniper seemed to live on her own little island. She reminded Zadie of Finn when she was younger: a little odd, with an imagination that outperformed sense.
“Wait. I got it. Potato!” Joel flipped the card over and saw he was right. “The face thing was what did it for me,” he said, winking at Juniper. It was clear to Zadie he wasn’t humoring the girl. His brain also worked in a roundabout fashion.
Rowan pulled another card and stuck it to Joel’s forehead. The word wasvalentine.“Okay,” she started. “It’s like a card, and you give it to someone you like.”
“Like a girlfriend?” Much to Zadie’s chagrin, Joel’s eyes landed on her. Keen-eyed Juniper caught the exchange. “Why’d you look at her like that?” she asked bluntly.
Flustered, he began, “Umm—”
“Joel, don’t—”