jeans. Darius wore a gray stitch fedora. The name tag on his teal sweater read: MEMBER OF THE PRESS.
Megan stared at Ean’s blue jeans, black jersey and the white bandanna tied around his head. “What are you supposed to be? A pirate?”
Ean adjusted the bandanna. “Not what, who. Deion Sanders.”
Did he truly believe the bandanna alone pegged him as the Hall of Fame former football player? Megan feared her eyes would burst from her head. “Is this the best the three of you could do? Seriously?”
“What are you supposed to be? An Egyptian princess?” Ean’s warm gaze slid over her.
Megan laid her damp palms on the skirt of her white lamé dress. “The goddess Isis.”
She reached behind her to spread the gold theatrical cape or “wings.” The heavy black eyeliner had been a pain to apply, even harder than wielding the hot comb to straighten the curl from her hair.
“I like it.” The intensity in Ean’s olive eyes made her stomach muscles quiver.
“Thanks.” Megan nervously checked the gold band wrapped around the top of her head. She felt the others staring between her and Ean, and fought the urge to fidget.
Quincy turned to Ramona. “Where’s your costume?”
Ramona’s eyes narrowed. “I wish this were a real wand. I’d turn you into a toad. Oh! Too late.”
“Ouch.” Darius chuckled.
“Afternoon, everyone.”
Megan turned at the newcomer’s greeting. “Sheriff, is that your costume?” She clenched her teeth to keep from snarling.
Sheriff Alonzo Lopez glanced at his tan shirt, black tie and spruce green gabardine pants. His cocoa eyes looked confused. “It’s my uniform. I’m on duty.”
Megan cut Darius a look for his inappropriate laughter. “I’m sorry, Sheriff.”
“No need to be.” His calm acceptance soothed Megan. “I took the afternoon shift so my deputies with families could take their children to your party. It’s a fun event for the kids.”
“That was nice of you.” Ramona gave him a sweet smile.
The older man’s shrug was uncomfortable. “Doreen looks very nice in her movie star outfit.”
“Doreen’s spoken for.” Darius’ smile teased the older man.
“Can’t a man appreciate a pretty woman without having any designs on her.” Alonzo turned to Ean. “No disrespect intended.”
“None taken.” Ean’s tense tone belied his words.
Alonzo nodded. “Well, I’d better get back to work.”
“Thanks for stopping by, Sheriff.” Megan laid her hand on his shoulder. “It’s always good to see you.”
Alonzo nodded before strolling away.
Ean caught Megan’s attention. “Dracula was singing inappropriate bar songs to your customers.”
Megan threw up her hands. “Oh, for Pete’s sake.”
Ean caught her arm as she started past him. “My mother brought him into the kitchen. She’s giving him coffee.”
The warmth of his touch through the sleeve of her costume made her shiver. Megan exhaled before addressing Ramona. “What were you thinking to hire Stan Crockett to read to a bunch of kids in our store?”
Quincy gaped at Ramona. “You hired him?”
Ramona’s ebony eyes were innocent. “He needed money.”
“To buy alcohol.” Megan wanted to throw back her head and scream. Why wouldn’t Ramona understand?
“It’ll be OK, Megan.” Ean released his hold on Megan’s arm.
She bit her lip to keep from protesting his withdrawal.
“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
