He went to speak again but then Ryan was hurrying through, a ball of nervous energy. “But he is going to love this,” Nick told her once more. And just when he had been battling to his feet, it had decided his heart would look far better if it was ripped out of his chest. It felt like life had decided to go after Ace with a baseball bat in recent weeks. And if that hadn’t been bad enough, he had found out he was the final host for Charity’s soul.Īce had once told Nancy she had been pummelled by life. He had been pulled into a criminal scheme, been kicked out by his father, had his girlfriend break up with him and then been trapped in the liminal space. There was so much that Ace had gone through since the first Copperhead victim had appeared in Horseshoe Bay. He told Nancy that the party could be an absolute disaster and Ace would still love it because they had all put so much effort in. Nick nodded, carefully guiding the curtain back into place so Ace would not catch a glimpse of Nancy looking out. She made her way toward the window, pulling back the curtain to glance back. It had calmed her fears for a moment but, knowing Ace was on route, she felt nervous energy growing inside her once more. Nancy had been more than a little sceptical when Bess had told her that they were going to play traditional party games with a twist until she had seen a ‘pin the eyes in the ghost’ Nick had drawn for Bess.
Bess had come up with fun party games, deciding that playing the same board games as they usually did would not make the occasion special enough. Nancy stood in the sitting room, drinking in the place. Ryan grumbled beneath his breath but picked up the dropped balloons. Last thing we need is Ace to come in when it’s dark and break his arm tripping over a balloon.” She noticed that the candles for Ace’s cake had become lost in the pile and grabbed them out just as she put the decorations away. George sighed, picking up a pile of birthday banners they had not found the space to put up. Are you sure we don’t need to decorate upstairs?” “We don’t need to put them up,” Ryan said, kicking a freshly inflated balloon across the sitting room. “Ryan, I think that’s enough balloons,” Carson said. Nancy had asked him to bring a box of his mother’s cookies as his contribution. Not that they had needed much of a cover story: Ace was under the impression it was a simple games night. She was taking it as seriously as Nancy was, having declared it was her duty as Ace’s platanchor to ensure he was spoilt as he deserved to be.Īnd it was Bess who had been given the important task of keeping Ace away as the group got into positions for the surprise party. It had not gone particularly well but Nancy hoped Ace would appreciate the effort she had gone to.īess had taken great pleasure in planning the activities and putting together a playlist from Ace’s favourite music. Nancy had tried her hand at making sufganiyot. He had ultimately settled on a photograph Bess had taken during a recent games night where Ace had been peeping out from behind a hand of cards, the ace of spades turned to face the camera. Carson had handled the picture for it, asking that they all send in their favourite pictures of the young man. Bess had insisted on a face cake, saying Ace would appreciate the call back to his previous welcome back cake. Carson had handled the birthday cake itself.
George and Nick had handled most of the catering, making sure the Drew kitchen table was laden with Ace’s favourite things. There were balloons tied everywhere they could manage, banners and party streamers crisscrossing through the air. Ryan had been put in charge of decorations and he had brought like he had been planning to decorate the Hudson mansion, rather than the Drew house. They’d set up a surprise party at Nancy’s house. She couldn’t have a single thing go wrong, especially since it was her mystery-solving habits that had forced Ace’s birthday to go practically uncelebrated before. She and Ace had begun to date after Temperance’s defeat and it was Nancy’s first time taking charge of running an event for her boyfriend. And Nancy had made it her mission to give him what he deserved which, in a word, was perfection. But after everything he had been through, it felt like he had deserved so much more. It had to be.Īce’s birthday had come and gone while they had worked to stop the Copperhead and they had managed to throw together something quickly then.
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