“Come on. Let’s get inside before the neighbors come out looking for the two idiots that woke them up,” she said, taking hold of Devyn’s arm and steering her back toward the house.
As they reached the porch, Lanie cast one more glance up and down the street, but again, the street was deserted. There wasn’t a single soul in sight. Even if there had been someone watching her, she and Devyn would have probably scared them away with all that screeching and caterwauling.
Really! She and Devyn were both about as pathetic as it could get! She was just glad that no one else had been around to see their little performance. They never would have lived it down!
CHAPTER SIX
By the time Lanie and her friends had finished breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes that Johnna had only slightly charred, the grey skies had cleared up and the sun was shining brightly. Devyn placed a quick call to Heather Langley, the head cheerleader, while Johnna placed a call to Finn, and it was decided that the memorial for Stacy was a go.
Lanie shot a quick text to her dad to let him know they were heading out to get the memorial set up in the park and once Johnna and Devyn were dressed, which took nearly an hour because they were two big…girls!...they all climbed into Lanie’s yellow Bug and headed toward downtown and The Craft Emporium on Center Street. They were going in search of poster board, markers, streamers, glitter, and anything else they might need to get the memorial set up.
The morning traffic was light and the drive into down town took only a few minutes. They found the majority of girls from the Spirit Squad waiting on the sidewalk outside the Craft Emporium, which was housed in a little lavender painted clapboard building next to the New To You Thrift Store, which was where Lanie found most of her clothing, unlike the horde of cheerleaders who were now watching her with cold, judgmental eyes as she stepped out of her car. They were all dressed as if they were going to be walking the runway of a fashion show and most of them had probably never even stepped foot in a thrift store. Snobs!
“Are you coming in with us?” Devyn asked as they made it to the sidewalk, where the Spirit Squad all fell silent in an effort to freeze Lanie out.
Johnna shot the group of girls a nasty look, her large brown eyes shooting flames. “Knock it off, you guys!” she hissed at her friends. “This isn’t the time to act all bitchy! Lanie just lost her friend! She isn’t thinking about stealing anyone’s boyfriend right now!”
Actually, she wasn’t thinking about stealing anyone’s boyfriend at any time. Not just right now. And as a side note, she wouldn’t have to steal a boyfriend. If she wanted one of them, it would not be hard to just walk up and have him willingly follow her away.
“Yeah. Thaw out, you guys!” Devyn agreed snappishly tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder. “You don’t have to act like a bunch of pishers! This isn’t even cute on a regular day!”
Lanie watched as some of the Spirit Squad seemed to lose a bit of their standoff-ish air. However, it was too little, too late for Lanie. “You guys go on and do whatever you need to do. I’ll be in the thrift store.”
“Are you sure?” Johnna asked her, looking guilty. “You can just ignore these idiots. I usually do.”
Lanie shook her head. “Nah. You go on. Just come and get me when you’re done.”
That said, she pushed through the horde of overdressed Spirit Squaders and started down the sidewalk toward the thrift store, not feeling as peevish as she probably should have. Who cared if the Spirit Squad girls didn’t want her to be included in their shopping trip? They didn’t want her included in anything, yet she was on every single committee that they were on and she was the head of most of them. Thus, she would have her revenge. Perhaps, someday soon.
With that thought bringing a little spring to her step, Lanie continued on her way toward her favorite shop, which she hadn’t visited in a while. The bell jangled merrily as she opened the door, but something flashing from the corner of her eye stopped her from stepping inside. The flash of movement or flicker of shadow was further on down the street and when she focused in that direction, she didn’t see anything other than a few people window shopping and a couple of cars way up at the intersection of Center Street and Bisbee Avenue.
Lanie stalled for a moment in the open doorway, scanning the sidewalk and the street as far down as she could see, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing that shouldn’t have been there. There was no faded yellow car cruising the street, no very handsome man wearing a long, faded leather coat lurking about. There was…nothing.
Wait. Did she really expect to see him lurking about, watching her? Did she really want to see him lurking about, watching her? No! No, she most certainly did not! She wasn’t that nutty balls just yet! Annoyed, Lanie let out a breath and went on into the store. What was the matter with her!
“Hey, Lanie!” a cheerful voice chirped as she entered the store, which always smelled of incense and the strong coffee that was constantly being brewed behind the front counter. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Hi, Patti,” Lanie greeted the round faced, red haired woman who owned the shop.
“How ya’ doing, girl?” Patti questioned, her voice soft with sympathy, which caused Lanie to have to bite back a sigh.
Ugh! Not here, too! “I’m fine.”
“Are you? Really?” Patti urged.
Lanie turned her attention away from the woman and headed through the maze of clothing racks, focusing on that instead. “I’m okay. Really,” she answered for what felt like the millionth time.
“It’s a nasty business, what happened to poor Stacy. I couldn’t believe it when I heard,” Patti said in a somber tone. “I mean, here of all places! This kind of thing just doesn’t happen here!”
Well, that was no longer true, was it? “Do you have any sweaters in?” Lanie questioned, hoping to shift the topic of conversation.
“Yeah. They’re on the back rack over there,” Patti answered. “How’s your dad holding up? I know he’s never had to deal with anything like this. He must be pulling his hair out, the poor man!”
Lanie found the appropriate rack and began looking through the variety of sweaters hanging there. “He’s doing alright. He still has all his hair.”
Patti let out something that seemed as if it was supposed to be a chuckle, but there was no humor in the sound. “I’m not close with the family, but Stacy came in here almost as much as you did. Do you think her parents would mind if I stopped by and gave my condolences?”
Lanie looked at Patti then, feeling her throat constrict. “I don’t know,” she answered truthfully. “But, there’s going to be a memorial set up for her in the park today and the Spirit Squad is putting together a flower sale to raise money for her family. You could help that way.”
“Well, that’s a good idea,” Patti stated with a smile. “The Millers will appreciate anything you girls can do for them. And I’ll put the word out about the memorial and the flower sale to everyone.”
Lanie nodded and went back to looking through the sweaters hanging on the rack. Patti knew everyone in Fells Pointe, so if she put the word out, there wouldn’t be a soul who didn’t know about it, which was a good thing. The Millers could use the money.
Thankfully, another customer came into the shop at that point and Patti focused on talking to them instead of Lanie, leaving her to go about her business. It didn’t take her very long to pull out a couple of items, the first being a thick, light green, nubby cardigan, and the second treasure being a dark grey cowl neck sweater that was soft to the touch. She took both of her finds to the register and paid for them, the tab being a whopping three dollars and some change, and then quickly exited the shop before Patti decided to strike up another conversation with her.
Once out of the shop, she glanced down the sidewalk toward The Craft Emporium, but found the sidewalk empty. Clearly, it would take some time for the Spirit Squad to find the items they needed for the memorial, so Lanie decided to put her bag in the trunk of t
he Bug and walk just up the block and around the corner to grab an iced coffee from Katy’s. Of course, she took out her phone and pecked out a text to Johnna first, just to let her friends know. While she was at it, she pecked out one to her father, letting him know that she was in town and doing fine.
That done, Lanie started down the sidewalk away from the thrift store. She’d followed all her instructions, so she could go and grab her coffee with a clear conscience. Katy’s Korner was only about a ten minute walk from the thrift store, which was why she didn’t take her car like her father had instructed, and she made it to the little diner in good time, though halfway there she did find herself wishing she’d taken her car after all.
She couldn’t keep herself from glancing over her shoulder every few minutes during the short walk, her stomach tight as she searched for the eyes that she could feel boring into her. Of course, she never found them because they weren’t real! But, she felt them anyway, so much so that gooseflesh rose up along her arms and little tendrils of fear snaked through her belly, quickening her steps more than she would have liked.
Feeling foolish and irritated with herself, she pushed through the door of Katy’s Korner, the pungent scents of strong coffee and breakfast meats striking her as she stepped inside. She found most of the tables empty, since it was only ten o’clock on a Sunday morning and a lot of people were in church. Once she had exchanged a few words with the little, grey haired owner of the place, she ordered her iced coffee with a double shot and made her escape before she could be dragged into a conversation about Stacy Miller. She just didn’t want to talk about it.
Once Lanie was back out on the sidewalk, she pointed herself toward The Craft Emporium, hoping the Spirit Squad had found everything they needed. It seemed to take those girls forever to do the slightest thing and her pet peeve was waiting! She hated it! When she wanted to go, she wanted to go!
Moving along past the shops, Lanie again found herself beset by that feeling of eyes boring into her. But, this time, she refused to give into it. There was no one watching her, so she would not acknowledge that urge to look around for someone who was not there! It was silly!
Lanie hustled back along the tidy brick sidewalks, past all the colorfully painted storefronts and iron lamp posts hung with baskets of brightly hued fall flowers, and made it back to The Craft Emporium just as the Spirit Squaders came spilling out the door, their arms laden with their bounty.
Seeing her, Devyn waved her over to the group. “Lanie, I just heard from Finn,” Devyn began in a slightly somber tone, “and the parents think it’ll be a good idea if we have a candle light vigil for Stacy. That way, nearly everyone in town will be able to come if they want to.”
A candle light vigil? That actually sounded like a nice idea. “What do you need me to do?”
“Nothing. We can handle it,” Heather Langley said icily.
Johnna shot the girl a nasty look. “Actually, Lanie, we’re going to need some pictures of Stacy. And since you know her family…”
“Johnna, no!” Devyn gasped in horror. “Lanie doesn’t really need to do that! One of us can go to her house!”
Lanie took a long sip of coffee, needing that jolt of high octane bliss. “It’s no problem. I’ll go and ask her mom for some pictures,” she said easily.
Devyn’s eyes looked stricken. “Lanie, I don’t want you to do that! It’s too much for you. I mean, you…you haven’t even dealt with your grief yet. Looking at pictures of her might be too hard. Oy! You’ll be all ferklempt!”
“I’ll be fine,” she said to her friend. She might be a little shaken up having to look at pictures of Stacy, but she’d deal with it. She was not that fragile and breakable.
“Can we get going? We still have a lot of stuff to do before tonight and we’re wasting time standing here listening to people talking gibberish,” Angie Barker said, sounding bored.
“I’ll go to Stacy’s house,” Lanie said, heading for her Bug in an effort to spare Angie Barker a fat lip. “Where should I meet you?”
“We’ll be working at Heather’s house,” Devyn stated.
“I’ll go with Lanie and we’ll meet you guys over there,” Johnna stated, following Lanie to the car.
Lanie climbed in and started her Bug, threw it into reverse, and wheeled out of the parking space, wanting to put a bit of distance between herself and the Spirit Squad, who were continuing to shoot her death glares.
“Well, that wasn’t awkward or anything,” Johnna said with a sigh, settling into her seat. “I can’t believe they still hate you so much. It’s ridiculous.”
Lanie could not agree more. But, girls were dumb, for the most part anyway.
“Just because you’re pretty and some of their boyfriends have asked you out!” Johnna spat. “You’ve never said yes! I don’t understand what their problem is!”
“Eh. They’re girls,” was Lanie reply.
What did she care if the Spirit Squad hadn’t warmed up to her in the past four years? She had better things to worry about.
“Are you sure you want to help with the memorial?” Johnna asked her as they navigated through the quiet streets and toward the West end of town, where Stacy lived.
“I should help. She was my friend,” Lanie answered.
Johnna was quiet for a moment. “It’s going to hurt, Lanie. When it finally hits you, it’s going to hurt. Do you want it to happen in front of Heather Langley?”
“I know she’s gone, Johnna,” Lanie told the girl, trying not to sound too snotty. “I get it.”
“I know you know, but remember when your mom…left you? It took you a while to finally realize it and then…”
Lanie remembered. How could she not remember it? Those were the worst days of her life. But, Stacy had been her friend, not her mother. They had not been attached at the hip. Stacy Miller had not played an intimate role in her life. And she knew the girl was gone. She’d taken it in. She understood what it meant. She wasn’t going to break down in front of Heather Langley or anyone else.
Johnna didn’t say anything else about the matter and they made the drive to the Miller’s house in silence. The little white house on Laurel Lane was usually quiet, but today there were cars lining both sides of the street and clusters of people milling about in the front yard.
Lanie couldn’t find a parking spot, so they had to park a street over and walk back. Just outside the front yard, Johnna took hold of her arm. “I’ll go inside, Lanie. You don’t have to.”
Lanie shot her friend a smile. “I’m fine, Johnna. I was here yesterday.”
They walked past all the people in the yard and up to the front door, going inside without knocking. There were far too many people filling up the small house and it seemed there was hardly any air to breathe. The sorrow and grief permeating the space was smothering, hitting Lanie like a fist. She wanted to get in and out as fast as possible, so she wended her way through the maze of furniture and people watching them with sad, sorrowful eyes, and went straight to the kitchen, where she knew Mrs. Miller would be.
The woman, who was still sitting at the kitchen table, sobbing as hard as she had been the day before, grabbed Lanie in a crushing hug and wouldn’t let her go until one of the women in the kitchen pried her loose. Lanie couldn’t ask for the pictures because the woman immediately grabbed onto Johnna and again wouldn’t let go until she was pried off. Once Johnna was free of the hysterical woman, who kept asking if anyone had seen Stacy, Mrs. Reed, the next door neighbor, swept both Lanie and Johnna from the kitchen and out into the living room.
“I’m sorry about that, girls. She’s out of her mind, poor thing,” Mrs. Reed said sadly. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“I-I need some pictures of Stacy,” Lanie said hoarsely. “We…we’re setting up a memorial and candle light vigil in the park tonight.”
Mrs. Reed’s pale blue eyes filled up with tears. “Stay here. I’ll grab some photos.” The woman disappeared from the living room only to quickl
y return with several large photos still in their wooden frames. “Use these. She…she looks lovely in them.”
Lanie took the small stack of picture frames, thanked the woman, and promptly fled the house with Johnna hot on her heels. “That was terrible,” Johnna said as they hurried away down the street.
“Will these pictures be okay?” Lanie asked, handing the few photographs to Johnna, but without actually looking at them.
“They’ll be fine,” Johnna said, taking the photographs and clutching them against her chest. As they made it back to the Bug, Johnna turned large eyes to Lanie. “I’m sorry, Lanie.”
“What for?” Lanie asked, rounding the car and pulling open the driver side door.
“That you lost your friend like this,” Johnna stated. “I haven’t said it yet. But, I am sorry.”
“I know,” Lanie smiled at the girl and climbed into the car, starting the engine and getting them away from the Miller’s house and the smothering grief as fast as the speed limit would allow.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lanie pulled up in the parking lot of Borden Park and cut the car engine. There were already a number of cars in the lot, more cars than Lanie could ever remember seeing there at one time. Letting out a long breath, she sat for a moment, trying to pull herself together. It had been a long day and she felt…drained.
Setting up a memorial and candle light vigil took a lot more work than she’d thought it would. It had taken hours to make the posters and get together all the little details, like white taper candles, which Heather Langley had talked The Village Candle Shop into donating, and drip cups, which Abby Conklin’s rich grandmother had donated the money to purchase. Then there was the business of setting up the Flower Sale for the fundraiser, which meant a donated table, donated flowers and ribbons, and people driving all over the place to pick up everything and put it all together.
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