by Jeff Shelby
I pulled open the kitchen door and smiled at them as they reached the bottom step. “Wouldn’t you know, I finished my errands sooner than planned?”
She looked like she wanted to growl at me as she trudged up the stairs. Andy came up behind her, a large backpack slung over his shoulder, his dark brown hair swept to the side.
“Andy, this is my mom,” Em mumbled as she passed me.
He held out his hand. “Hi.”
“Hi, Andy,” I said, shaking his hand. “I’m Daisy.”
“Hi,” he said again. He had blue eyes and a dimple in his chin. He wore a thick red hoodie and jeans with running shoes and I noticed he was slightly taller than me. He smelled like bubblegum and some kind of boy teen body spray.
“Are you coming?” Emily asked from the dining room.
Andy stood there awkwardly, unsure where to head.
Which made me like him because he wasn’t making a direct beeline to my daughter’s bedroom.
“Actually, I need you to do something for me,” I said.
Her shoulders fell and she shoved the backpack off her arm. “What?”
“I need you to run downstairs to the basement and unload the dryer and move the clothes from the washer to the dryer,” I said, smiling. “Please.”
“I’ll do it later.”
“Actually, no, I need you to do it now because it was supposed to be done yesterday,” I said, maintaining the smile. “I’ll keep Andy occupied until you’re done. Oh, and while you’re down there, I also need you to go up in the crawl space and grab the scissors and flashlight that Jake left up there last winter. Okay? Thanks.”
“Mom.”
“Emily, hurry.” I grinned at her. “That way when you’re done, you’ll be able to spend a few minutes with Andy.” I looked at Andy. “Do you like bars?”
“Bars?” He looked confused, like it was a trick question or something.
“Cookie bars,” I corrected and his eyes lit up with relief.
“Oh.” He shrugged. “Sure.”
“Chocolate chip?”
“Sure.”
Emily groaned and stomped past us, through the kitchen and down the stairs to the basement, slamming the door as she went.
Never underestimate your mother.
I gestured at the kitchen table. “Have a seat. I’ll grab the bars.”
He pulled out a chair and sat. I grabbed the plastic container of bars and brought it to the table, then sat down across from him. I pulled off the lid and pushed it toward him.
He pulled one out. “Thanks.”
“Of course,” I said. “So, you and Em are in the same grade?”
He took a bite. “Yeah. I mean, yes.”
“How do you like Prism?”
He shrugged again. “It’s okay, I guess. Kinda small. But it’s fine.”
“You didn’t want to go to Moose River High?”
“Actually, I did, but my parents weren’t crazy about it,” he explained. “They thought it was too big.” He shrugged again and polished off the bar.
I nudged the container toward him. “Have another.”
He hesitated, then pulled out another.
“So I hear you and Amanda Pendleton were friends,” I said.
He shrugged and bit into the second bar. He was very good at shrugging. “Yeah, sorta.”
“And no one’s heard from Amanda yet?” I asked.
Andy hesitated. “Not that I’ve heard.”
“Emily said you and Amanda were...dating?”
He froze in mid-bite. Then he unfroze and swallowed hard. “Yeah. We were.” His cheeks turned red. “We, uh, broke up, though.”
“She told me that, too,” I said, not wanting to intentionally embarrass him. “It’s all just sort of awkward, with her disappearing or whatever people are calling it.”
He finished the second bar and folded his hands on the table. “I guess so. I don’t know. It’s all just weird. I just hope she’s okay. I mean, I don’t like her anymore. Not like that. I mean, we’re friends and stuff. But we’re not together. So I just hope she’s okay.” He paused. “That all probably sounds pretty weird.”
“Not at all,” I assured him. “Sounds pretty normal, actually.”
“I mean, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to anyone,” he said. “But especially not someone I know.” He cleared his throat. “So yeah. It’s all kind of weird, I guess.”
Any thoughts I might have entertained about Andy somehow being involved with Amanda’s disappearance were quickly vanishing. Unless he was the world’s greatest actor, he seemed like a sincere kid who hoped his ex-girlfriend/friend was okay. There was no nervousness, no desire to cover anything up. He seemed flustered talking about it but not because he had anything to do with it; he just seemed weirded out because he was talking about his old girlfriend with his new girlfriend’s mother. I thought about how I’d reacted to questions about Olaf and my connection to him. I’d been a little unnerved, too… and I’d actually had his dead body in my coal chute.
I didn’t think Andy was faking anything or lying to me. Or hiding his ex-girlfriend’s body in a coal chute.
Score another point for Andy.
I heard the washer lid bang shut down in the basement.
“So,” I said. “How do you and Em know one another?”
He squirmed in his chair. “Just school, I guess. We had a class together last year. Think it was math.”
“I think I saw you with a violin.”
He smiled, relaxing a little. “Yeah, I play the violin. Probably at the talent show that you put on. That was you, right?”
I nodded. “That was me and, yes, I think that was it.”
“That was a cool night.”
“Thanks. I’m glad you thought so.”
Feet pounded down the stairs from above and the two younger girls crashed into the living room, their arms full of dolls. They froze when they saw an unfamiliar face at the table.
“Mom, who’s that?” Grace asked, staring at him.
“This is Andy. He’s Emily’s friend.”
Grace broke into a big grin. “Oh. You’re her boyfriend.”
Andy tried to smile but his teeth got stuck on his lips and his cheeks burned an even darker shade of red.
“Grace,” I said, frowning. “He’s her friend. How about if you girls play upstairs?”
“Where’s Emily?” Sophie asked. She peered at Andy through her glasses. “Or did you come by yourself?”
“Uh,” Andy said. “I’m not really sure. I think she’s doing laundry?”
“Oh,” Sophie said, as if it made perfect sense for her older sister to be doing chores while a strange boy sat at the table with her stepmom. “Okay. Come on, Grace. Let’s go.”
She bounded back up the stairs. Grace gave Andy one more hard stare, then scurried after her.
“Sorry about that,” I said. “Grace is a little… nosy.”
“I have a little sister,” he said. “It’s okay.”
Andy was a nice kid and despite my questioning and Grace’s questions, he’d remained mostly unflappable. I was starting to feel a little guilty about sending Emily down to the basement. She and I could have a discussion about bringing boys home later. I didn’t need to make her pay for it while he was there.
“Let me go grab Em,” I said, standing up. “Give me just a minute?”
“Sure.”
I jogged down the basement stairs. Emily was up on the step stool, her eyes shut tight, steeling herself for going into the crawl space.
“Stop,” I said.
Her eyes flew open.
“Go back upstairs. And hang out with your...Andy.”
She turned around, her cheeks flushed, strands of hair flying all over the place. “I didn’t get the scissors yet.”
“It’s fine,” I said, waving her off. “Go.”
She jumped off the stool. “Why did you come home?”
“Because you asked me to stay out of my own house while you b
rought a boy home,” I said pointedly. “But we can talk about that later. Right now, a very nice, patient young boy is waiting on you upstairs.”
“Do I look terrible?” she asked, running her hands through her hair.
I looked at her long brown hair and blue eyes and perfectly pink lips. There was nothing terrible looking about her. “No. Go.”
She took a couple of steps and then stopped. “Wait. Did you tell him anything about me?”
“Nothing too embarrassing. Yet.” I pointed at the stairs. “Go. And keep the door to your room open.”
She huffed, irritated, then hustled up the steps.
I took a deep breath.
She’d been a teenager for several years, but now that she was inviting boys over to the house, it appeared as if we were in the throes of teenage hormones and insanity. Emily was a good kid but that didn’t mean it was going to be a smooth ride. I knew better. I’d been a teenage girl, too.
And that was enough to make me hustle back up the stairs to keep an eye on them.
THIRTEEN
“There was a boy? In this house?” Jake asked as we got into bed later that night.
Andy’s mother, Catherine, picked him up at four-thirty on the button, thanking us profusely for giving him temporary housing. I’d assured her it was no big deal. She was as nice and polite as I’d found Andy to be. Emily quickly disappeared back into her room after he left and the other kids peppered her with questions during dinner until I shut them down. Jake had worked late, missing out on the drama, so I was filling him in.
“There’s usually two boys, hello. You and Will.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes, there was an unfamiliar boy in our house this afternoon,” I said. “And he was perfectly polite and nice. And cute.”
“Did you tell him we put the dead bodies in the basement?” he asked.
“Ha. No. There was no need. He was a very nice kid. And do you remember the kid that was hanging around her at the talent show? The one with the violin?”
“I do.”
I tapped him on the chest. “That’s Andy. That’s him.”
Jake grunted. “Hmm. Still. You should’ve mentioned the dead bodies and that he would fit nicely in the secret underground body holding cell.”
“She’s a teenager. There are going to be boys,” I reminded him. “You were a boy.”
“Yeah and you remember what I was like in high school, don’t you?”
I did. He’d been handsome and funny and a smart ass and a terrific kisser. He hadn’t really changed all that much.
“I do,” I told him. “And I’d be thrilled if Emily found a boy like you.”
“They will try to touch her,” he warned. “And kiss her. And… and do the other things!”
I patted his chest. “Yes. Because this is the real world and we have an attractive daughter who likes boys. Life happens.”
He groaned. “I don’t like thinking about that. I wanna be here the next time Randy comes over.”
“Andy.”
“Whatever. I need to have a talk with him.”
I laughed and shook my head. I loved that he thought of Emily as his own. We’d never really done the whole awkward stepparent thing. Given that their own dad wasn’t around all that often, all three of my own kids had taken to Jake immediately and he’d reciprocated. They didn’t call him dad but he was the one who helped Emily with projects; he was the one who threw the football around with Will and analyzed game scores; he was the one who’d taught Grace how to swim. There hadn’t been an awkward transitional period of everyone feeling each other out and getting to know each other. We’d just sort of become a family, just like that.
But he was a bit of an overprotective bear and I was going to have to try to temper that.
A knock on the door interrupted us.
“Come in,” he said.
The door squeaked open and Emily poked her head in. “Not asleep yet?”
“Nope,” he said. “Come on in.”
She shuffled into the room, her hair wet from her shower, her long-sleeve T-shirt spattered with drops of water. She perched herself on the foot of the bed. “So.”
“So,” I said.
“Am I in trouble?” she asked.
“For trying to bring a boy home and get me to stay away from the house?” I said. “Trouble is probably a little too strong. But you do need to be admonished.”
She frowned. “What does that even mean?”
“It means that if Andy is going to be a regular visitor to our home, we need to lay down some ground rules,” I explained.
“And rule number one is that I have to be home the next time any boy comes over,” Jake said.
“Why?” Em asked.
“So I can inspect them. And put the fear of me into them.”
Emily opened her mouth to protest but I cut her off.
“Ignore him,” I told her. “But let’s get clear on the rules. First off, no boys in the house unless an adult is home. Period.”
“He didn’t have anywhere to go,” she objected.
“He could’ve stayed at school,” I said. “And you could’ve asked me to come home so I’d be here. Instead, you tried to get cute. Unfortunately for you, your mother is sharp like broken glass and I sniffed out your little plan.”
“Nothing was going to happen, Mom.” Her eyes were wide. “I swear.”
“And I believe you,” I told her. “But no boys in the house unless I’m home or Jake’s home.”
She frowned, but nodded. “Okay.”
“Rule number two,” I said. “If you decide you’re going to have sex with—”
“Mom!!!”
“—Andy, then let me know and we can talk about contraceptive options.”
“Oh my God, Mom. Just stop.”
Jake was trying not to laugh.
“What?” I asked, looking at both of them. “I’m serious. I want you to know that you can talk to me about those things. Because they are going to happen. I want you to ask questions.”
“Mom, we haven’t even kissed!” Emily said, her face bright red.
“Has he tried?” Jake asked, leaning forward. “Has he tried to kiss you?”
“No,” she said, completely exasperated. “No. And oh my God, I never should have come up here.”
“And rule number three,” I said, ignoring her. “No going to his house unless there’s an adult there.”
“I don’t even know if I’m ever going there.”
“So now we’re prepared in case that does happen,” I told her. “Are we clear?”
“Yes,” she said. “Are those all the rules?”
“For now,” I said. “Until I come up with more.”
She pushed off the bed. “Great. Goodnight.” She sighed deeply.
We told her goodnight and watched her go.
Jake turned to me. “Contraceptive options? Seriously?”
“What? I want her to be prepared.”
“She’s not having sex with Randy,” he said.
“Andy.”
“Whatever.”
FOURTEEN
“Hey, Daisy,” Officer Ted said to me, smiling. “It’s been awhile.”
The next morning, I was at the Good Egg Bakery on Main, perusing the donuts and rolls and other assorted goodies. I’d decided I was going to work on the play program at home that morning and in order to do so, I was going to need some donut-provided energy and inspiration. Plus, I didn’t want to spend an hour in the kitchen making breakfast and then cleaning it up. I’d settled on a variety of maple donuts for the kids and a cinnamon roll for myself when Officer Ted tapped me on the shoulder.
It had been awhile. I was fairly certain that the last time I’d seen him was when we’d called the Moose River Police Department to let them know we’d found a dead body in our basement. He’d been matter of fact about coming to take the report, as if he saw things like things like that all the time. He was one of the few who hadn’t jumpe
d to conclusions about the body and I’d always appreciated him for that.
“Hi, Ted,” I said. “How are you?”
He took off his uniform cap and nodded. “Good, good. Busy, but good. Things have calmed down at your house?”
I chuckled. “Considerably so, yes.”
“Heard about you and the computers over at the school,” he said, his eyes scanning the sugary confections behind the glass case. “That was pretty good work.”
My face warmed. “More luck than anything. That and being in the right place at the right time. Or wrong place.”
He hitched up his belt, his uniform stretched tight over his large belly. “Well, sure, but good to know it got itself fixed.” His eyes widened. “Raspberry filled. Those are new.”
The girl behind the counter boxed up my donuts and roll and tapped the keys on the register. I pulled cash from my wallet and handed it to her, and she gave me back my change and the box. I thanked her and she nodded without enthusiasm.
“Have you heard anything about Amanda Pendleton?” I asked, turning my attention back to Ted.
His eyes were still riveted on the case of sweets. “Oh, I’ve heard plenty about Miss Pendleton.”
“Any idea where she is?”
He shook his head. “Not as of yet. It’s all a little...muddled.”
“Muddled?”
He pointed at the case. “Lemme get two of them raspberry filled, two of the chocolate raised and two of the bear claws. And a big coffee, too.”
“Are you taking those back to the station to share?” I asked. “That’s nice of you.”
His fat cheeks flushed pink. “Oh, I probably should, shouldn’t I?” He motioned at the case with his stubby finger. “Can you just double everything for me, please?”
The girl nodded as she grabbed the wax paper and started pulling them all out.
Officer Ted took a deep breath. “Muddled because, well, she turned eighteen last month and that makes her an adult. And,” he lowered his voice and glanced around, “this all happened once before, too.”
“It did?” I raised my eyebrows. “You mean she disappeared?”
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a worn billfold. “I probably shouldn’t talk about it,” he said, his voice trailing off.
