The Red Hat Society's Acting Their Age

by Regina Hale Sutherland

  “Shhh.” Mia eyed the kids at the nearest table. They seemed too caught up in their own drama to pay her and Leanne any mind. “I’d decided to tell him, but when he came by . . .” She shook her head. “I just couldn’t do it. What if they put that girl away, Leanne? I couldn’t stand it. We have to figure out a way to help her.”

  Mia waited for Leanne to break a dollar for a customer. When the boy was out of earshot, she said, “I still want to talk to Mack and Jesse. Maybe they’d be open-minded about not pressing charges if Rachel gives back their merchandise.”

  “Mack’s gonna have a hard time selling half-eaten boxes of Pop Tarts and crushed up cookies.”

  “Okay, if she pays for the stuff, then.”

  “How do you plan to discuss any of that without raising suspicion?”

  “I can be subtle.” Mia shrugged. “Anyway, I want more time to quiz Rachel. To hear what else she has to say.”

  “She’ll say whatever it takes to win you over.”

  “You make her sound like some kind of con artist instead of a teenage girl.”

  “Girls like her are con artists, Mia. I should know. I was one.”

  “You weren’t a runaway.”

  “No, but I bucked authority like she does. And I was a wildcat like her, too. You know that.” Leanne averted her gaze.

  Mia did know it. Though they were the same age and went through school together, she hadn’t become close to Leanne until senior year. Prior to that, Leanne had run with a different crowd. Mia remembered sitting behind her in study hall one semester of ninth grade. Each day, Leanne spent the period whispering stories about her weekend antics: the smoking and drinking, the guys, the parties at Cooper Lake.

  “But you had family,” Mia said softly.

  “That’s the only reason I haven’t blown her cover. Yet.” Leanne sighed. “I keep reminding myself that I had Aggie and Eddie when I hit rock bottom. Even my dad. He didn’t have much left to give by then, but he was better than nothing. And that’s what Rachel has. Nothing and nobody. That’s why I’m willing to keep this from Eddie until we come up with a solid way to help her. Besides, you’re right about him being a newspaper man. I don’t want to place Eddie in an awkward position.”

  Mia wasn’t surprised that, in addition to concern for Rachel, Eddie’s reputation played into Leanne’s decision. She also was not surprised that Rachel had managed to uproot the sad memories that Leanne kept buried deep inside of herself.

  A haunted look darkened Leanne’s eyes. “If I could somehow help that kid get her life on track and avoid a tragedy like—”

  “Call Aggie.” Mia placed a hand on Leanne’s arm and held her gaze. “We’ll buy some time. Then we’ll decide later how to straighten this all out.”

  Only seconds after Leanne disappeared into the kitchen to use the more private phone line, the bell over the shop door tinkled and Cade walked in.

  He met Mia’s gaze, then scanned the kids at the tables, speaking to this one and that one as he made his way to the counter. “Afternoon, Mia.”

  She straightened her apron. “Sheriff.”

  He pulled an envelope from his coat pocket, handed it to her. “I got what you asked for.”

  After opening the envelope, Mia skimmed the warrant, her pulse thumping. “So where would you like to start?” She swept an arm in the direction of the entryway leading behind the counter. “Help yourself.”

  He came around and headed for the swinging doors to the kitchen.

  “Don’t forget these cabinets under the work station,” she said with a hint of teasing sarcasm, tapping her knuckles against the stainless steel. “How old did you say the girl is? Thirteen? Fourteen? A child that age could probably squeeze under here.”

  His stare made Mia ask herself why she was being so hard on him. Why did it irritate her that Cade didn’t trust her? He was only doing his job. And, in truth, she was guilty of what he suspected. Besides, she didn’t trust him, either, did she? If she did, she would simply turn Rachel over and let him handle the matter.

  Still, she hoped that Leanne ended her conversation with Aggie before Cade got back there. Or at least talked softly so he wouldn’t hear. Mia understood why she and her friends would risk themselves to save a girl they’d never laid eyes on before. The reasons were all tangled up in their pasts, in mistakes they’d made. Maybe, for all of them, Rachel represented a second chance to do things right.

  Ten minutes later, after looking in every closet, the storage room, a couple of kid-sized boxes and out in the Dumpsters lining the back alley, Cade gave Mia a curious glance. Then he went out front and checked under the work area cabinet like she’d teasingly suggested. Mia supposed the thought crossed his mind that she might’ve been trying to throw him off guard by stating the truth.

  “You satisfied?” Leanne asked when he came back into the kitchen. She pursed her lips, one fist perched on an out-thrust hip.

  “I’ll grab my purse and follow you to the house so you can look there, too,” Mia said, starting for the back door.

  “I’ve already searched it.” He sounded disgruntled, impatient, ready to strangle somebody.

  Pausing with her hand on the coat rack, she looked back at him. “You broke into my house?”

  Behind Cade, Leanne winked and cocked her head toward the phone.

  “Aggie let me in.”

  “She did?”

  “You sound surprised.” He crossed his arms, scowled. “What was Aggie doing at your place by herself, anyway?”

  Mia’s stomach slid slowly down to her toes. “Didn’t she tell you?”

  “Yes, she did. What’s your version of the story?”

  “She felt a migraine coming on,” Leanne said calmly.

  Cade glanced back at her. “I was asking Mia.”

  When he turned around again, Mia said, “She had a migraine.”

  Leanne stepped forward. “Aggie didn’t want to start the drive to the farm and have a headache hit her like a freight train halfway there.”

  “And so she went to my place to lie down until it passed,” Mia finished, picking up on the lie Aggie had obviously relayed to Leanne over the phone.

  “That’s what Aggie said.” Cade didn’t appear convinced. “Apparently potato chips and rock videos are good therapy for her headaches. Oh, and pizza. A small sausage, pepperoni and mushroom arrived right after I did.”

  Behind Cade, Leanne grinned and turned away. “Well,” Mia said, “Aggie can’t let her blood sugar get low.”

  “Or her cholesterol, apparently,” Cade added.

  She cleared her throat. “So I take it you didn’t find anything?”

  “Does that surprise you, too?”

  “Of course not. Just stating the obvious.”

  Cade started for the swinging doors. “I’ll be watching you, Mia.”

  “You’ll be wasting your time.”

  “You, too,” he said to Leanne when he passed her.

  Leanne winked and smiled at him. “I’m flattered, Cade, but I’m a happily married woman. You know that.”

  Without smiling back, he pushed through the swinging doors and disappeared.

  Air rushed from Mia’s lungs and she staggered back against the refrigerator, one hand pressed to her pounding chest.

  Leanne laughed quietly. “Aggie thought he was the delivery guy from Papa Roni’s Pizza,” she whispered. “That’s why she opened the door.”

  “How on earth did she hide Rachel from him?”

  “She didn’t. Aggie said she was sure we were caught. But the only signs of Rachel in the house were an empty potato chip bag and MTV on the television. She even took her backpack with her. Luckily, Aggie had made her bed earlier.” Leanne chuckled. “Aggie didn’t call us right away because she went looking for Rachel. She didn’t have any luck, but when she returned to the house, she found her in front of the television chowing down on pizza.”

  “Where had she been?”

  “In somebody’s storm cellar a few stree
ts over from you.”

  “The Nelsons’.” Mia sighed. “Sneaky girl.”

  “Lots of experience at it, I’m sure.”

  “So they’re both at the house now?”

  Leanne nodded. “Aggie says she’d better get home soon, though. She told Roy she was working late then running some errands, but that was hours ago. How many errands can you do in Muddy Creek?”

  The phone interrupted their conversation. Leanne reached for it. “Brewed Awakening.” She winked at Mia and pointed to the receiver. “No, Roy, she left a while ago to run some errands.”

  Mia giggled.

  “I’m sure she’s fine.” Leanne paused, then said, “No, she didn’t say what she had in mind for your dinner. It’s not even three o’clock yet.” Shaking her head, she crossed her eyes at Mia. “What are you doing home so early, Roy? Shouldn’t you be farming?” Leanne winced. “Oh, no . . . are you okay?”

  Concerned that Aggie’s husband might be hurt, Mia sobered and stepped closer to the phone.

  “Your finger? Well, maybe she’s out buying Band Aids right now,” Leanne said into the phone, stifling a laugh.

  Relieved, Mia snickered.

  “Did Aggie tell you we’re having a short Red Hat meeting later this afternoon?” Holding the receiver away from her ear, Leanne winced again. Mia heard Roy’s booming voice; he sounded irritated. “Well, it was planned on the spur of the moment,” Leanne told him. “That’s probably why she forgot to mention it. We’ll be finished before dinnertime; we’re just having refreshments.” She said goodbye and hung up the phone. “Speak of the devil.”

  “You’d think the woman was ten years old, the way Roy keeps tabs on her,” Mia said with a laugh.

  “He calls out the cavalry if she’s gone more than an hour and he doesn’t know where she is.”

  “Let’s put the sign on the door and go ahead and close up. It’s been a long day and we have things to do.”

  “Good idea. I’ll shoo those kids out.”

  Chapter 5

  Would you like more lemonade, Rachel?” Mia asked.

  “No, thanks.” Rachel pushed away from Mia’s dining room table. She crossed the room, took Aggie’s wide-brimmed red hat off the buffet, put it on, then traded it for Leanne’s. “Why did y’all bring these?”

  “We ran home to get them and change clothes so our husbands would think our chapter’s having an afternoon tea.” Aggie lifted her cup. “Which is true enough. Just not the entire chapter.”

  Studying her reflection in the mirror over the buffet, Rachel asked, “What’s a chapter?”

  “A lady’s organization,” Mia explained.

  “A dress-up club?”

  Mia nodded. “You could say that.”

  Rachel glanced at all of them and asked, “Is that why you’re wearing purple?”

  “That’s right, sugar.”

  “I didn’t know grown women played dress-up. I’d feel stupid. I mean, even I’m too old for that.”

  Aggie tsked. “You’re never too old for a little good, silly fun.”

  Squinting, Rachel assessed each of them then returned her gaze to the mirror. She tilted the hat to one side to cover her right eye then struck a pose, her hand on one hip. The lashes on her exposed eye fluttered dramatically. She giggled. “Must be a weird club. Can I join?”

  Stretching both arms overhead, Leanne yawned and said, “Get back to us in thirty-six years.”

  “I didn’t really want to join the stupid club.” Rachel stomped to the table, jerked off the hat and threw it down.

  “Oh, sugar . . . don’t be hurt. Come back and sit with us.” Aggie motioned to the chair beside her. “We’d let you join if we could. You’re just not old enough yet.” She smiled at Rachel. “When you are, I bet you’ll fit right in, though. You looked sassy as can be in that hat. Didn’t you think so, Mia?”

  Too sassy, Mia thought. Too cute. Too sweet. Which made it all the harder to think about turning her in. Rachel had just given them a glimpse of the soft, vulnerable little girl beneath the scrappy, streetwise teenager. Mia knew she and Aggie weren’t the only ones who’d been charmed by Rachel over the last hour; Leanne had a smitten look in her eyes, too.

  Leanne sipped her tea and muttered, “She looked flirty, if you ask me.”

  “If that’s not the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is,” Aggie said, exchanging a look with Mia and laughing.

  It was already five-thirty and they had made no progress in deciding how to handle Rachel’s situation. In fact, they hadn’t even discussed it. Rachel had more important topics to talk about. Not that she’d been eager to talk initially. At first, she’d been as closemouthed and edgy as when they first found her, but as she became more comfortable around them, she’d loosened up. They had learned her favorite movie was Lord Of The Rings, that she “like really, really” wanted to pierce her belly button, that “older guys” who were sixteen and seventeen were so much hotter than guys her own age.

  Rachel wandered over to an empty chair where Leanne and Aggie had laid their coats. She touched the fur trim on Leanne’s. “Is this from a real leopard?”

  Leanne shook her head. “No, it’s fake.”

  “Good. I don’t like animals getting killed.” Rachel nibbled her lip and gave Leanne a tentative look. “Can I try it on?”

  “Sure. Go ahead.”

  The coat was too big, but Rachel’s eyes lit up when she pulled it around her. “It feels real.” She glanced at her feet. “You know what would look totally cool with this?”

  Leanne lifted a brow and smiled. “Those boots from Jesse’s?”

  Rachel nodded. “Only in brown suede instead of pink.”

  “That’s just what I was thinking.” Leanne smiled. “I’m just wild about those boots.”

  “I bet this coat’s expensive,” Rachel said, sounding dejected. “All the clothes I like cost too much.”

  “There are ways around that.” Leanne left the table and walked over to her. “When I was your age, I made most of my outfits. Sometimes I even took hand-me-downs and reworked them.” Facing Rachel, she zipped up the coat, reached around her and pulled the extra fabric together in back so that it fit her body more snugly. “A little nip here, a tuck there . . . I could make it my own design.”

  Rachel gazed up at her. “Did your mother teach you?”

  Still holding the coat in place at Rachel’s back, Leanne leaned away to take a look at her handiwork. “No, my mother died when I was eight.”

  Warmth spread through Mia as she watched them together. She saw their gazes meet briefly before Leanne averted her eyes.

  “I learned to sew in a homemaking class I took in junior high,” Leanne said. She turned Rachel around, moved her slightly so that she could see herself again in the mirror over the buffet across the room.

  Though the shoulders were still too wide, the sleeves and hem too long, Rachel smiled at her image. “I don’t have a sewing machine,” she said, running her hand across the fur lapel.

  Aggie sat forward. “I have an old one I never use. You’d be welcome to it.”

  “Who’d teach me to sew?”

  “Leanne could teach you.”

  Leanne let go of the coat and scowled at Aggie.

  Aggie seemed not to notice. “The machine’s portable. I could bring it over here tomorrow and you could give her a quick lesson, just to get her started.”

  “Would you?” Rachel blinked wide eyes at Leanne. “I want to make some halter tops for this summer. The older girls at my school? They wear them all the time when it’s hot. Not to school, though. They’re not allowed. But to movies and stuff. They look like they’d be really easy to make.”

  “I don’t know, Rachel.” Leanne returned to the table, her back to the girl. “It’ll depend on what happens tomorrow.”

  The excitement in Rachel’s face disappeared. She slipped the coat off and carried it back to the chair. “You mean, it’ll depend if you tell the sheriff about me or not.”
She turned and ran from the room.

  “Rachel—” Mia pushed back her chair and stood.

  Aggie touched her arm. “Let her go. That was my fault.”

  Leaning against the table, Leanne sighed. “What were you thinking, Ag?”

  “I wasn’t. It’s just so much fun having a young girl around. I suppose I was wishing she could stay. She makes me think of my granddaughters.”

  A sense of helplessness swept through Mia. “So what are we going to do?”

  “Don’t look at me,” Leanne said. “I’m more confused than ever.”

  “Maybe we should just sleep on it tonight.” Aggie began gathering the teacups. “Surely the answers will be clear to us in the morning.”

  Two hours later, Aggie carried a couple of bowls of chili to the kitchen table where Roy sat reading the newspaper. Mia had the right idea at lunch, Aggie thought. It was chili weather. Cold, snowy and gray. Aggie had passed up the chili Mia made for Rachel’s lunch, since she had consumed two sweet rolls, a carton of yogurt, and an apple that morning. But now, after the close call with Cade followed by Rachel’s emotional scene, she was in dire need of some stress relief. Nothing worked better for that than a big ol’ pot of Texas comfort food.

  Besides that, chili was Roy’s favorite, and she wanted him in a good mood when she told him the idea she’d come up with on the way home from Mia’s house. When it came to convincing Roy of anything, she knew to lay her groundwork first then ease into it.

  She set Roy’s bowl in front of him, put hers at the place beside him then went to take a pan of cornbread from the oven.

  Roy folded the section of paper containing the evening television programming and tossed it aside. “We might as well just throw the set out the window,” he rumbled. “Not a damn thing worth watching these days. Nothing on but that reality crap. If eatin’ worms and runnin’ races half nekkid on some beach with a bunch of strangers is the world’s new reality, we’re moving to the Twilight Zone.”

  “Ha!” Aggie pulled out her chair and sat. “The U.S. Army couldn’t drag you off this farm.” She sliced the cornbread and served him a piece. “How’d the fence building go today, anyway?”