Lola seemed to relax once she realized Holly wasn’t there for any negative reasons. She stepped back from the doorway and smiled politely. “Please, come in.”
“Momma, look what I drew,” said a little boy as he came dashing over to the them.
“It’s beautiful,” Lola said lovingly. “Why don’t you go play in your room for a few minutes, Kane? I have a visitor I need to talk with.”
The boy eyed Holly before he nodded and took off down the hall.
“Sorry about that,” Lola said. “Have a seat.”
Holly followed her to the living room and took a seat on a well-worn sofa. Lola sat down in a wooden glider in the corner. The interior may not have been decorated with the latest trends, but it was very apparent that Lola cared for her home and did her very best to make it appealing and welcoming. It made Holly respect the woman, even though she didn’t know her.
“What kind of problem is Missy having?” Lola asked once they were seated. “Oh, where are my manners? Would you like something to drink?”
“No, thank you,” Holly said. “She found out the other day that some food had been taken from the food pantry in the back of the church. It was the day before yesterday, so that would have made it on Tuesday.”
“We weren’t anywhere near the church on Tuesday,” she explained. “We were over at the park. Kane was having a playdate with one of his friends from preschool.”
“I see,” Holly said nodding. “And how long were you there?”
“We stayed for quite a while,” Lola said, thinking. “I would say we got there around 6:30 or so and left around 8:00. I could ask Carrie though, if you need me to be more specific.”
“No, this isn’t an investigation. Missy didn’t want anything that complicated. We’re just trying to find out who took the food so we can hopefully help them, not punish them. She doesn’t think it should be a crime to be hungry,” Holly explained.
Lola seemed shocked but happy. “That’s beautiful,” she said. “I can’t tell you how often I’ve struggled to put food on the table. Thankfully, I have a job interview in the morning, but ever since my boyfriend left and I lost my job, I’ve been struggling. Actually, I feel like the word struggling doesn’t quite match what I’ve been going through lately. Whoever did it, I can completely relate to them.”
“Please, don’t ever go hungry again, Lola. Missy can help you,” Holly said. “She wants to come up with a better way to make sure everyone can get something to eat. I’m going to try to help her make that happen. We have some ideas, but nothing’s solid yet. Until then, I know she can make a little care package to tide you over if you ever need it.”
She suddenly saw Lola as her mother in better circumstances. Struggling and living in a trailer park, but still working hard to do better. Rather than going down the wrong road, this woman had chosen hope. It made Holly root for her all the more.
“Thank you,” Lola said with a tear in her eye. “That means a lot to me. I don’t have family or anyone I can turn to, so I’m on my own. For a while I’d skip meals just so I knew my little boy would have something to eat.”
“Well, you don’t need to do that anymore,” Holly said softly. “Please remember that. If you’re struggling, go to Missy. She’ll help in any way she can. If she can’t help you right then, she’ll find the resources to do so.”
“Okay. Thank you so much,” Lola said as she nodded.
“I better go. I need to keep looking for whoever took the food. They need help, and I want to make sure they get it,” Holly said as she stood up.
“God bless you, Holly Lewis,” Lola said as she stood up and walked over to hug Holly.
“I’m not doing anything special,” Holly said, clearly embarrassed.
“Oh, but you are,” Lola insisted. “You’re going out and doing what you can to help people. That’s very admirable.” She let Holly go and took a step back.
“I’m just trying to do what’s right,’ Holly explained.
“Good luck,” Lola said as she walked Holly to the door. “I hope you find who it is, and you’re able to help them.”
When Holly was back on the porch, she realized she felt a little awkward about Lola blessing her. She didn’t feel like she was the one who should be blessed. If anybody should be blessed, it was Missy. But when she thought about it, she realized what Lola had meant.
Missy couldn’t do it all by herself. She needed people to help her find the right people. Not only those who needed help, but those who were able to help. As she climbed on her bike, an idea began to form in her mind.
CHAPTER 15
After leaving Lola’s home Holly was frustrated, and she couldn’t quite decide why she felt that way. Maybe it was the fact that Lola was trying so hard and still didn’t seem like she was able to get ahead. That seemed unfair, but Holly reminded herself that Lola had said she had a job interview the next day. Maybe that would be the magic she needed.
Slowing her bike as she approached the corner, Holly stopped to take a moment to look at the other two addresses and decide who she was going to see next. While she was there, she mentally sent out a silent prayer for Lola.
Please, whoever is listening, help Lola, Holly thought. She’s trying so hard, and for her to be struggling like that just isn’t fair. Help her get the job that’s right for her with the pay she needs. Give her the means to do well for herself and little Kane.
Feeling better, Holly pulled out the folded piece of paper that she’d shoved in her pocket earlier. It looked as though Ava lived just one street over. She remembered how hard it had been to find her address. The young girl was too young to be active on social media, but with a little digging, Wade had been able to locate her father’s name and then, in turn, find their address. Holly pushed off and began to pedal toward their house.
When she got closer to it, she realized it was a rental trailer that another family had lived in when she and her mother had lived in the trailer park. The landlord was hard on his tenants and hardly ever fixed anything, even though he charged more than the rundown trailer was worth. Immediately, Holly’s heart broke for them.
Propping her bike against the side of the off-white painted trailer, she climbed the few wobbly steps and knocked on the door, patiently waiting for someone to come to the door. She listened, but didn’t hear any movement. After a few more moments, she knocked again. No one seemed to be home. She waited a little bit longer, then turned away from the door and returned to her bike.
It was getting warm out, and Holly was thirsty. She knew there was a corner store nearby, or she could go a little farther up the street to the large grocery store. She debated for a moment and finally settled on the corner store. She climbed back on her bike and headed in that direction.
When she used to live in this neighborhood, the corner store was where she’d go when she managed to get a few dollars from her mom. She’d hurry over there and grab some sort of a drink and snack. Over time, she’d gotten to know George, the man who was usually behind the counter. He was older, heavy set, and had kind eyes. Of Hispanic descent, he would often speak a few words to her in Spanish.
He would even, on occasion, let Holly have her drinks for free. She felt badly that she hadn’t been to see him since she’d moved in with Brigid. The corner store was out of the way, and truthfully, had a lot of memories she didn’t want to confront, but now it seemed as though it was time to face them.
As she rode her bicycle up to the store, the memories came flooding back. There were nights she wasn’t sure if she’d have enough money for anything in the store, and she often went for a long time without having any sort of a treat. Over time, she learned that George would always help her find something within her budget. Looking back, she figured he’d probably helped her out, even though she hadn’t realized it at the time. Climbing off her bike, she pulled the door open, barely able to hide her smile.
“Well I’ll be,” George said as he turned to see who had entered. “Look who it is.
I haven’t seen you in a month of Sundays.” George looked the same as always, and his grin was as large and wide as she remembered it when she’d first walked up to the counter. “I wasn’t sure you’d ever stop in here again.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” Holly said. “I wasn’t trying to avoid you or anything.”
“You don’t owe me an explanation,” he said kindly. “You had a lot going on, and I’m just a small store owner.”
“That’s not true,” Holly said as she moved towards the cooler and grabbed a bottle of her favorite drink. “You looked out for me, and I appreciate that. It was just, well, the memories,” she explained.
“I understand,” George said. “I heard about your mama and what happened afterwards with you. I’m so sorry. I tried to keep up on you with the stuff in the papers and with what gets said through the rumor mill, but you know how you can’t always trust what people say.”
“I appreciate that,” Holly said as she headed back to the counter. “How’s business?”
“Same as always,” he shrugged. “How’s the new family? I heard you live with that woman that helps the sheriff's department with some of their cases.”
“I do,” Holly said nodding. “Her name’s Brigid Olsen.”
“Does she treat you right?” he asked as he squinted one eye at her. Holly instantly thought of her birthday and the lack of response, but knew that wasn’t fair. Brigid had been nothing but kind and supportive to her.
“She does,” she said with a smile. “I couldn’t have asked for a better person to take me in.” She set her drink up on the counter.
“You going to get anything else?” he asked. “It’s almost lunchtime you know.”
“I don’t have a lot of money on me,” Holly said.
“I see that things haven’t changed much,” George smirked. “It’s on the house. Why don’t you get a doughnut or a slice of pizza, mija. Put something in that belly of yours.”
Holly wanted to object, but she knew George wouldn’t have any of it. He was a little like the uncle who would always insist you eat something whenever you came over. She didn’t feel like insulting him after all this time. “Okay, if you insist,” she said with a smile.
“You know I do,” he said as he watched her open the heated display case and pull out a slice of pizza. “If you have time, you should tell me what you’ve been up to.” His eyes were twinkling and considering Holly didn’t have a whole lot going on that day, she figured she could spare a little time to talk to an old friend.
“What do you want to know?” Holly asked as she leaned against the counter. She opened her drink and took a long swallow before taking a bite of pizza.
“How are your grades?” he asked first.
“Still as good as always,” she said proudly. “I’ve even started making a little money tutoring.”
“Good for you,” he said.
“I also work at Read It Again, the bookstore here in town,” she explained. “The woman who owns it is Brigid’s sister.”
“Now that’s something,” he said happily. “And what grade are you in now?”
“I’ll be a junior this year,” Holly said with a grin. “But I definitely don’t feel like it.”
“Wow. I can remember when you were just a tiny little thing. Coming in here with dirty hands and tears in your eyes. You have no idea how enojado con tu madre I always was, you know, so, so angry with your mother. I hated how you were always alone. I often worried about you.” George shook his head, a look of frustration on his face as he remembered. “But now I guess I don’t have to worry, hmm?”
“No, you don’t,” she said. “I also found out I have cousins, if you can believe that.”
“Oh, that’s maravilloso,” he said clapping his hands together. “Where are they?”
“They live in Missouri, but I went to visit them a while back. They said someday they want to come here and see where I’ve grown up,” she told him.
“If they ever do, please, bring them to see me. I’d love to meet them,” he said.
“I will,” Holly said with a nod. “But I have no idea when they may come for a visit.”
“No matter,” he said waving her away. “I’ll probably work here for the rest of my life, so there’s no rush. You know, I would really like it if you stopped by more often.”
“I will, George. I promise.” Holly looked around the convenience store and smiled. “I forgot how much I loved this place.”
“That’s good to hear. I always enjoyed having you come visit,” George said with a smile.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been to see you. I promise, I won’t wait so long for my next visit,” Holly vowed.
“What brought you in this time?” he asked. “Were you just in the neighborhood?”
“Something like that. I have some people who live around here that I’m talking to for Missy from the church. She kind of has me running a few errands for her,” Holly explained.
“That’s because you’re a trustworthy young lady. You should be proud of that.”
“I am,” she said. “But I feel terrible for the people I’ve been talking to. They aren’t much better off than I was when I was little. There are so many of them that struggle just to get by. How can that be?”
“Every person is different and has different circumstances. The important thing is to never forget that they are people. Just because they have less doesn’t mean that they are less,” he pointed out.
“I agree,” Holly said. “But I don’t think it’s fair that all these people have to struggle.”
“Life gives each of us our own lessons,” George pointed out. “We all have our own struggles to deal with in our time.”
“You’re right about that,” Holly sighed. “But I don’t have to like it.”
“Then perhaps you are someone who is meant to help change the way things are?” George suggested. That made Holly think. Was there anything that she could do to help these people? But maybe she already was and just didn’t know it yet.
CHAPTER 16
When she left George and the corner store, Holly headed in the direction of Mason’s house. Ava and her family may not be home right now, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be there later. She’d go talk to Mason and then check back over at Ava’s. Hopefully they’d be home when she went back.
It was starting to look as though one of the younger people on the suspect list was the culprit, unless one of the older suspects had been lying, but she doubted it. Holly knew she could always check their alibis, but she didn’t see any need to at the moment. Neither of them had given her the impression they were lying to her. If Mason and Ava both had alibis, then she’d start to poke around a little deeper and find out who was being untruthful.
Riding easily through the streets, Holly couldn’t help but remember her life before Brigid’s. This case was stirring up memories of things she’d all but forgotten like the long and lonely nights, wondering if her mom was ever coming home again. Wishing she had a father to help take care of her while her mom was who knew where and doing who knew what.
The memory of the first time her mother left her slammed into her with the force of a fist to the stomach. She hadn’t thought about it in a long time, but now it came rushing back with complete clarity. It was hard to say how old she’d been, but she knew she was little.
She’d been watching cartoons courtesy of the old broken-down antennae that was hooked to the top of the trailer. It was the only form of television they had at the time. Some guy Holly didn’t recognize had showed up, and her mom had invited him in and taken him to another room. When she came back, she’d spoken softly to Holly.
“I have to go somewhere with my friend, but I’ll be back. You’ll be okay, won’t you?” she’d asked. Holly could still see her face leaning down when she spoke to her.
Holly hadn’t said anything. She’d simply looked up at her mother with wide eyes.
“That’s a good girl. Just sit here and watch
your cartoons. There’s cereal if you get hungry. I’ll be back soon,” she promised as she gave her a kiss on the cheek. Holly remembered wanting to cry and beg her to stay, but she knew she’d probably get in trouble if she did. Besides, the man was scary looking, and Holly was nervous just being around him. Her mom had left without another word, leaving Holly staring after her.
It’s hard to say how long her mom had been gone that day. To a little kid, five minutes could feel like an hour. But she could clearly remember the cartoons ending and a painting show coming on. It was quite a while after that before her mom had finally come home, a smile on her face.
“Look at you,” she’d said. “All grown up and able to take care of yourself.”
After that, it happened more and more frequently. Eventually, Holly almost preferred it when her mother was gone to when she was around.
She shook her head, trying to get rid of the memory. She saw that the addresses were getting larger and knew she was almost at Mason’s house. It was time to focus on what she was doing and not worry about the past. This wasn’t the time to have a pity party. There were things that needed to be done, and they had to be done right.
Finally, she found the address she’d written down. It belonged to a small but cute little trailer. It wasn’t where she would expect someone having financial problems to live, but she knew better than to assume.
After all, she thought, just look at all the celebrities who have gotten caught stealing. Sometimes things weren’t as they seemed. Just because they appeared to be doing fine didn’t mean the kitchen cabinets weren’t bare.
Holly climbed off her bike and walked it up the sidewalk before she put down the kickstand. She approached the front door and pushed the button for the doorbell. After a few moments, the door was opened by a boy who didn’t look much younger than she did.
Holly Lewis Mystery series Box Set Page 34
