“Hi, are you Mason?” Holly asked politely.
Mason nodded. “Do I know you?” He looked concerned as he tried to figure out who Holly was.
“No, I don’t think so,” she said shaking her head. “My name is Holly Lewis. I’m a friend of Missy’s from the church. She had something happen there, and she’s sending me around to see if anyone can help us piece together what happened. Is it okay if I talk to you for just a few minutes?”
Mason looked back into the house before nodding. “Okay, but we’ll have to do it out here on the porch.” He pushed open the screen door and tentatively stepped out.
“That’s fine. Whatever works for you,” Holly reassured him. She stepped back as he joined her on the porch.
“What happened?” Mason asked as he took a seat in one of the two plastic lawn chairs on the porch. Holly followed his lead and sat down in the other one.
“Well, it seems some food went missing from a storage room there,” Holly said. Mason’s eyes became wide as he looked at her. She began to wonder if perhaps he did it, because he looked stricken, like a deer caught in the headlights. “Do you know anything about it, Mason?”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t. Sorry.” He looked down and away from her. Holly had a feeling he wasn’t telling her everything. Somehow, she needed to get him to lower his defenses. After all, he was a teenage boy, and they weren’t exactly known for being open and forthcoming.
“Missy isn’t mad at whoever did it,” she continued. “She’s more concerned that someone in town was hungry enough to steal food. She’s worried they may need more or that they’re going hungry and they don’t need to. Missy is always there to help, if anyone needs it.” Holly waited and let her words sink in. She could tell by his expression that Mason was thinking hard about something. If only she could figure out what.
“Maybe they didn’t think they could get help,” he said. “Maybe they thought they didn’t deserve it.”
“Everyone deserves help, Mason,” Holly said gently. “They just have to put their pride away and be willing to let others know they need it.”
“I didn’t take the food,” he said softly. “But I did think about it.”
Holly was a little surprised. “Oh?” she asked. “Why is that?”
“My mom has been working two jobs, and we still hardly have anything to eat most of the time. She’s got a guy she likes coming over for dinner, and she’s been stressing about how she can fix him dinner, because she doesn’t have enough money to buy much. I didn’t want her to worry about it. I wanted to help in some way, but I promise I didn’t do it,” he said quickly. “I just thought about it.”
“I still need to ask,” Holly said carefully. “Where were you night before last?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” he said brightening. “Mom came home and told me she didn’t have to go into work at her second job that night.” He smiled as he remembered. “We got to spend the evening watching movies. We also were talking about what might happen if she gets this new job she applied for. It might sound corny, but it’s a thing we do. We try to keep it positive by doing a little wishful thinking.”
“That sounds nice,” Holly said with a smile.
“It is,” he said as he grew more comfortable. “Sometimes when it seems like things just keep going wrong, it helps to imagine them going right.”
“I might have to try that sometime,” Holly said as she thought about her situation with Brigid and Linc. Not to mention Fiona’s postpartum depression.
“My mom seems to think it’s like magic. I don’t know about that, but it is a fun way to pass the time with her.” Mason seemed to have said it before he realized he had, and then he was embarrassed.
“It’s good that you have something like that you can do with your mom,” Holly said, hoping he wouldn’t stay embarrassed. “Not all kids have that.”
“She’s the greatest,” he said softly. “She’s always trying to do everything. I don’t get to see her much, but when I do, she never complains about being tired, even though I know she has to be. I can’t imagine what it would be like if I had to go to school, come home for five minutes, and then turn around and go back to school again,” he sighed. “It’s got to suck.”
“I’m sure it does,” Holly agreed. “I hope she gets the other job. That way you guys can spend more time together.”
“Thanks,” Mason said. “I hope so too.”
“Well, I want you to know,” Holly began, “that if you guys ever need something, like food or whatever, let Missy know. She may not be able to provide anything fabulous, but it would be better than not eating. I’m also going to talk to her about some sort of meal where people can come and share. We want to help empower those in need and take a little bit of the burden off of them. That way they can get a foot up.”
“Okay,” Mason said nodding. “But my mom doesn’t like to accept charity or help. She thinks she has to do it on her own.”
“Well, you can try to talk to her,” Holly suggested, “But if things get really tight, just go to Missy yourself. Let her know what’s going on, and she’ll keep it between you two. You can always say you mowed someone’s lawn or did something else to earn the money,” she said.
“You know, I was a little nervous when you first showed up, but now I’m glad you did. It’s kind of reassuring to know that someone out there cares,” Mason said.
“No problem,” she said as she stood up. “Well, I better get going. I have one other person to talk to before I head home. Do you have something to eat for tonight?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m good for now.”
“Okay,” she said with a nod. “I’ll see you around then. It was nice meeting you.”
“It was nice meeting you too,” he said as he stood up from his chair. “Thanks for coming by.”
“Thank you for being honest with me,” Holly said as she climbed on her bike. “You’d be surprised how many people will lie over the simplest things.”
“That’s one thing I try to not do,” he said with his hand on the screen door. “I learned a long time ago that lying only digs you in deeper and gets you in more trouble than you would have been in to begin with.” He pulled the screen door open and gave her a little wave before going back inside.
CHAPTER 17
As she began heading back toward Ava’s house, her phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, she saw it was Missy. She hit the button to answer it and slowed down.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Holly, it’s Missy. How many people have you had a chance to talk to?” she asked.
“Everyone but Ava Greene, why?” Holly questioned.
“Oh, good. Don’t worry about Ava today. She and her family will be at the Fourth of July picnic down at the park tomorrow. I just spoke with her dad. I thought if you wanted to hold off finding out what she knows until tomorrow, it’s fine with me,” Missy said. “That is, unless you’ve already figured out who it was?”
“No, so far everyone has an alibi for that night, and they say they know nothing about it. I haven’t checked to see if their alibis are valid. Right now, I’m just taking them at their word. There’s no need to assume they’re lying unless I have a reason to think so.” Holly came to a stop on the sidewalk, so she could focus on the conversation.
“I agree. That’s fine. Are you still going to help serve food tomorrow?” she asked.
“Of course, unless you have something else in mind?” Holly asked.
“I think I’ll still have you help, but I want to put you somewhere so you can talk to Ava when she shows up. Somewhere that you aren’t necessarily needed as much. Come find me when you get there, okay?”
“Sure, not a problem,” Holly agreed.
“Good. Just relax tonight and enjoy yourself. You’ve earned it,” Missy said. Holly agreed and ended the call. She wasn’t sure about relaxing, but there wasn’t much else to do but head home. Rather than take the direct route, she decided to take the long way home. It wasn’t like anyone wa
s expecting her. She started to pedal, allowing her mind to clear as the breeze pushed her hair back. There was no reason she couldn’t enjoy a nice bike ride to nowhere.
It was a beautiful day, not too hot and not too cool. Big, fluffy white clouds dotted the sky, occasionally casting shadows on the ground. Holly was looking forward to the holiday. The Fourth of July was an underappreciated holiday in her mind. You got to blow things up and eat lots of watermelon and other great outdoor finger food. Everyone got together for picnics and celebrations, plus, it was rarely ever rainy. Hot, sure, but it didn’t often rain on the Fourth of July hard enough to ruin everyone’s plans.
Holly did her best to focus on all the good stuff in her life as she slowly pedaled. She remembered she’d been saving money for whatever, so maybe she should start looking at cheap cars. She didn’t know much about them, but she was hopeful with what she had stashed away she could find something.
After her birthday, she’d ride her bike up to the DMV office and get her permanent driver’s license. Then, she’d be on the hunt for something to drive around. Surely someone could help her if it needed some repairs or something. Maybe even Wade’s dad.
With a plan in mind, she felt a smile playing across her lips. Even if Linc and Brigid were going to ignore her birthday, it would still come. She would still turn sixteen, and nothing could stop that from happening. Even if she didn’t get a birthday party.
*****
“There she is,” Missy said as she leaned over towards Holly. Missy was scooping out baked beans while Holly stood nearby offering napkins to those in line. Missy was motioning towards a family that had just gotten in line. Holly recognized them from their online photos and nodded.
“I’ll wait for them to get their plates and settle in before I bother them,” Holly said softly.
Missy nodded. “Whenever you see an opening, go for it. I trust you,” she said.
Holly watched as they made their way through the line. The father was encouraging his kids to get whatever they wanted, and he smiled softly at each of them. Ava seemed to help her little brother a lot, and Holly could see that the little girl had grown up too fast. She was like a young woman in a little girl’s body. It was sweet to see how polite they were, but it was heartbreaking to know what they were going through. She knew too well what it was like to have to deal with situations that were meant for someone much older.
Even though the three of them had sat down and begun to eat, Holly decided to wait just a little while longer, not wanting to interrupt their family time. Who knew how often they got it and the entire scene was so sweet. Eventually they finished eating, and Holly saw Ava take off for the restroom while her little brother went to play on the swings.
“I’ll be right back,” Holly whispered to Missy and she nodded.
Slowly, she walked in the direction where Ava had gone. Ava came out of the restroom and went running toward the swings to join her brother. She looked happy and was smiling. Holly kind of hoped that Ava hadn’t done it. She didn’t want to be the one to take that smile off the young girl’s face. The only thing that kept her putting one foot in front of the other was the fact that if Ava was the one who had taken the food, Holly might be able to help her. She could make sure that Ava wouldn’t have to worry about grown up stuff anymore.
When Holly reached them, Ava’s little brother jumped from the swings and took off for the nearby merry-go-round with a few other boys. Holly saw this as the perfect opportunity to talk to Ava. She sat down in the swing next to her and pushed off.
“Hey, you’re Ava, right?” Holly finally said. The young girl looked worried as she talked to her. “It’s okay, Missy sent me to talk to you. I’m a friend of hers. My name is Holly Lewis.”
“I’ve heard of you,” Ava said after a moment. “Your mama passed away.” She didn’t say it rudely, just as a matter of fact.
“Yes, that’s true,” Holly said nodding. “Can I ask you something?”
Ava nodded. “Sure.”
“Missy had someone take some stuff from the church the other day. We wondered if you might know what happened?” Holly asked gently. “Did you see anything?”
Ava looked down at her feet as she continued to swing. She shook her head with a quick movement, but Holly could tell that she wasn’t telling the truth.
“Are you sure?” Holly asked. “Whoever it is, they aren’t in trouble. We just want to find out who it is, so we can help them. You see, the person took food. We think that they were just hungry and trying to help their family. If we can find who it was, we can help them. Missy doesn’t want whoever it is to feel bad about it, because she’s sure they needed the food, and she wants them to know it’s okay. We want to help whoever it was.”
Ava looked over at Holly. Her eyes were fearful, but there was a glimmer of hope there. “She’s not mad at them?”
“Not at all,” Holly reassured. “Not even a little bit.”
“So why does she want to find them? Maybe they don’t want her to know who they are.” Ava may have been young, but she was obviously very smart.
“I can see that,” Holly said nodding. “But sometimes we have to trust people, and know they aren’t trying to hurt us, that they just want to help. Good people often want to help us be safe, maybe take some of our worries away. You trust Missy, don’t you?”
Ava nodded. “She’s really nice.”
“She is,” Holly agreed. Then she decided to try another tactic. “You know, Missy helped me once.”
“She did?” the girl asked as her eyes grew wide. “How?”
“Well, you see, my mom didn’t take very good care of me when she was alive. Sometimes I didn’t have shoes that fit or enough food to eat, so Missy helped me out. She’d make up little bags of food or something for me to take home. Or she’d find a pair of shoes from what had been donated to the church. She was always trying to take care of me.”
Holly could see that the girl was listening to every word she said and taking it all in. Holly had a feeling Ava was looking at her in a completely different light. As if she might be able to understand what Ava had been going through.
“Wow, she did that for you?” Ava said. She brought her swing to a stop and stared at Holly as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“She did,” Holly said sympathetically. It was tough to be a kid who had adult responsibilities, taking on duties that they were too young to have to worry about. How many times had Holly worried about how they were going to pay the utility bill? “Is there anything you need help with, Ava?”
The little girl's eyes began to glisten as tears formed. When she closed her eyes, one tear slipped down her cheek and she nodded. “I took the food.” She said it so quietly that Holly wanted to make sure she’d heard her.
“You took the food, Ava?” Holly asked with no judgement in her voice.
Ava nodded. “I did. I’m sorry, but I was just so hungry and so was my brother. My daddy has been trying so hard but…”
“I understand,” Holly said reassuringly.
Ava looked over at her dad who was busy talking to a friend. “My dad will be so mad,” she whispered as she started to cry harder.
“It’s okay,” Holly said as she stood up from her swing. “Let’s go talk to Missy, all right?”
“I’ve felt so bad for what I did,” she explained as she stood and began to walk. “But I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Hey, you don’t have to explain yourself to me,” Holly said reassuringly. “I’ve been where you are right now, remember? I know how scary it is to not have food to eat. Other kids used to look forward to summer vacations. I hated them, because I didn’t know what I was going to eat. At least at school I could get breakfast and lunch.”
“And you promise she’s not going to be mad at me, right?” Ava asked, her eyes very big. She looked like the little girl she was.
“Trust me, Ava, it’s going to be just fine. I’ll stay with you the whole time.” Holly reach
ed out her hand to Ava, and she took it. Together, they headed over to where Missy was standing under a tree. The little girl squeezed her hand tighter the closer they got to Missy. Holly knew she was nervous but that there was no reason to be. She gave the little girl’s hand a reassuring squeeze.
CHAPTER 18
“Missy?” Holly said when they’d gotten closer to her. Missy’s back was turned to them, but she quickly turned around and gave them her full attention.
“Yes?”
“I have something to tell you,” Ava said. Her eyes and her nose were red from her tears. Missy glanced at Holly before returning her focus to Ava.
“What is it, honey?” she asked as she leaned over to lower herself to Ava’s level.
“I know who took the food,” she said innocently. “And they’re really sorry.”
“I’m sure they are,” Missy said gently. “I’d like the chance to tell them that I’m not mad at them.”
“You sure?” Ava asked.
“Positive,” Missy said nodding. “Ava, did you take the food?”
She nodded. “We just hadn’t had anything good to eat in so long. And sometimes we barely get to eat once a day. Daddy is trying really hard, but stuff is so expensive.” Her words came out in a rush as her face bunched up with worry and frustration.
“Ava, it’s okay. Everything is going to be fine,” she said in a consoling tone of voice. “Thank you so much for telling me.” Missy patted her arm. “You don’t need to be upset anymore. It will be just fine, I promise.”
“I explained to her that you used to help me, and that it doesn’t have to be a big deal. No one has to know about it,” Holly interjected.
“That’s right,” Missy said with a nod. “But we will have to talk to your dad.” Ava’s eyes grew wide, and Missy continued. “It’s going to be okay, Ava, I promise. I just want to explain to him that I’m here to help.”
“He doesn’t want us asking for help,” Ava explained. “He said he’s doing his best, but if we talk about what we don’t have, he starts picking up even more work time when he can or looks for a second job. We hardly see him as it is. We miss him.”
Holly Lewis Mystery series Box Set Page 35
