“Is none of your business.”
“Let the man speak, Webb,” Marco interrupted impatiently.
“I know you’re angry with me,” Luke said. “I don’t blame you. I want you to know that I truly didn’t understand your custody situation at the time Aiden went missing. As you know, I haven’t lived in town long. Roberta—Ms. Oliver—said there was no reason not to let him go with her, and I assumed she would know since she’s the principal. Clearly, she didn’t know—or chose to ignore what she knew—and I neglected to verify. I take responsibility for that, and it willnothappen again on my watch.” He cleared his throat. “Which is why I thought you should know that your wife?—”
“Ex-wife.”
“Yes, sorry.” Luke sounded impatient now, too. “Amanda Sunday has requested to be copied on all schoolcommunications regarding your son, which is allowed under the terms of your current custody agreement.”
Webb narrowed his eyes. “Copied on school communications. And that means?”
“That she’ll get copies of his progress reports, his absence reports, his report cards, and his school pictures. She can volunteer at the school?—”
“She doesn’t live in Little Pippin Hollow.”
Luke shrugged. “Then maybe that’s a moot point. I’m only telling you what I know because I thoughtyoushould know. And also…” He hesitated. “I learned today that Roberta Oliver’s brother-in-law—or something like that—is dating your wi—ex-wife, so Roberta’s not exactly impartial here. Do with that information what you will.”
Webb nodded grudgingly. “Thank you.”
Luke nodded. “I’ll stop by the barn to see Aiden’s project. You all enjoy your evening.”
I looked at Gage and saw the same concern I was feeling reflected in his eyes. It was time for me to be more aggressive about offering him the legal help he needed.
I glanced at Aiden’s teacher and could have sworn I saw him glance back at Webb with a look in his eyes that went well beyond professional concern.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
GAGE
A few weeks later,the weather had gotten noticeably colder, and I was finally beginning to realize what leaf peeping meant. The fresh air invigorated me on my walk to the farmhouse to find Webb.
“Morning, Gage. What’s up?” Webb slid his mug of coffee onto the table in the farmhouse kitchen, took a seat across from me, and snagged a piece of pumpkin bread from the platter between us. His thick, dark hair was coated liberally with fake cobwebs from the Halloween decorations he’d been putting up, and tiny bits of purple glitter dust sparkled in his beard.
Drew, who sat at the head of the table between us with his walking boot propped on a chair, shot me an amused look that I returned.
“Okay, I know you’re busy prepping for the haunted hayrides this weekend, but I wanted to give you guys kind of a progress report so you’d know what you’re spending your money on?—”
“Hey.” Webb held up a hand and gave me a serious look—or as serious as he could muster when he glinted under the overhead light like the love child of Paul Bunyan and a fairy princess. “There’s no rush, Gage. You’re doing amazing. Everything you’ve done already has been great.”
“Agreed,” Drew echoed.
“And if you need to slow down so you can work on Pipsy or another side project?—”
I smiled. “I don’t, I promise. But speaking of side projects, I present…” I turned around the tablet in my hands. “The Pond App. Figured that name fit since there’s already a Pond Orchard and a Pond Meadow and whatnot, but we can change it if you like.”
Drew’s green eyes crinkled. “Love it.”
“M’kay, so, disclaimer. I have a ton left to do. Like, aton.The scheduling part of the app is running way behind. I’m waiting for a couple callbacks from your payroll company so I can integratethatwhole aspect. And I still need to find a workaround for your cider press controls,” I told Drew.
He waved this away. “It’s way too late to worry about it for this year. It’s all good, man.”
“Okay. But the good news is, the expense tracking section is working. And the irrigation section controls work, too—I’ve tested them extensively. And I set it up so that you can control all the lights in the house and the barn, though I’m thinking I should lock a lot of those features down, or else Aiden might turn on all the lights in the middle of the night just to see what would happen.”
Which was understandable, really. I’d had the same “what would happen if I…” brain when I was his age.
Webb frowned a little. “Don’t worry about that part. Aiden doesn’t have a phone. He’s too young.”
“Well.” I licked my lips. “That’s the side project I was referring to. Because… what if he did?No, hear me out. What if he had a phone where theonlyapp was the Pond App?”
