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“You were definitely smart enough,” I said, with a subdued smile of my own. “You just chose not to apply yourself.”
She laughed, then seemed to realize what she’d done and lifted her thin fingers up to her lips, as though trying to push it back in. “Well, TJ doesn’t give her the chance to slack off. He expects better.”
I doubled back to something she’d said earlier. “You said TJ didn’t let Ava have her phone last night. Was she being punished for something?”
“Oh, no,” she said, then pushed a button to grind the beans. Once it started, she walked over to the island across from me. “TJ believes teens spend too much time on social media, so we limit the amount of time she spends on her phone.”
I didn’t disagree with that, in fact, I was pretty certain social media had a detrimental effect on teens, but that was beside the point at the moment.
The runaway theory was becoming more and more likely. So why was my stomach still a ball of nerves?
“What time did you have dinner?”
“At seven. TJ works long hours at the family business, so we often eat late, especially lately, which is why we schedule it. He puts it in his calendar like a meeting.”
“What’s the family business?”
“Peterman Manufacturing. Right now they manufacture small appliances. They got a new contract a few months ago and it’s taking more of TJ and his father’s attention than they’d planned.”
“TJ’s father’s the owner?” I asked.
She nodded. “But TJ is a vice president. He helps his father negotiate contracts and finds new business. He’s also the one who deals with all the regulations on manufacturing and waste.”
“How many people does Peterman Manufacturing employ?”
“One hundred and forty-three people from all over the area.”
“Is TJ’s brother also a vice president?”
Her face clouded. “No. He doesn’t work for his father.”
“What does he do?”
A tight smile stretched across her face. “He works for Sunco Inc. They’re kind of Peterman’s rival.”
“In manufacturing?”
She nodded. “Travis just got them a deal with Walmart.”
“I would guess a deal with Walmart is something big.”
She nodded again. “You have no idea.” Her voice lowered. “TJ works on getting contracts like that too, only he’s never got a deal as big as Walmart.” She grimaced. “Thanksgiving and Christmas were a bit tense last year.”
“I bet.” Which brought me back to what we’d been discussing. “So y’all sat down to dinner at seven last night. What time did Ava leave the table?”
She ran a hand over her head, frowning. “About seven-twenty. She was angry and took her plate into the kitchen.”
“Was there a chance she left the house then?” I asked. “Went out the back door and you just thought you saw her in bed at nine?”
She shook her head. “I talked to her when I told her goodnight. And even if I hadn’t, I heard her stomp up the stairs and slam her bedroom door. In fact, TJ was pretty pissed about it and wanted to go up and ground her.”
“But he didn’t?”
“No,” she said with a grimace. “I convinced him that preteen girls need to blow off steam, but I suspected he still planned to ground her. He was just placating me by not going up then.”
“I’m guessing TJ’s the disciplinarian,” I said.
Her eyes widened. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I do discipline her.”
