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“Aunt Melody, who left you that note on the window?” Tina asks. “It’s pink, like a Valentine’s Day card. Do you have a boyfriend?”
I sigh. This is exactly what I was afraid of. I didn’t want the kids to find out about this and start worrying. They might even try to spring a trap and find the guy, knowing how smart they are, and I’m afraid they’d get into some serious trouble doing it.
“No, it’s not for me. Someone must have left it on the wrong car.”
“Aunt Melody, are you going to talk to my teacher about my test grades? Because I promise I studied, I was just kind of sleepy last week,” Ryan explains. He’s been acting nervous all day, and now I know why.
“Well, we can’t always be perfect. But you do need to be in bed on time from now on.”
“Dang,” he whispers. Guess he didn’t think that excuse would backfire.
As I pull into the parking lot, I narrow down the list of suspects to two men. Both are single dads who give me a little too much attention when they’ve picked up their kids from my office. While I might just be reading into the curious looks, multiple health-related questions, and innocent small talk I’m subject to whenever I see them, it doesn’t stop me from doing my due diligence.
So Steve Mason and Gary Rivers are at the top of the list, for now.But having my suspects lined up is only part of the work. How do I go about interrogating them without letting them know I think they’re creeps? I don’t want to start a big problem for the school. I just want to identify my stalker and tell him to quit.
I walk in with the kids, who greet their friends as soon as they scurry up to Ryan and Tina. They rush off to the little game section meant to occupy the kids while the parents have their meetings.
I have another thirty minutes until my time slot with Ryan’s teacher, so I help myself to some punch and try to stake out one of my suspects. I wade through the sea of screeching kids and gossiping parents until I find suspect number one, Gary.
Gary’s son is in the stamp club with Tina. He once dropped her off at home after, so he knows where I live. And his son has asthma, so he’s in my clinic often.
“Hey, Gary!” I greet him, trying not to sound suspicious.
“Hm? Oh, you’re the nurse. Melody, right?” Gary asks.
Now that takes me aback. Is he pretending not to remember me? Or is he really not the stalker?
“Right. Our kids are in the same club, too.”
“Oh, right! Music appreciation club!” Gary says cheerfully. “Yeah, yeah you’re Sarah’s mom! She and Dustin are such good friends. Really looking forward to the birthday party next week.”
“Oh. Oh, no, I’m Tina’s guardian. Stamp club.”
Gary looks deeply embarrassed. He chugs down his paper cup of fruit punch before wiping his mouth and shrugging. “Oh, right. You’re the lady who wanted to do a show and tell night for the stamp projects.”
“That’s correct.”
“Not for nothing, but I wanted to tell you off when you first mentioned it. The kid says you’re a great nurse, so… I just chalked it up to different points of view. You don’t know what TV lineup is like on Tuesdays, I guess.”
I frown as Gary shuffles off while checking his watch. If he’s telling the truth, and I think he is, then he isn’t the culprit. Still, I can’t completely rule out that he might be a very good actor.
I check on the kids for a moment, seeing them crushing bean bag toss, and scan the cafeteria for suspect number two. Steve.
Steve has two girls, twins, in the gardening club. Ryan tried that one out last year, and the girls would bully him for not knowing the exact pH balance of fertilizer needed to grow blue hydrangeas. It’s unsurprising that the club didn’t work out for him. One of the girls also had an allergic reaction to a bee sting while planting tomatoes. It was the closest thing my clinic has seen to an actual medical emergency.
She was fine, of course. But Steve had freaked out like she was on death’s door. I stupidly gave him my address so he could bring her over for a checkup that weekend.
“Hey, Nurse Melody!” Steve says, seeing me before I see him. And that’s an immediate strike against him.
“Hi. Steve Johnson, right?” I ask, shaking his hand. “How is Annabelle doing?”
“Good, she’s good. I keep an EpiPen on me all the time now. Especially in the spring. Hey, I wanted to thank you again for saving her life. I was kind of frazzled out that day and not thinking clearly. I appreciate how you kept a cool head the whole time. Anyway, I wanted to get that out before the big move next month.”
I blink. “Move?”
“Yeah, I got a job offer in Seattle. The girls aren’t too happy about it, but when they get their own bedrooms in the new house, I’m sure that’ll change. Anyway, thanks again. Have a good one!” Steve moves on to another parent. It’s not the exchange I’m hoping for, but, oh well.
If the letters suddenly stop, I’ll know it was Steve, I guess. I still can’t rule him out, either.
