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She sat low in the seat as she pulled alongside the curb on Main Street, where the fenced in schoolyard faced the street. From here, she had a good view of the kids as they came out of class and stood in the lunch line as it snaked outside.
Now that spring had arrived and the temperatures rose into the sixties, the kids ate their lunch outside under the large awning that covered the tables. Some kids wandered past the tables and on to the grassy knoll area as Maggie craned her neck toward the passenger side of the car.
She noticed Lexi standing alone in the lunch line, and her heart dropped. She’d hoped that by now Lexi would be part of a group of girlfriends. Instead, she looked so helpless and alone.Lord, when will the mistakes stop adding up?
She should have never moved back to Harte’s Peak,never agreed to move out here at Paula and Richard’s insistence. Being close to extended family or not, Lexi had been forced to abandon all her friends. No wonder she was having such a difficult time. Maggie shut her eyes against the pain.
No. She wouldn’t go there again. God had pulled her out of that, out of the darkness and depression that had threatened to ruin everything.
When Maggie opened her eyes again, and with what looked to be an answered prayer, Lexi was no longer alone. But theproblem with this new picture was that Anton had sidled up next to her, and in a matter of seconds, the two were holding hands. Lexi and Anton looked like much more than friends.
A few of the kids stared in her direction, causing Maggie to slink down further in her seat. There was nothing wrong with watching her own kid, but she sure didn’t want Lexi to see her.
She heard another car pull up beside her and turned to see Jack and Ryan in the cruiser. Jack, sitting in the passenger seat, leaned out the window and motioned for her to roll down her own.
Busted.She swallowed and obeyed his request.
“Yes?”
“Maggie, what are you doing here?” Jack’s brow was furrowed in confusion. Surely, he didn’t suspect her of doing anything wrong.
“Why? Is there a problem? I’m not parked illegally, am I?”
She tried to dig up some righteous indignation from where she’d left it behind, somewhere in her teen years. Stupid police, ruining her good time.
“We just got a call that someone suspicious in a vehicle was observing the kids from the street,” Jack said.
“And actually, you shouldn’t park here,” Ryan said from the driver’s side.
He probably loved this, her punishment for turning him down. She couldn’t go out with Ryan when anyone with a lick of sense could see he and Vera belonged together. Not that she could go out with anyone, but especially not Ryan.
Both of them looked as if they could hardly keep a straight face. Ryan turned his face away from her, but she noticed his shoulders shaking, and Jack bit his lip as though he was trying not to smile.
Lord, please let the ground open up and swallow me whole.
The cruiser had now gathered them even more attention, and some of the students began to turn their heads and stare in their direction. If Lexi noticed her, she’d never live this down. She had to get out of here, and fast.
“I’m sorry. I’ll leave now if that’s OK. If you want to give me a ticket, follow me.”
She didn’t wait for an answer but started up the car again and pulled out into traffic praying they wouldn’t follow, sirens blazing.
Soccer mom, caught loitering, evades police.
She’d probably make tomorrow’s headline in the Harte’s Peak Times.A check of the rearview mirror told her they were not following her. Maggie rubbed her neck and tried to ease the strain.
Back at the café, Maggie explained what had happened to Vera, leaving out as many embarrassing details as possible.
“Don’t worry. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Vera didn’t crack a smile, no doubt realizing Maggie’s mortification.
“How do I know that? Somebody thought I was suspicious. And isn’t there some law about loitering near a school or something?”
“Calm down, Maggie. As long as Lexi didn’t see you, that’s all you really had to worry about.”
“You didn’t see the look on Jack’s face. Let alone Ryan, who looked like he would burst out laughing at any second.”
“Forget about Ryan. Anyone knows you’re an overzealous mom, not some kind of criminal. Take it easy.”
Overzealous mom. Is that what I’ve become?
