AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER21
When it came down to the nitty-gritty, nothing had changed. From the start, I’d thought there was something peculiar about Doc. Now, the only difference was that Iknewit.
Did I believe that he’d seen the ghost of Wolfgang’s mother? That she’d communicated with him from theother side? No. Not really. At least I didn’t think so. However, as I drove toward Aunt Zoe’s, his words replayed in my head. I was still trying to make sense of what I’d witnessed, of what he’d told me—which wasn’t much, seeing as how he was the same cryptic Doc he’d been before we’d stepped into the Hessler house.
I swung into Aunt Zoe’s drive and cut the engine. Layne frowned at me from the front porch, where he sat scrubbing on a bone as long as his arm—usingmyfoot scrubber. Damn it!
I slammed my door and strode toward him. “Layne, didn’t I tell you to quit using my pedicure tools on your artifacts?”
“Sorry, Mom. I forgot.” At least he had the decency to look sheepish for a second or two. “What are you doing home already?”
Doc and I had decided to skip lunch after what had happened at Wolfgang’s place. His excuse had been exhaustion, mine a lack of appetite. We’d both avoided eye contact on the ride back to the office, the rumble of his engine the only sound in the car.
“I decided to take the afternoon off.” I dropped onto the hard step next to Layne. The smell of bleach made my nose itch. I nudged his bucket of sudsy water a few inches away.
“Cool. You want to help me glue the spine together?”
“Sure.” I could use an Elmer’s-glue high this afternoon to take the edge off. My hands were still shaky with adrenaline aftershocks.
The screen door squeaked open.
“Layne, where’s my chicken leash?” Addy did a double-take when she saw me. “Oh, hi, Mom. When did you get home?”
“Just now.”
She let the screen door bang shut and joined us on the top step, a small bag of M&Ms in her hand. Her pinkie toe popped out of the side of her yellow canvas tennis shoe as she sat down. “I called you earlier but you didn’t answer.”
“What did you need?”
“Kelly asked if I can go school shopping with her and her mom tomorrow morning.” She dumped some candy in her mouth.
I still had a wheelbarrow full of doubts about Kelly in regards to the missing girls, but with nothing more than middle-of-the-night suspicions flapping around in my belfry, I knew better than to ban Addy from hanging out with her friend. Besides, what could possibly happen in a crowded shopping mall?
“Sure. You can take the early birthday money your Grammy sent and buy some new tennis shoes.” I wondered if Kelly’s mom’s girlfriend would be joining them. I’d have to pump Addy for answers when she got home.
“Sweet!” She rested her purple cast on her bent knees and smiled at me like we shared a secret. Her teeth had chocolate bits in them. “Are you excited about tonight?”
I squinted at her. “What do you think I’m doing tonight?”
“Going to dinner with a man.”
Earlier this week, when I’d informed the kids I’d be absent for supper for two nights in a row, I’d blamed work. Tonight’s dinner was supposed to be a class on mold spores, tomorrow was an open-house party with Wolfgang. While lying to my kids would blow my chance of winning a World’s Best Mom award for yet another year, the last thing I needed was Addy finding out I was on two different dates. Next, she’d have me signed up for the Singles Bingo Night at the Elks.
“Who told you I was going to dinner?”
Addy picked at the hole in her shoe. “I accidentally overheard Aunt Zoe talking to Natalie on the phone earlier.”
Accidentally?Right.
“You’re going out with a man tonight?” Layne’s tone overflowed with disapproval.
Layne was the other reason I’d lied about my dates. His man-of-the-house anxiety didn’t need any more fuel.
“She’s going out with Wolfgang tomorrow night, too.” Addy told him, and dumped the last of the M&Ms into her hand.
Thanks, big mouth. I stole a yellow M&M and popped it into my mouth. “Yes, but just to an open house. Remember?” I squeezed Layne’s wet hand.
The wrinkles lining Layne’s forehead multiplied. “Mom, you’re not going to get married, are you?”
