Authors: Sherryl Woods
Walking through the formal gardens here, she found a bench in the shade and sat down, then opened her backpack and took out her dog-eared copy of
Romeo and Juliet
. A lot of kids in her class thought it was wildly romantic, but she’d never gotten that. They’d
died!
And they were barely in their teens. If that wasn’t tragic, what was?
Besides, what kid at fourteen knew anything at all about love? Oh, she’d thought she knew all there was to know when she’d gotten that crush on Evan, but look how that had turned out. She’d never seen beyond the fact that he was good-looking and smart. It just proved that no matter how long you knew someone, you could never see inside to the person they really were unless they wanted you to. The whole experience had pretty much scared her off dating.
Ever since she’d picked up
Romeo and Juliet,
she’d been thinking about the whole idea of feuding families. Right now her mom and Marcie were pulling together, but Dani knew that would all fall apart if she told anyone about what Evan had done to her. She didn’t want to be responsible for her mom losing her best friend. And she liked Marcie, too. She’d been like a second mother. Sometimes Marcie was even easier to talk to than her own mom. She must be dying inside right now.
Because she didn’t want to think about any of that, Dani opened her book and started to read. Soon, she was lost in the story and time slipped by.
When her cell phone rang, she was jarred back to reality and noticed that the sun was riding low in the western sky. Digging the phone out of her backpack, she winced when she saw that it was her mom.
“Hey, Mom,” she said cheerily. “How are you?”
“I’m fine, but you are in more trouble than you ever dreamed of,” her mother responded in her sternest voice. “Where are you?”
“On my way home,” Dani said, standing up and shoving stuff into her backpack so it wouldn’t be a total lie. She knew instinctively that her mom’s mood didn’t have anything to do with her being late. Even though she hadn’t said it, she was ticked off because Dani had skipped school.
“Ten minutes, young lady.”
Dani winced. She’d have to take a cab to make it that fast, but she could tell her mom had run out of patience. “Sure. Ten minutes,” she agreed.
As soon as she’d hung up, she called for a taxi and went to wait at the front gate. Fortunately, the cab arrived in five minutes, which gave her about two minutes—give or take—to cover the three miles to the house. If she was
lucky, maybe her mom wasn’t sitting in the kitchen staring at the clock while she waited.
She had the driver let her out a few houses down the block, then ran the rest of the way home and breezed in the door. Sure enough, her mom was in the kitchen and she glanced at the clock when Dani came in and planted a kiss on her cheek.
“Sorry I’m late,” Dani said. “Dinner’s not burned or anything, is it?”
Her mother rolled her eyes. “With my cooking, a few minutes more or less won’t make that much difference, which you know perfectly well.”
“Then what’s the big deal?” Dani asked, sitting down at the table, which was set just for the two of them. “Where’s Josh?”
“He’s eating on campus, then going to the library.”
“Yeah, right,” Dani scoffed.
Her mother frowned at her. “At least he called.”
“I said I was sorry,” Dani reminded her.
“So you did,” her mother agreed. “But so far you’ve neglected to mention why you weren’t in your last three classes today.”
Dani winced. She’d known her mom would find out, though she’d hoped it wouldn’t happen quite this fast. The teachers might not report Dani to the principal for skipping, but they would tell her mom. She’d rather take whatever punishment the principal dished out any day over seeing the look of disappointment that was in her mom’s eyes right now.
“I didn’t feel good,” she said, improvising.
“Yet you didn’t see the school nurse. I checked.”
“It wasn’t that bad. Just a headache. I needed to get out and get some air.”
“And it never occurred to you to simply get a pass and come to my classroom, so I could give you an excuse? It was easier to play hooky?”
Dani flushed guiltily. “I didn’t want the aggravation.”
“No, what you didn’t want was to take a chance I’d say no and send you back to class,” her mother said, her expression unrelenting.
“I suppose.”
Instead of looking furious, her mom looked worried, which made Dani feel even worse.
“Sweetie, can’t you talk to me? I know this has something to do with Evan and everything that’s going on with him. It must be really hard on you to hear what’s being said about him.”
It was, but not for the reason her mom thought. Dani merely nodded. “It basically sucks.”
“The talk will die down,” her mother said. “Things will get back to normal soon.”
Dani stared at her. “How can they?” she asked incredulously. “He did a terrible thing. He could go to jail.”
Her mother gave her an odd look. “If he’s convicted, yes. But he might not be.”
“How can you say that? The girl accused him. The police have evidence or they wouldn’t have arrested him.”
“Maybe their case isn’t as solid as they’ve led everyone to believe,” her mother said.
“What makes you say that?”
“The detectives were here today.”
Dani’s heart began to pound so hard her chest hurt. “They were here? Why?”
“Seemed like a fishing expedition. They were asking if I’d ever noticed anything in Evan’s behavior suggesting he would be capable of something like this.”
“And that’s all?” Dani asked, the pressure inside her easing slightly. For a minute she’d been terrified they’d figured out the truth about her and Evan. Caitlyn was the only one who knew, but she might have slipped up. Then, again, why would the police even be talking to her?
Her mom regarded her curiously. “What else could they want?”
Dani forced herself to calm down. “Nothing, I guess. They aren’t coming back, are they?”
“They might.”
“Why?”
“I honestly don’t know,” her mother said, sounding annoyed. “I told them that I’d given them everything I knew, but I’m not sure they believed me.”
“What was it like?” Dani asked. “You know, being grilled by the cops?”
Her mother’s lips twitched. “I wouldn’t say they
grilled
me. They asked a lot of questions about Evan and about how often we spent time with him, stuff like that. They were fairly nice about it—at least the woman was. The man was a little intense.”
“Good cop, bad cop,” Dani concluded.
“What?”
“Like on TV. One cop is all sweet and tries to be your friend, and the other one gets in your face, so you get all rattled and spill stuff.”
Her mom laughed. “Well, I didn’t know anything to spill, and he annoyed me, so he’d be the last person I’d ever tell anything, even if I did know something.”
Dani thought she saw a faint blush on her mom’s cheeks. That was interesting. “Was he cute?”
“Who?”
“The detective.”
Her mom looked more flustered than ever. “I didn’t notice,” she said.
Dani grinned. “He was cute. I can tell. And he was into you.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, he was not.”
“Was, too. You’re blushing.”
“I think we’ve gotten way off track here,” her mother said. “You’re grounded for a month. School and home, that’s it. You’ll go with me in the morning and ride home with me in the afternoon.”
“But you go in too early and you never leave on time after school,” Dani protested. “What am I supposed to do while you go to your meetings or grade papers or whatever?”
“I know it may seem like a novel idea, but you could study,” her mother suggested. “No phone privileges, either, by the way. You’ll turn over your cell phone when you walk in the door every afternoon.”
“Mom!”
“Skipping school is serious, kiddo. We don’t do that in this house. You know that.”
Dani opened her mouth to argue, then clamped it shut again. If she was grounded, there was less chance she’d slip up and say something she didn’t mean to. And she would have a legitimate reason to avoid Caitlyn. Seeing her right now was too uncomfortable. Maybe this was a good thing, after all.
“Whatever,” she mumbled, because she knew her mom expected some sort of reaction. “I’m going upstairs to study.”
Despite the tension between them, her mom grinned. “Now you’re just trying to get back in my good graces.”
Dani grinned back. “No, I’m just trying to avoid whatever it is that’s burning in the oven.”
Her mom dashed across the room and yanked open the oven door. Smoke poured into the kitchen as she pulled what had once been an actual chunk of meat from the oven. She dumped the disaster into the sink, then faced Dani.
“Pizza or Chinese?”
“Kung po chicken,” Dani said at once. “Call me when it’s here.”
“You sure you don’t want to stay here and talk to me till it gets here?” her mom asked.
Dani shook her head. “I really do have homework. I’ll probably just eat in my room when the food comes.”
Her mom frowned at that. “I don’t think so.”
Dani shrugged. “Whatever.”
Before she could make her getaway, her mom suddenly pulled her into a hug.
“I love you. You know that, don’t you?”
“Sure.”
“No matter what,” her mom said, giving her a look that rattled her.
Dani shuddered as she walked away. What if her mom had found out somehow?
No way, she told herself staunchly. If her mom knew what had happened with Evan, she’d confront her. No, she might suspect, but she didn’t
know
anything. Only Caitlyn knew and she’d never tell, especially not now when it might land her brother in even more hot water than he was already in.
So, her secret was safe for the moment. She should have been relieved, but oddly, she felt more scared and alone than ever.
M
arcie had had a pounding headache for two straight days. She’d never been under siege like this before in her life. Ken knew how to handle the media, but she didn’t, so she ignored the phone and the doorbell, both of which rang constantly.
Meals, once her favorite time of day, had turned into torture. Evan refused to come to the table or even to look her in the eyes, when he was home at all. Ken was out of the house more than he was home. She and Caitlyn sat in the kitchen making an effort at small talk and trying to avoid the one subject that actually mattered.
Marcie wanted to reassure her daughter, tell her that this would all be over soon and things would get back to normal, but she couldn’t. Unless this girl—this
bimbo,
according to Ken—recanted her story, the media attention would go on until there was a trial and Evan was exonerated.
He
had
to be exonerated, she thought, a panicky feeling sweeping through her. Her sweet, handsome boy couldn’t possibly have done what they were accusing him of doing. She simply couldn’t accept even the possibility that he had. She’d read a graphic description of
the girl’s injuries, which had left her feeling queasy and disgusted. Whoever had done that to her deserved to go to jail, but it hadn’t been Evan, she told herself.
As bad as having the media camped on her doorstep was, as awkward as meals with Caitlyn had become, the worst part of this was the isolation. She hadn’t seen Emily for a few days now and their conversations on the phone had been rushed and unsatisfying. She’d returned calls to the handful of friends who’d called to offer support, but those conversations had become awkward once they’d gotten past the pleasantries. She needed to sit down with her best friend and pour out all of the confusing emotions she was dealing with right now.
Across from her at the antique oak kitchen table where they’d started eating to avoid the emptiness of the big, formal dining room, Caitlyn was pushing food around on her plate. Marcie studied her, wondering whether she was really as okay as she claimed to be. She’d been abnormally quiet since this whole mess had started, but she’d refused to discuss her brother or her own emotions.
“Honey, you’re not eating. Would you like me to fix you something else?” Marcie had been obsessing about meals, trying to fix Caitlyn’s favorites, but nothing seemed to tempt her.
“I’m not hungry,” Caitlyn responded.
The words were stunning from a girl who, until recently, had grabbed a handful of cookies the instant she walked in the door after school, then followed that with a full meal only a couple of hours later. She especially loved the old-fashioned comfort foods Marcie prepared from time to time—mac and cheese, meat loaf and mashed potatoes, roasted chicken with dressing—though she had never turned her nose up at the gourmet fare that Ken preferred.
“Don’t you feel well?” Marcie asked, regarding her with concern.
Caitlyn gave her an incredulous look. “How can you even ask me that? No, I don’t feel well. I’m never going to feel okay again.” Her voice rose. “Do you have any idea what the kids at school are saying about Evan? Do you have any idea what kind of stuff they say to me? And you know the worst part? I can’t even defend him. I can’t even say they’re liars, because the cops think he did it and they must know or they wouldn’t have arrested him. Besides…” She clamped her mouth shut, biting off whatever she’d been about to add.
“The police make mistakes,” Marcie insisted. “The girl could be lying. She has to be. Evan would never do something so…” She searched for the right word. “He would never do anything so degrading, so wrong.”
Caitlyn sniffed, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. She regarded Marcie with an almost pleading expression. “Do you really believe that, Mom?”
“Of course, I do. I have to.”
“Why do you have to?” Caitlyn demanded, her voice rising in a sudden burst of anger. “Because you’re his mother? Shouldn’t moms and dads have to admit the truth, too?”
Marcie stared at her in shock. “Do you believe your brother did this?”
Caitlyn swiped at her tears, her expression defiant.
“Do you?” Marcie persisted.
Caitlyn’s expression finally faltered. “He could have,” she whispered.
“Why would you say such a thing? He’s your brother, Caitlyn.”
“That doesn’t make him a saint.”
“You’re just starting to listen to all the gossip,” Marcie said. “No wonder your faith in him has been shaken. Maybe I should keep you out of school for a while. I could get your assignments and teach you here. Under the circumstances, I’m sure the school would allow it.”
“No!” Caitlyn stared at her with dismay. “That would make me more of a freak than ever.”
Marcie backed down at once. “Okay, fine, but can’t you at least try to tune out all the talk?” She held up a hand when Caitlyn was about to protest. “I know that’s easier said than done, but try. If the subject comes up, just walk away.”
“And by the end of the year, I won’t have any friends left,” Caitlyn said with weary resignation. “What Evan did is all they want to talk about.”
“You’ll still have Dani,” Marcie responded, and thanked God for that.
Caitlyn muttered a response Marcie couldn’t hear.
“What was that?” she asked.
“I said she’s grounded,” Caitlyn replied, though it was evident to Marcie that she was lying about the earlier comment. “She can’t even talk on the phone.”
“Why on earth is she grounded?” Marcie asked, deciding to focus on that, rather than the sarcasm she’d heard in Caitlyn’s tone even when she couldn’t decipher the words. Next to Caitlyn, Dani was the most responsible, best-behaved kid she’d ever known.
“She skipped school,” Caitlyn said, then cast a defiant look at Marcie. “Who can blame her with everything that’s going on, but Mrs. D was really, really ticked.”
“Yes, I imagine she was,” Marcie said, then gave her daughter a pointed look. “I would be, too, so don’t get any ideas.”
Caitlyn just stared at her. “Can I go to my room now?”
Marcie wanted to insist that she stay here, that they talk some more about how Caitlyn was feeling and what Marcie could do to make things better, but she knew she wouldn’t really have any answers for Caitlyn anyway. “Sure,” she said at last. “If you get hungry later, come down and I’ll fix you a snack.”
Caitlyn rolled her eyes. “Mom, I can fix my own snack.”
“But mine are better,” Marcie teased, trying to lighten the mood. It killed her to see her daughter this upset and to be unable to do anything to fix it.
Caitlyn’s lips twitched in response. “Mine don’t involve sugar and chocolate.”
Marcie grinned. “Like I said, mine are better.”
Her daughter paused in the doorway. “Mom, maybe you should fix a plate of those brownies you baked today and take them over to Mrs. D. You haven’t been out of the house in days. Aren’t you going stir-crazy?”
Marcie wanted to seize on the suggestion, but she hesitated. “You’ll be okay?”
“Mom!”
“Okay, I’ll go, but don’t answer the door or the phone. Understood?”
“As if,” Caitlyn said. “Tell Mrs. D I said hi. And if you see Dani…” She hesitated. “Well, tell her I miss her.”
“Will do,” Marcie said, though again she had the uneasy feeling that Dani’s punishment wasn’t the real issue keeping them apart, that there was some sort of rift between the girls.
Five minutes later, she was slipping through the hedge and rapping on Emily’s kitchen door. When Emily slid it open, she immediately enveloped Marcie in a hug, almost squishing the plate of brownies.
“I’ve been thinking about you so much,” Emily said. “You doing okay?”
“I’m okay as long as I don’t read the papers or turn on the TV or talk to another living soul,” Marcie said. “I brought brownies. Do you have any coffee made?”
“Of course. Sit down and I’ll pour it.” She studied Marcie critically. “Or would you rather have a glass of wine?”
“The chocolate will have the same feel-good effect,” Marcie assured her. “Coffee’s fine. Will you promise me one thing?”
“Anything.”
“For the next hour can we talk about anything and everything except my son?”
“If that’s the way you want it, of course we can,” Emily said at once. “You know what I’ve been thinking?”
“What?”
“Maybe this would be the right time to take the girls away somewhere for a couple of days. It would be a good break for all of us.”
Marcie immediately brightened. “Really? You could get away?”
“Of course.”
“Have you thought about where we could go?”
Emily’s expression turned thoughtful. “Disney? Key West? Sanibel? Wherever we want to go.”
“Let’s go to Sanibel,” Marcie said eagerly. “I would kill for a couple of days doing absolutely nothing but walking on the beach and sitting on a balcony at night and listening to the waves crashing on the shore.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she frowned. “Is that terribly selfish of me? The girls would
probably rather go to Disney where there are things to do every second.”
“Let’s ask them now,” Emily suggested. “Unless you want to talk it over with Ken first.”
“He won’t care. His entire focus is on Evan these days. He’ll be glad to have Caitlyn and me out from underfoot.” She regarded Emily curiously. “Is this a good time to go away? I thought Dani was grounded. Caitlyn mentioned it.”
Emily shot her a rueful look. “I think I can make an exception for something like this and it’s not as if she’ll be without supervision. Of course, she might view a weekend on Sanibel with nothing to do as extreme punishment.” A glint appeared in her eyes. “In fact, let’s just plan that. This trip is about us as much as it is about the girls, right? We deserve some real R & R.”
“Will Josh be okay here?”
“He’s in college. I’m just an annoying nuisance who forces him to check in from time to time and keeps the refrigerator stocked so snacks are readily available. He’ll be ecstatic to have the house to himself.” She grinned. “And I’ll remind Derek to check on him about a million times. That ought to keep him from doing anything too outrageous.”
“You really do have a diabolical streak, don’t you?”
Emily looked surprisingly pleased by the comment. “I never thought about it. Maybe I do.”
“So we’re definitely on for this weekend?” Marcie asked.
“If we can get reservations, yes.”
“I’ll get on it as soon as I get home,” Marcie promised.
“Or we could go on the Internet right now.”
“No, please, let me handle it. It’ll give me a project
for tonight while I’m waiting for Ken to get home.” She checked her watch. “I’d better get back over there. I left Caitlyn alone. She promised not to answer the phone or the door, but the reporters can be awfully persistent.”
“The attention will die down soon,” Emily reassured her.
Marcie sighed. “I doubt it, but thanks for offering me some hope. I’ll be in touch about the weekend.” She grinned. “And as soon as we’re all set, I’ll start cooking. We won’t have to do a thing once we get there except chill out.”
“Sounds perfect. I’ll stock up on our favorite wine and sodas for the girls.”
At the back door, Marcie hesitated. “Thanks for sticking by me,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “You have no idea what it means to me. This is the worst…I just never imagined…” Her voice broke.
Emily crossed the kitchen to hug her. “I know,” she said gently. “I know how I’d feel if I were in your place. I’d want my best friend in my corner and you’d be there.”
“I would be,” Marcie said, even as tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Determined not to fall completely apart for fear she’d never pull herself together again, she backed away. “Sorry. Let me get out of here before the flood gates open and I drown you in tears.”
“It would be okay,” Emily said quietly.
“I know, and just knowing it makes me feel better. I’ll call you later.”
She ran across the yard, her mood improved by at least a hundred percent. For a little while, her problems had faded into the background and the prospect of a few days away had given her something to look forward to.
Maybe she’d get through this terrible time, after all. If she did, Emily would be a huge part of the reason why.
“Thanks for giving me a heads-up about Dani yesterday,” Emily told Paula when she arrived at school the next morning.
“Did you find out where she went when she skipped classes?”
Emily stared at her blankly, then slowly shook her head. “What is wrong with me? Obviously I was so rattled by being questioned by the police that it never occurred to me to ask where she’d been. I was just relieved to have her back home.”
Paula’s eyes widened. “The police questioned you? When did that happen? What did they want to know?”
Emily was about to respond when the door to the teacher’s lounge opened and the very people in question stepped inside.
“Mrs. Dobbs,” Detective Rodriguez said politely. “Nice to see you again.”
Emily scowled. “I wish I could say the same. I have nothing more to say to you, Detective.”
His lips twitched, which showed off a surprising dimple in his cheek. With his olive complexion, dark hair and brown eyes, he was the epitome of someone’s idea of a sexy Latin. Not hers, though. Definitely not hers, she thought even as her stomach did a traitorous little flip.
“Then it’s a good thing I’m not here to speak with you, isn’t it?” he said mildly.
Taken aback, Emily tried to cover her surprise by turning to pour herself a cup of coffee from the pot that was kept filled all day long. Her hand shook so badly she spilled more than she got in the cup.
“Are you Paula Mason?” Detective Lansing asked. “Could we have a few minutes of your time?”
“Of course,” Paula said.
“I’ll be going, then,” Emily said, trying to edge past the two detectives, who were still blocking the doorway.
Detective Lansing stepped aside, but Detective Rodriguez stood there like a statue, a frown carved on his face. He waited until she finally risked looking directly into his eyes.
“We’ll stop by your classroom before we leave,” he said. “I wouldn’t want you to feel neglected.”