I spend most of the next day cooking, just to get my mind off what happened the night before. By the time I’m ready to pick up Bobby from school, every inch of our kitchen table is covered with baked goods. I grab some lemon bars and cookies and hurry out the door to the school. I’m sure I can get somebody to eat them.
Carrie, Kathy, and Julie are waiting together near the entrance. Carrie groans when she sees my Tupperware. “Why do I feel like I’m going to gain five pounds in the next five minutes?”
I pull the lid off the container of lemon bars. “Come on, please take one. I’m overloaded!”
Carrie hesitates. “I shouldn’t.”
“Go ahead, Carrie,” Kathy says. “Mark always says that April makes the best lemon bars in existence.”
She shoots me a look as she says that. I shift uneasily. Could she be the one who threw a rock through my window? I wouldn’t put it past her.
Just as all three women reach over to take lemon bars, I see Sean Cooper jogging over to me. He waves his hand to get my attention and calls out my name. It’s hard not to notice him.
Carrie nudges my elbow. “I wonder what Maria’s hot husband wants to talk to you about.”
And then Kathy shoots me another look. “Yes. I wonder.” Oh God.
“April!” Sean slows to a stop in front of us. “I’m glad I caught you.” I smile at him. “Hi, Sean. Would you like a lemon bar?”
He looks down at the Tupperware container filled with my lemon bars. I make amazing lemon bars. My secret is that I put lemon zest both in the curd and also in the crust.
“That’s okay,” he finally says. “Are you sure? Because—”
“Listen,” Sean interrupts me. “Have you seen Raffey?” Have I what? “Who?”
“Raffey.” He smiles apologetically. “That’s Owen’s favorite toy. You know, the giraffe. We can’t seem to find it anywhere, and Owen was freaking out last night.”
“That’s terrible!” I say.
I consider suggesting this is an opportunity for Owen not to be so dependent on a stuffed animal. He is seven years old, after all. But somehow, I don’t think Sean will appreciate it.
“So anyway…” Sean scratches the back of his neck. “I was wondering if maybe Owen left it at Bobby’s house?”
I shake my head. “Sorry, I haven’t seen it.” “Well, maybe you could check his room.”
I clutch the Tupperware to my chest. “Why would Bobby have it in his room?”
Sean’s ears turn slightly pink. “I’m not saying he took Raffey from Owen, but—”
“April, remember when Bobby took Leo’s Ninja Turtle?” Julie speaks
up.
“That was three years ago. They were four.” My cheeks burn. I can’t
believe they’re accusing my son of stealing Owen’s toy. Why would he steal a stupid stuffed giraffe when he’s got a Nintendo, for God’s sake? “I’ll ask Bobby about it. But I don’t think he would steal Owen’s favorite toy.”
“I’m just thinking Owen might have left the toy there,” Sean says. “Will you check for me, April?”
“Of course.” I force a smile, trying to make light of the whole thing. “But only if you try one of my lemon bars.”
Sean takes a step back, like he thinks my lemon bars might be made of poison. “Um…”
“I promise. They’re delicious.”
Julie rolls her eyes. “For goodness sakes, April, you don’t need to bulldoze the poor guy into eating your food!”
Everyone is suddenly looking at me as I feel my cheeks turning pink. Thankfully, the bell rings at that moment and the kids start filtering out. I still don’t know what I’m going to do with all these lemon bars and cookies. But if Sean doesn’t want any, far be it from me to force him.
Sometimes the kids play together after school, but not today. I hear Sean telling Owen they’re going to the park, but he doesn’t invite Bobby
like he sometimes does. Julie and Kathy are talking together quietly with their boys running just ahead of them. I wonder if they’re going to have a playdate. Usually, Julie invites me over after school, but she’s hardly done it at all since the year started.
“Mom,” Bobby says. “Can I go over to Leo’s house?” “I don’t think so,” I mumble.
“Why not?”
“Because he’s busy.”
“No, he’s not. He told me he wasn’t busy.”
“Well, his mom is busy. Anyway, we’re not invited.” “Can’t you ask his mom?
Bobby has an amazing ability to never ever let anything go, but I manage to nudge him in the direction of my SUV. “Bobby,” I say, “have you seen Owen’s toy, Raffey?”
Bobby groans. “No! Owen kept talking about it all day. He’s obsessed with that stupid toy.”
I wonder where Bobby learned the word “obsessed.” Probably from me. “So you haven’t seen it?”
“Nope.”
I still feel irritated that Sean basically accused Bobby of stealing that silly giraffe. Why would he even want it? He has much better toys than that at home. Like I said, he has a Nintendo!
Bobby complains incessantly about wanting a playdate, but I manage to coax him into the car. He pouts the entire way. By the time I pull into our driveway, I’m pretty much ready to snap. And then I see the woman standing at our front door.
The woman looks familiar, but I can’t quite place her. But she doesn’t look dangerous. She’s in her fifties, with graying hair and a thick layer of padding on her abdomen. When she sees my car, she waves.
I have no idea who she is, but obviously, she knows who I am.
“Hello,” I say as I get out of the car. I try to push away an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Can I help you?”
The woman nods eagerly. “April, right?” “Yes…”
“I’m Nancy.” She smiles disarmingly. “Doris Kirkland was my aunt.
You and I met while I was selling the house.”
“Oh!” I return her smile. “I thought you looked familiar.” I look back at Bobby, who is still in the backseat and messing around with his backpack. He always takes forever to get out of the car. “How are you doing?”
“Can’t complain.” Nancy shifts her oversized purse to her other arm. “Listen, I got a call from the new owners of the house, and they said they found one of Aunt Doris’s boxes up in their attic. They told me I could pick it up. But…” She casts a glance at the darkened windows of the Cooper residence. “Do you know when they’ll be back?”
I assume Maria is working this afternoon because Sean was the one who picked up Owen. They’re probably still at the park.
“I’m not sure, sorry.” I open the car door for Bobby, who still isn’t budging. “Maybe an hour or two?”
She nods thoughtfully. “Are they nice people?” “Yes. They are.”
She smiles crookedly. “Nicer than Aunt Doris, I’m sure.” I laugh. “Oh, she was interesting.”
“Now you’re being nice.” Nancy shakes her head. “Aunt Doris was a mean old lady. And she was proud of it!”
I tug at my jacket. Mrs. Kirkland was a bit grumpy at times, but I always chalked it up to her being lonely. Also, it didn’t help that practically all of Bobby’s balls ended up in her yard. You would think just by chance, some of them would not end up in her yard.
“My sister and I were sure she was going to live forever,” Nancy continues. “We had a bet going that she would make it till a hundred. People like her always do. She probably would have if she had been wearing her life alert necklace.” She clucks her tongue. “I can’t imagine why she took it off.”
I frown. “Life alert necklace?”
“Oh, you know.” Nancy lifts a shoulder. “That button you press if you’ve fallen and you can’t get up. She was so pleased with herself for having gotten one, but then she wasn’t even wearing it when she fell down the stairs. It was stuffed in a drawer in her bedroom.”
A shiver goes down my spine. “Was that unusual for her?”
“It was. She was so anal about always wearing it.” Nancy tilts her head to the side. “She was scared about breaking a hip, you know? I couldn’t
believe she didn’t have it on. If this were a movie, I’d say for sure somebody pushed her.”
I have a horrible sinking feeling in my stomach. I think I might be
sick.
“I’m just kidding,” Nancy says quickly when she sees my face. “I’m
sure she just forgot. She was ninety-six, after all!” She takes her phone out of her bag, looks at the screen, then stuffs it back in. “Anyway, I can’t wait any longer. If you see the Coopers, tell them I’ll try to come back later tonight.”
My head is spinning as I watch Nancy get back into her car. That was an incredibly disturbing conversation. Everyone on the block assumed poor Mrs. Kirkland had just taken an innocent spill down the stairs. She was ninety-six, after all, as Nancy said.
Elderly people fall. It doesn’t have to be something sinister.
