Sophie chewed her lip as she walked toward Mitch’s house. Unfamiliar cars lined his driveway, so she’d had to park on the street. She’d planned to come earlier in the day, before Mitch’s mother arrived, but Joanie had needed her help all day, preparing for the Gardner family Thanksgiving. Maybe she should have waited until later in the evening, after the Carsons left. No, Angie would be home from school by now, and she’d been looking forward to putting the shelf up. She’d just drop the shelf off and leave.
Shopping with Angie for her bedroom furnishings had been so much fun. Once Mitch’s mother-in-law had left, Sophie had helped Angie change back into play clothes and they’d made a list of things to look for. Then they’d spent a fun afternoon planning how to arrange her room and shopping in the small shops in Zutphen.
She went around the house to the back door and knocked. Hopefully most of the company would be in the living room at the front. On the other hand, if everyone was in the front room, nobody would hear her knock. She’d just raised her hand to knock again when the storm door opened and a gorgeous brunette peered out.
“Oh, hi. You must be Sophie. Come on in.” She opened the screen door and then stepped back to let Sophie in. “I’m Deana, Mitch’s sister-in-law. Hey, why don’t I hold that for you while you take your boots off?” She took the long shelf and angled it in through the kitchen doorway.
“Mom Carson recruited all of us to come down for the day to help get his house in shape for the holidays. By the way, Angie’s room looks great. I love how you added just a little bit more color by painting the drawer pulls and curtain sashes with those little flowers. And I see you’ve got the same flowers on this shelf. You’re very talented.”
“Thanks.” Sophie didn’t know what else to say.
A woman with Mitch’s eyes came into the kitchen. “Hi there, Sophie. We’ve heard so much about you. I’m Rita Carson. You’re Joyce’s youngest daughter, aren’t you?” At Sophie’s gasp of surprise she explained, “I grew up in this house, but I’d married and moved to Muskegon before you were born. Eric Hager is my older brother, and your mother and I went to high school together. We lost touch after graduation. You take after her, don’t you?”
Sophie agreed. “I look more like Mom, but she says I act like my dad — always the dreamer.”
Rita laughed. “Well, dreamers make the best designers. I love what you’ve done with Angie’s room.” She gestured toward the shelf Sophie had painted. “This must be the shelf for her dolls, right?” At Sophie’s nod, she waved toward the bedrooms. “Cute. I’ll let you get to it, then. Mitch is in his office working on the photos for his mini-session customers. Thanks for giving him the idea, by the way. It’s really getting his name out in the community.”
“I’m glad he got such a great response,” Sophie replied. “Do you need some help in here?”
“I’ve got my daughter and daughter-in-law helping to put the living room and dining room together. Angie’s in her room, playing dress-up with her dolls, so I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you’ve got her shelf done. I’m not sure there will be enough time to do anything about this kitchen.” She sighed. “You’d think a photographer would want to have a home with a little color, and maybe some pictures or something on the walls!” She picked up a roller pan and went back into the living room.
Sophie took the shelf to Angie’s room and found the six-year-old sitting on her bed, dressing one of her fashion dolls. She hopped up to give Sophie a hug.
“Miss Sophie! I knew you’d get my shelf done. Grandma Carson and Aunt Becky and Aunt Deana really like my room. They said you were like a-a ‘teerior decorator.”
The compliment warmed Sophie’s heart. She didn’t want to dwell on her pleasure at getting the approval of the women in Mitch’s family. “That was very nice of them to say, Angie. Now I need you to help me figure out how high to hang this shelf. We want it high enough to keep your dolls out of the way, but low enough so you can get them down when you want to play with them.”
They worked together choosing a height just right for Angie then placing her dolls neatly on the newly installed shelf. On the pegs under the shelf they hung some of Angie’s doll clothes on small wire hangers Sophie had made.
She’d just put the finishing touches on the room when she noticed the house had gone eerily quiet. Coldness crept up her spine. The voices coming from the kitchen weren’t loud, but the tone was definitely unfriendly. Angie stood frozen in her spot, her face bent in a frown. “Nana’s here again.”
“Do you want me to help you change your clothes again?”
Angie shook her head. “No. Grandma Carson and Aunt Becky and Aunt Deana are here, and they’re all wearing jeans too. Nana won’t yell at me while they’re here.”
Sophie wondered briefly if the woman with the eternally glacial expression actually yelled or whether she simply threw insults until Angie felt she’d been yelled at. But she nodded.
They tiptoed down the hallway toward the kitchen to hear what the two grandmothers had to say to each other. Melinda Billingsworth stood in the middle of the kitchen, her fur-trimmed coat and designer boots a stark contrast to Rita Carson’s comfortable jeans and plaid cotton shirt.
“Where is Angela?” Melinda demanded. “I understand Mitchell needs to work to support them, but he should make arrangements for her to be supervised. Surely you don’t expect her to do this manual labor with you. I’m surprised you allow her to stay in the house when these awful paint fumes are everywhere.”
“Are you telling me I don’t know how to care for my grandchild?” Rita crossed her arms and glared. A younger version of Rita stood slightly behind her, along with Deana. Sophie knew she wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that trio’s ire. But Melinda Billingsworth wasn’t intimidated. She simply shrugged.
“I’m telling you that if my home was full of painters I would have taken care to keep small children away. And since you’re doing the painting, I fail to see how you could adequately supervise Angela. Perhaps I should take her to our hotel, where the air is breathable.”
“Melinda, if you had said one word about wanting to take Angie because you missed her, or if I believed you really wanted to spend time with her, I might be inclined to let her go. But I know your only purpose in taking her is to get her away from me and my family.” Mitch’s sudden appearance startled them all. He stepped around Sophie and Angie to face his mother-in-law.
“I just had a phone call from a certain private investigator. It seems his client refused to pay for some of his expenses. Since he’s not getting his money he decided to warn me about your intentions.”
“You hired a PI to spy on my son?” Rita cried. “Why would you do that?”
“She’s trying to prove me an unfit parent. He said when he told her I hadn’t done anything she could use against me, she told him to try and kidnap Angie to prove I didn’t watch her carefully.” His eyes widened suddenly and he pointed at her. “You’re behind the incident at school last week! The school secretary called me because some man came into the office and said he needed to pick Angie up and take her to the hospital because I’d been in an accident. Instead of getting Angie, the secretary told him she needed to check her records to find out if he was authorized to take her, and the guy ran away. Since then, the school has assigned extra aides to keep an eye on her on the playground, and I’ve been personally taking her to her classroom and picking her up there every day.”
At this, Angie dashed to her father and clung to his legs. He reached down and picked her up, holding her tight while he reassured the child, who’d started to sob. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, nobody is going to take you away from me.”
“Indeed, they’re not,” boomed another voice from behind Melinda. Geoffrey Billingsworth stepped forward. Unlike his wife, he’d left his snow-covered loafers in the mudroom, and in his stocking feet he’d entered the room unnoticed. He walked toward Mitch and Angie and reached out to wipe a tear off his granddaughter’s face. “Pumpkin, I am so sorry about all this. Your daddy is a fine man, and a good father. I’ve always been proud to call him my son-in-law.”
He turned and glared at his wife. “Your attitude toward Mitch has always bothered me, but I never thought you would stoop to criminal acts to get what you want. If your idea of coping with Sarah’s death is to make our granddaughter into a copy of her mother, you are delusional.” He sighed as he looked at Angie again, sadness etching his face. “I came here thinking we were going to have some fun with our granddaughter this week. Nana told me you were expecting us and that you’d be coming back to the hotel. But it looks like Mitch has every reason to ban us from ever seeing you again. I’ve missed you, pumpkin. I miss your sunny smile, your big hugs, and your sharp wit. Maybe someday you’ll forgive us and let us come to see you.”
“They can’t keep us from seeing our granddaughter,” Melinda argued.
“If Mitch decides to press charges for child endangerment, you’re going to have more to worry about than not seeing Angie,” Geoffrey retorted. “Get in the car, Melinda. We’re going home.” He waited until his wife left the room, and then spoke to Mitch.
“Send me the name of the private investigator. I’ll see that he’s fully compensated. It’s the least I can do after he stopped Melinda from continuing with her foolish plan. And if there’s ever anything I can do for you or Angie, please don’t hesitate to call me. I hope someday you can forgive us enough to come and see us, or let us see you.” He kissed Angie’s cheek and left without another word.
No one spoke or moved for several seconds. Sophie didn’t even dare breathe. Her heart ached for the pain Mitch and Angie must feel.
Rita broke the silence when she took a deep breath. “Well, I think the living room is ready for its second coat of paint.” She strode out of the kitchen, Deana and Becky following close behind.