“Oh, that’s too bad,” Susan McGrady said into her phone as she placed a carton of milk on the counter and reached into the cupboard for two glasses. “No, I understand.”
Jennie wondered what disappointing news her mother had just received. It couldn’t have been too catastrophic or Mom would be pacing the floor.
Jennie pulled the last of the waffles from the waffle iron and set it on the stack she’d just retrieved from the oven. She frowned and hoped Mom’s telephone conversation didn’t have anything to do with the hiking trip. Had Mom decided to punish her for not making the deposit on time and being at the bank when it got robbed? Jennie didn’t think so. The night before, Mom had forgiven all. She’d been upset, but Dad had reminded her that the robbery could just as easily have taken place earlier in the day.
“Who is it?” Jennie asked.
Mom shook her head, gave her an I’ll-tell-you-later look, then turned her attention back to the caller.
Annoyance with a small dose of worry crept in and settled in the pit of Jennie’s stomach. It had taken her two days to get her parents to say yes to her and Lisa’s hiking trip, and Jennie didn’t want anything to spoil it. Scott, who claimed to be Jennie’s boyfriend when he wasn’t saving the environment, was already on his way.
So far everything was a go, including the weather. The night before, the weather forecast for the Portland/Vancouver area had been for sunshine with scattered showers over the next few days. Now, at seven a.m., the early morning sun poured into the east windows, promising a clear and perfect day.
“Uh-huh.” Mom kept the phone cradled between her ear and shoulder while she set the milk on the table and sat down. She mouthed to Jennie, “Get the orange juice.”
Jennie grumbled and set the waffles down a little harder than she needed to.
Mom cast her a disparaging look.
“Sorry.” Jennie was overreacting and she knew it. She hated being left out of things like one-way conversations. Face it, McGrady, she told herself, you’re a first-class snoop. Not that being nosy was all bad. Considering that someday she intended to go into law enforcement, Jennie usually regarded her nosiness as an admirable trait—one she shared with her dad and grandparents. She still wished she could have done something to deter the bank robbers. She imagined herself ignoring their threats and tackling the one with the gun. Why couldn’t she have had more courage? Even though her father had told her she’d done the right thing by not going after them, Jennie felt certain that if she’d been fast enough, she’d have been able to follow them and let the police know where they were. On the other hand, there was a certain amount of common sense in what Dad had said. “No amount of money is worth risking your life over.” Jennie believed that. But she still couldn’t help wondering what would have happened if she’d been able to assess the situation more quickly and run for help.
You’d probably be dead, she reminded herself. That very sobering thought put an end to her what ifs and if onlys. At least for the moment.
Retrieving the juice, she rejoined her brother and mother at the table. Mom still clutched the phone in one hand while eating a piece of bacon with the other. “Mmm. No, I understand,” she told the caller. “Hang on a sec …” Covering the mouthpiece she said, “Jennie, fix Nick’s waffle for him, please.”
Jennie, get the juice. Jennie, fix Nick’s waffle. Jennie, do this. Jennie, do that. She was beginning to feel like Cinderella. Well, not exactly. Jennie reminded herself that her mother was, after all, pregnant and that she’d better not be too disagreeable lest she lose certain privileges, such as going hiking today. She put on a smile and said, “No problem.”
Nick hardly seemed to notice as Jennie spread peanut butter on his waffle and folded it over. She smiled at his serious attempt to read the section of newspaper Dad had left on the table.
“What’s those words?” Nick pointed to a headline that read Bank Robbers Still at Large.
Jennie read the headline and scanned the article. There had been a rash of robberies over the past month in the Portland/Vancouver area. The one involving Jennie was the first one where an armored car had been used. Jennie wondered if some or all of them might be connected. Authorities had been wondering the same thing, but they hadn’t found any evidence linking them together. And they were no closer to catching any of the thieves involved.
Jennie stopped reading and tuned back in to her mother’s conversation.
“I’d offer to take them,” Mom said, “but Jason is working and Jennie will be gone all day.”
“Who is it?” Jennie mouthed again.
This time Mom answered. “Emmie Morgan. Her car won’t start.”
Jennie groaned. She should have guessed. Andy’s mom had a tendency to take ten minutes to explain what anyone else could in two. Of course, not having her car start would be a major problem, especially this morning. “Are they calling off the party?”
Nick’s head jerked up. “What party? It better not be Andy’s, ’cause Kurt and him and me are goin’ camping for real.”
“Andy’s mom is on the phone,” Jennie reiterated. “Her car won’t start.” Nick and Kurt, Lisa’s little brother, had been invited to stay overnight at the Morgan home to celebrate Andy’s seventh birthday.
Nick’s blue eyes clouded as elephant tears formed and dripped onto his flushed cheeks. “So she can’t come get us? And we can’t go to Andy’s birthday?”
“I don’t know.” Jennie shrugged and hurriedly added, “But don’t worry. They’ll think of something. Maybe Aunt Kate can take you.”
Nick shook his head. “She’s gotta work today, and Uncle Kevin is flying to California.” Nick wiped his tears away with his shirt sleeve and popped a piece of waffle into his mouth. “You could take us …”
“Sorry, little guy. I’m going hiking, remember?” Jennie’s heart fluttered with renewed excitement and a hint of trepidation. She’d awakened with one of those odd feelings—like the kind she got before something really awful happened. She’d had the same feeling the day before but had attributed it to the fact that she’d forgotten to make the deposit. True, she’d been anxious about the money, but now she realized that her intuition must have been warning her about the bank robbery. The feeling flitted through her again, unsettling her stomach and taking away her appetite.
Nothing is going to happen, she assured herself. Aloud, as if to make it fact, she said, “Scott’s coming here, and we’re going to pick up Lisa and Gavin.”
“Why can’t you take me? You told me you were gonna be close to where Andy lives.”
“We are.” Jennie hugged him. She’d told him that to reassure him. This was his first camp-out without his family, and last night he’d been nervous about being away from home. “I’d be happy to take you, Nick, but there’s no room in the car.”
“We could sit on your laps.”
“What about Bernie?” Bernie was the nearly full-grown Saint Bernard pup Kurt and Nick shared. “Trust me, Nick. There’s no way you and Kurt and Bernie and your sleeping bags and clothes will fit into my car.”
“I hate to disappoint the boys like this,” Jennie heard her mother say. “But let’s not give up yet. I have an idea. I’ll talk to Jennie and call you back.”
Jennie’s stomach sank to the vicinity of her feet. Judging from the determined look on her mother’s face, she had a feeling her perfect plans were about to be flushed right down the sewer.