“I’ve decided to hire a private detective,” Garnet’s mother announced.
It was Victoria Day. Garnet and her mother had walked over to Victoria Park and were listening to the strains of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony as the daylight faded on the fresh spring evening. Cars were parked along the side streets and people were piling out with blankets and lawn chairs. Later, there were to be fireworks on the grassy plain near the clock tower that had once graced the top of the long-demolished former city hall.
Garnet glanced over at her mother. “Wow, you really are getting serious about this now.”
Her mother shrugged. “I know. And maybe this whole thing is rather silly. I mean, who needs him now? I’m fifty years old. But I guess it’s the curiosity getting the better of me. Why wasn’t I told the truth?”
“I don’t know,” Garnet replied, wondering herself what Nana had tried to hide about her first husband. “What will you do if the detective doesn’t find anything?”
“If the investigation comes up empty, I guess I’ll just have to live with it.”
Several children twirled on the grass, inspired by Tchaikovsky’s ballet waltz from Swan Lake. When the orchestra shifted to the cancan, they kicked their legs high into the air and children and adults alike swayed to the music. All seemed to be having a wonderful time.
But for Garnet, it had not turned out to be much of a holiday. After sleeping in, her day had started with the dreaded trigonometry assignment she had put off for the past week, which was worth twenty percent of her mark. It was due the next day and, once again, she had left things until the last minute. By late afternoon, when the paper remained almost as blank as her mind, it was obvious to her that summer school could become a reality. “I just don’t get it!” she shrieked with frustration, throwing the textbook across her bedroom. It was at that point that she decided she needed a break and went downstairs to the computer.
She reread Amy’s last email and replied.
Hey Amy!
How was Kurt’s party? Things still suck here. Just wasted my day on the trig assignment from hell. Think I’m gonna fail.
I’m hanging out with an old lady now. She lives in this big house and has a cute grocery boy. Mom’s still working all the time and looking for her dad. Still hope they transfer her back to Owen Sound. Talk to you soon.
G.
As the audience applauded the orchestra’s piece, Garnet wondered how long it would be before Amy stopped replying to her emails altogether. What was Amy doing right now? she wondered. Most likely, it was something exciting. Something with Jody. Something not with her parents.
Out of the corner of her eye, Garnet noticed two tall figures as they approached the crowd. She caught her breath as she recognized one of them. Who could miss Dan with that athletic build and dark hair? The other one looked vaguely familiar — with a slighter build, but also athletic — and bleached-blond hair cut close to the scalp. They stopped just metres from her to face the orchestra. Dan’s head turned slightly and Garnet caught his eye.
He smiled and waved to her. “Hey, Garnet, how are ya?”
“Okay,” she answered, trying to seem nonchalant as her heart did a flip-flop. They walked over to join her. “What’re you doing here?” she asked.
“Just came to watch the fireworks,” Dan replied.
“Oh yeah,” Garnet responded, silently chiding herself. She hoped the increasing darkness would hide the red she was sure would creep into her face. Stupid question. Of course they were here to watch the fireworks. Just like everyone else.
Her mother looked on with curiosity and smiled at the boys. “Are these friends of yours, Garnet?”
Garnet shrugged one shoulder. “This is Dan. I met him at Elizabeth’s. He delivers her groceries.”
Dan stared at Garnet for a moment, then said, “The grocery boy? Is that all I am? The grocery boy?” He put a fist to his heart and pretended to be hurt. “We had lunch together yesterday and everything. How soon the lady forgets!”
Garnet’s eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped at his unexpected theatrics. Then she noticed the twitch at the corner of his mouth.
“All right. He’s more than the grocery boy. Dan’s a friend. Sorry,” she laughed.
Dan pulled up the collar of his jacket, as though his dignity had just been restored. “All right. That’s better,” he said, giving a huge, lopsided grin. They all laughed, then to Garnet’s surprise, Dan turned to her mother and extended a hand. “Hi. I’m Dan Peters. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” Garnet’s mother replied, taking his hand. “I’m Sharon Walcott, Garnet’s mother.”
Dan nodded in his friend’s direction. “And this is my friend, Justin Farrell.”
Justin smiled and shook her hand as well, but gave a simple wave to Garnet. His eyes narrowed. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
“Maybe from school,” Garnet replied. “I’m kinda new. We just moved here a few weeks ago.”
A woman’s voice unexpectedly called out from across the crowd. “Sharon!” They all looked over in that direction and saw a woman waving. Garnet’s mother waved back. “That’s Susan with some people from work. Do you mind if I go say hello? I won’t be long.”
Garnet shook her head. “No, go ahead.”
“Do you want to walk around with us?” Dan asked.
Garnet looked over at her mother who, in turn, took a harder look at the boys.
“Sure, go ahead,” her mother said. “If you can’t find me later, just meet me back at the house.”
The park was filling up quickly with people as far back as the small lake in the centre. The smell of cigarette smoke intermingled with the scent of spring flowers and fresh leaves. Dan and Justin met a number of friends as they walked around and they briefly stopped to talk with them. Garnet recognized few faces, but soon learned after introductions that many actually went to different schools and they knew each other from sports and church. Dan and Justin were more popular than she had realized, and she began to wonder how she had ended up with them. She thought that maybe she should go back to try to find her mother since she didn’t know anyone and was beginning to feel like a tagalong.
“Hey, Justin!” a girl called out.
He looked over and smiled. “Hey, Sarah!” He ran over to talk to her but this time Dan stayed on the gravel path with Garnet.
“Want to sit down?” Dan asked.
Garnet raised her eyebrows and shrugged. “Sure.”
They found a place on the grass under a nearby tree. Garnet wrapped her arms around her legs, a sudden chill making her glad for her jacket; Dan stretched out his legs and leaned back on his arms. For the first few moments they didn’t speak.
“So, how long have you been delivering groceries to Elizabeth?” Garnet asked.
Dan lifted a shoulder. “About a year now, I guess, since her health started to go downhill. Pioneer has a free home-delivery service for people who can’t make it to the grocery store.”
“But you already knew her from church?”
“Yeah,” Dan replied. “My grandfather’s the minister there. I’ve actually known her all my life. She used to be my piano teacher. She’s a great lady but hasn’t been well for a while. I doubt she’ll be able to handle that house much longer.” He looked over at Garnet. “How do you know her? I didn’t catch that the other day.”
“Well, I was sitting in front of my house last Friday when she was walking by and fell down,” said Garnet. “She asked for her pills and I gave them to her. She seemed nice and it was hot, so I asked her if she wanted to come in and gave her some water.”
Dan frowned. “She fell? Where was she going?”
“Home. She was coming from the bank. I walked her home afterwards and went back Saturday to check on her to see how she was doing. That’s when we started talking. She told me about her husband and his mother and about those jewels. I really am going to try to find them for her. I just hope they haven’t already been stolen.”
“Stolen? I’d be surprised if they ever existed.”
Garnet swung her head to face to him. “What do you mean ’if they ever existed’? Of course they did. There’s a picture of Albert’s mother wearing them in the library. Don’t you believe her?”
Dan shrugged. “Do you know the strange thing about Mrs. Tate’s story?”
Garnet shook her head.
“I’ve known her all my life and yesterday was the first time I ever heard of any missing jewels.”
Garnet lifted her chin and sniffed. “Well maybe that’s because she just never trusted anyone enough before.”
“And you think she should trust you? No offence, but how long did you say you’ve known her?”
Exactly three days.
“So, what are you saying? She invented the story?” Garnet snapped.
Dan grinned and seemed amused that she was losing her temper. He put his hands behind his head and lay down on the grass. “Maybe.”
Garnet’s eyes narrowed. Was he always this annoying? “What do you mean ’maybe’? Why would she do that? Who would make up a story like that with so many details if it weren’t true? Are you saying she’s a liar?”
Dan leaned up on one elbow, his tone suddenly more serious. “No. Not a liar. She’s ...” He paused as he tried to choose the right words. “The thing is, she’s not well. You know it yourself, seeing that she collapsed in front of your house. Grandpa says she’ll probably have to go into a nursing home soon, whether she wants to or not. She had a stroke over a year ago and it took her months to get over it. She’s better now, but she doesn’t always think clearly. She forgets stuff. Everyone who knows her says she’s changed. Some people from church even take turns to look in on her because she has no family and they worry about her. Sure, she has Gerdie to help her out, which I suppose is good. Not that Gerdie will ever win the Miss Congeniality Award.”
Garnet burst into laughter. “Gerdie is kind of weird.”
A sudden squeal, accompanied by a white explosion of a thousand shooting stars that lit up the sky before showering back to earth, stopped their talk about Elizabeth.
Despite Dan’s revelation about Elizabeth and his doubts about her story, Garnet forgot everything for the moment and enjoyed the fireworks more than she had enjoyed anything in what seemed like ages. She was content just to sit next to Dan and watch the show, choreographed to the music of the orchestra.
Justin didn’t return until the thundering close of the grand finale. Then the three picked their way through the confusion of the departing crowd. They were nearing the pavilion when Dan said, “Hey, isn’t that Laura and Michelle over there?”
Justin and Garnet squinted where Dan was pointing.
“Yeah, it is,” Justin said, sounding annoyed. “Come on, let’s go this way!” He turned to go in a different direction.
But it was too late. Laura had already seen them and waved. “Hey, Dan!” she called.
“Oh, great,” Justin hissed under his breath.
Dan waved back. “What’s wrong?” he asked his friend in a low tone.
“I don’t want to talk to Michelle.”
Under the dim light of the park lamp, Garnet recognized the girls as part of the popular group that Dan hung out with at school. She had often seen them together at lunch and in the halls. Laura was tall, blond, and blue-eyed, a basketball star in Grade 11. The short jacket and tight jeans she wore tonight emphasized her long, athletic legs. Michelle had soft brown eyes and long, wavy, brown hair that was usually tied back in a ponytail. But her broad smile melted right off her face the instant she saw Justin. Laura hurried over to meet them but Michelle stood back for a moment before slowly following her, stepping around a family with a wagon and stroller.
“Hey, guys, why didn’t you tell me you were coming tonight?” Laura asked.
Dan shrugged. “We decided at the last minute. How’d you get here?”
“Dad dropped us off. He’s coming back to pick us up on David Street. We were just going to meet him there.”
Laura’s eyes suddenly flicked over to Garnet, a couple of paces behind Dan. “Is she with you?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah,” Dan replied. “This is Garnet. She’s new in town. Garnet, this is Laura and Michelle,” he said pointing at each.
Laura’s eyebrows arched upward. “Hey, Garnet.” She turned back to Dan and gave him a meaningful glance before exchanging another with Michelle.
“Hi,” Garnet said, coming forward, a slight uneasiness creeping in.
“Hi,” Michelle said. She stole an awkward sideways glance at Justin, standing off to the side, before looking back.
An unexpected cool breeze chilled Garnet even through her jacket and she hugged her arms, suddenly eager to go home. I don’t belong here, she thought. I don’t know these people, but they know each other well. Too well. What were all these silent messages they were sending each other?
“Well, we better go. Dad’s probably waiting for us. See you tomorrow,” Laura said, casting one more look in Dan’s direction.
The girls disappeared into the departing crowd and as Garnet headed into the opposite direction with Dan and Justin, she thought she heard them giggle. Were they giggling about her? There was definitely something odd about it. What was it? Dan had told them that Garnet was with him. But he wasn’t her boyfriend. Not even a potential one. He was only a friendly guy who happened to be in the park with her, and she was just tagging along like some pathetic puppy. Garnet shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket.
Dan turned to Justin. “So, what’s up with you and Michelle?”
“Oh, I don’t know, man. She’s gone all serious on me. She must’ve gotten the wrong idea when we went out with her and Laura last week.” So that was it, Garnet thought. The four of them had gone out on a double date and now Dan was here with Garnet. That would explain a few things. “Anyway, she wants to go to the formal with me and I told her that was fine but I only wanted to be friends, and that’s all. Now she’s gone all weird.”
“So what’re you going to do?” Dan asked.
Justin shrugged. “I dunno. Let her cool off, I guess. I don’t even know if I want to go. I hate those things. Do you remember the junior one?”
Dan laughed. “I didn’t go, but you make it sound like it was torture.”
“It was, buddy. It was.”
They reached the spot where they had left Garnet’s mother earlier, but the crowd had already cleared and she was nowhere to be found.
“Well, I guess my mother must’ve gone home,” Garnet said. “So, I’ll see you guys later. Thanks.” She started to walk away but had gone only a few paces when she felt a tug at her arm.
“Hey, you’re not going by yourself,” said Dan. “We’ll walk you home.”
“Why?” Garnet asked.
“It’s not safe downtown after dark.”
“Oh, please,” she said, rolling her eyes. “It’s just a short walk.”
“I’m serious. Where do you live?” Dan asked.
Garnet told him and they continued to walk. She listened while he and Justin talked about the Blue Jays, their losing streak against the White Sox, and yesterday’s game, which they had gone to see, as they cut across the park and up Garnet’s street. The porch lamp was on and a faint light shone through the living room curtains when they arrived at the townhouse.
“Thanks, guys.”
“No problem. My car’s actually parked just over there,” Dan replied, pointing to the black Grand Am a little way down the street. He pulled the car keys from his pocket. “See you around, Garnet.”
“Yeah, see you,” said Justin with a wave of his hand.
Later, as Garnet waited in bed for sleep to come, she thought of what Dan had said about Elizabeth. What if he was right? What if Elizabeth wasn’t thinking clearly anymore? What if she had confused a few details — or worse, had imagined the story about the jewels? Garnet didn’t know how anyone could concoct such an elaborate tale, but it was possible that Elizabeth had once read a book or seen a movie and had somehow mixed up the facts with fiction. Her grandmother had certainly mixed a lot up when she became ill. Garnet didn’t know Elizabeth well enough to judge. But for that matter, she didn’t know much about Dan, either. What was the story with him and Laura?
Garnet tossed in her bed. What did it really matter? After all, there was nothing between herself and Dan. And there never would be.