“What a day,” Adam said as he walked into the house after the bake sale. “Those people all should have been charged extra. They got a meal and a show.”
“I can’t believe we beat the cheerleaders’ fundraiser,” Meg said. “They made four hundred dollars at their car wash. We made nine hundred dollars. Mo’ money!”
“Yes, but don’t forget that you are donating half to the charity the Richtmans choose. It’s a wonderful gesture too. You guys in the art club should all be proud of yourselves.”
“What do you think is going to happen to Stacy, Mom?” Adam asked as he opened the fridge and pulled out an apple.
Amelia took a seat at the kitchen table. The last thing she wanted to discuss with her boy was the sad, pitiful state of a woman that age having relations with someone her son’s age.
“Well, they’ll investigate. That whole creepy thing will probably make the papers. You know how it is with journalists. The seedier, the better. I’m not sure. But one thing I do know is that Stacy’s just a girl. Her heart was broken, and sometimes you don’t think straight when that happens. Love makes people do stupid things sometimes.”
“Did you ever feel like that with Dad?” Meg asked.
“Did I ever want to kill him?” Every day since the divorce. “No. Not kill. Give him a swift kick where the sun doesn’t shine, yes. But kill? No.”
“I feel like that about Adam all the time,” Meg teased.
Adam stuck his tongue out at her before jogging downstairs to his lair.
“You hungry, honey?”
“Nope. Can I call Katherine?”
“You just saw her not ten minutes ago.”
“I know, but I want to talk to her about what happened.”
“Sure.” Amelia sighed. “Meg, I have to tell you something. Can you sit for a minute?”
Meg hopped up on the counter and looked at her mother.
“I just got the news that your dad and Jennifer are having a baby.”
Amelia watched as her daughter’s face fell.
“It’s something we knew was probably going to happen. Right?” Amelia said soothingly. “Meg, remember that you will always be your father’s little girl. This doesn’t change that.”
The words sounded like cardboard.
“Why didn’t he tell us?” Meg asked. Her voice sounded small, as if she’d somehow shrunk in size within the last couple of seconds.
“There is a reason. Adam overheard Jennifer telling someone. He wasn’t supposed to know. Probably because your father wanted to tell you himself when he felt the time was right.”
“So why are you telling me? How come Dad isn’t?”
“I thought it would be better if you heard it from me.” Amelia shrugged.
“How come Adam didn’t tell me?”
“He was afraid it would hurt your feelings. You know how big brothers are. If you got upset, it would make him upset, and you know how he hates it when people see him upset.”
Meg looked down at her dangling feet. “He’s going to forget all about us,” she said.
“No, Meg, he’s not.” Amelia hoped she sounded more convincing than she felt.
“Just watch. Can I call Katherine now?”
“Of course,” Amelia said as she watched Meg hurry out of the kitchen.
“I should have just kept my mouth shut. Mrs. Arlings was right. I just put my nose in other people’s business.”
The cat was out of the bag. There was nothing Amelia could do to unring this bell. Her children knew about John and Jennifer’s new development. They’d taken it as well as could be expected.
“I don’t know what I should have done differently, Lila. Maybe I shouldn’t have told them at all and left it to John,” Amelia said while sipping a glass of white wine and gorging on nachos with guacamole.
“You are forgetting that John wasn’t going to tell you. He wanted you to believe the kids were at risk so they’d come live with him.” Her voice was calm and logical like classical music. “Whether or not it was a ruse to get Jennifer a little help making adjustments, I don’t think you’ll ever know for sure. But the fact remains he knew she was pregnant when he demanded custody.”
Amelia sighed.
“I can’t think about it anymore tonight. Like Scarlett O’Hara says, I’ll think about that tomorrow.” She took a sip of wine. “Thanks for coming today. I know it meant a lot to the kids. Plus, you got to see all that excitement.”
“You can’t make this stuff up,” Lila replied. “Mother sleeping with the daughter’s boyfriend? How does that even happen?”
“As soon as Dan gets off work, I’ll be sure to ask him.”
“Is he coming by tonight?”
“He called and said he wanted to stop by once they were finished collecting statements and taking fingerprints and confessions and all that jazz.”
“Take notes. I want you to tell Beatrice and me everything.”
“Okay.” Amelia laughed. “Did you ever date any younger men?”
“Like Mrs. Arlings? The question should be ‘Did you ever rob the cradle?’ No.” Lila scoffed as if Amelia had just asked her to pose for a picture without wearing makeup. “My men were always older than me. And even at that, they were as immature as the day is long. Why in the world would I want someone practically fresh out of diapers?”
Amelia laughed. “I think I just heard a car door slam. I think Dan is here. I’ll get all the gory details and see you at the truck on Monday.”
“Good night, Amelia. Love to Dan and the kids.”
Amelia hung up the phone and hurried to the door.
When she opened it up, Dan was standing there with a bag from Moody’s Restaurant in one hand and his jacket and tie in the other.
“You look exhausted,” Amelia said and quickly took the things from his hands.
“You will not believe the day I had.”
“Did something else happen?”
“I wish. No. I was dealing with Stacy Arlings and her mother, Crystal, all day.” He yawned as he stepped in and shut the door behind him. “There’s a burger in there for you.”
“How’d you know I was drowning my sorrows in food tonight?” She peeked in the bag.
“Lucky guess. What are you doing that for?”
Amelia told Dan about Meg.
“That whole mess is what Captain Kirk would call a Kobayashi Maru. The no-win scenario.”
“You said a mouthful there. Neither of the kids knows about his requesting custody again. Or why he’s requesting it. After seeing Meg’s face today, I don’t dare tell them about that.”
“I wouldn’t,” Dan said. “Not until you have to. And I don’t think you’ll have to.”
“I’m giving myself a headache thinking about it. Let’s change the subject. So tell me all the details about Stacy and her mom. Lila sends her love and says don’t leave anything out.”
It took half the night for Dan to relay the entire story as Stacy told it. Not only had her mother slept with Brian Richtman, but she’d also told her daughter she did.
Stacy couldn’t kill her mother. They had a bond, no matter how warped. But she could kill the man who’d come between them. Or boy.
“She said she confronted him in the gym between classes.” Dan took a bite of his burger then wiped his mouth. “They were behind the bleachers when he told her that he loved her mother, Crystal. That he was only still dating Stacy to get to Crystal and that Crystal said they could be together when Stacy went off to college.”
Amelia’s mouth fell open.
“Stacy lost it. I can only imagine the humiliation she felt. She slapped him across the face and started to storm off. Then she saw a five-pound weight left behind by some of the guys on the wrestling team working out. She picked it up, stomped back up to him when his back was turned, and crack, upside the head.”
Amelia finally closed her mouth.
“He was dead before he hit the floor. She got him just right. Had it been a little to the left or right, he’d probably still be alive.”
“So what will happen to her?”
“With all the scandal caused by her mother, I think any judge would go easy on the girl. She’ll serve time, but I think she’ll get out with enough time to start a new life for herself.”
“That is one heck of a story.”
“It isn’t quite finished. After Stacy told her mother what happened, Crystal Arlings, in her infinite wisdom, told Stacy to frame Joe Smarman.”
“Why did she pick him? She didn’t sleep with him too?”
“No.” Dan smirked. “Her mother said that the police would believe it was Joe because they had such a rivalry. Brian was the better jock. But Joe was the better man. We never thought for a second he did it. But we waited and watched as we interviewed Stacy and her friends. It was only Stacy who pointed the finger at Joe. No one else did. And when we asked her why she went along with her mother’s scheme, Stacy said her mom gave her some really good advice.”
“Oh Lord. What?”
“That the cops would believe her because she’s pretty and just turned eighteen.”
“Wow.” Amelia sighed. She couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Is it okay if I use your spare room again?” Dan asked.
“Of course. Meg is right. The house feels fuller when you are here.”