Still, she balked. “Where’s James?” she asked.
“He’s inside.”
“I thought he was working on the air conditioner.”
“He’s probably finished by now. Come on, let me introduce you to his parents.”
That made her hang back even more. She didn’t doubt they would call her mom the minute they saw her.
Dale gave her a little nudge. “Come on, don’t be shy.” He unlocked the door to the motor home and stood there, waiting for her to step up inside.
The confined space was stuffy like it had been shut up. It didn’t seem to her that the air conditioning had been on recently. And wouldn’t you have it on in order to make sure it worked?
“Jamie!” Dale called into the interior. “Come on out here! Milady awaits!”
That convinced her. She stepped up into the tiny living room.
“Oh,” Dale said, as he closed the door behind them. “You know something? I just remembered, Jamie went to the store.”
“What about his parents?”
Dale was looking at her, his face sad.
Alarm bells were ringing in her head now. Her stomach tightened, and her heart started pounding in her chest, her throat, her ears. She suddenly felt an overwhelming premonition that she had just stepped off the face of the earth.
42
Beth Holland had been watching TV, one eye on the window. Any moment she expected to see the sweep of headlights announcing Marie Lansing’s car.
She had gotten Bryan out of the house by quarter of nine. It was for Summer’s sake, because the two didn’t get along, and things were tough enough on children of divorce. Even though Summer knew they were involved, she didn’t want her to have to face the evidence first-hand. And so she had hustled to make her own bed and even wash the wine glasses and throw the wine bottle into the recycle bin.
Everything had been straightened up by nine o’clock. But nine became nine fifteen, then nine thirty. And now she was starting to worry.
She’d put off calling because she didn’t want Summer to think she didn’t trust her. But this was ridiculous. Steeling herself, she went to her address book and found the number.
Marie Lansing answered the phone.
“This is Summer’s mother. May I speak to her?” She didn’t want to embarrass Summer by telling Chrissy’s mother what it was about. They would have their talk and that would be it.
Confusion in Mrs. Lansing’s voice. “Summer? She’s not here.”
The girls couldn’t still be at McDonalds at this time of night. “She told me she was going to meet Chrissy and Jenny at McDonalds, and then go to your house.”
Marie Lansing said, “Chrissy’s here. Let me put her on the phone.”
As she waited, Beth started to feel more than worry. She told herself not to be silly. It was probably a misunderstanding.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Chrissy? Do you know where Summer is?”
“Huh-uh.”
Fear sharpened to a point.
“No,” Chrissy said carefully. “I think she said she was busy tonight.”
“Busy?” She could hear her own voice, up an octave.
“I don’t know what she—I mean, I don’t think we had any plans,” Chrissy said quickly. “You could call Jenny. Maybe she knows.”
She gave Beth the number.
Dreading what she would hear, Beth called Jenny Conley’s house and started praying as she waited for Mrs. Conley to go get her daughter. Went through the same questions, the same elusive replies.
Whatever Summer had going, it didn’t include Jenny or Chrissy. Summer had lied to her.
Shaken, Beth put the phone down.
She stared at it for a moment. Then she picked it up again and called Buddy.
Buddy Holland was in the process of opening the door to his house in Bisbee when the phone rang. He locked the door behind him and carried the pizza from the Greek place and the beer from the Safeway over to the kitchen counter.
Then he stood over the phone, waiting for the message. He never answered the phone because of telemarketers. He hated them with a passion, but there was nothing he could do to them, so he didn’t waste his energy. Two things you had to just let slide in this world—spam and canned phone calls.
