Mixed Messages (A Malone Mystery) (43 page)

She went to the kitchen window and looked out, expecting to see Danielle and Davey
running around
in the backyard but she didn’t see either of them.
She
went
to
the kitchen door
, flung it
wide
open
and yelled, “Davey!
Dani
!”

Within seconds,
Danielle appeared in the doorway. “Mom, I can’t find Davey!”

“What do you mean you ‘can’t find’ him? You two were supposed to stay in the yard.”

“I know, Mom, but … .”

Panicked, Ann
bolted
out the door. “Davey! Davey! Where are you?”

Several minutes passed as Ann and Danielle searched the backyard.

“We were playing hide’n seek,” Danielle told her mother. “I was counting to a hundred with my eyes closed and …
.
”

Ann’s heart raced. All it took, she knew, was a few seconds to change, even ruin, your whole life. “
Davey!
Davey Kern! Where are you?” she screamed.
Her eyes scanned the yard and, to her dismay, she saw that the gate, which separated the backyard from the side yard and driveway, was
open a few inches
. She dashed toward it
and flung the gate wide open
.
Where could he be? she silently wondered.
Please God, let me find my son.

The lid of one of the garbage cans alongside the house
crashed to the ground, startling Ann,
and Davey’s blonde head popped up. “Here I am! I win!
I win!
Dani couldn’t find me!”

Ann let out a huge sigh of relief. “
Oh, thank God!
Young man, you get
out of there and
in the house right now!
”
she ordered.
She
turned to
go
back to
the house.

Davey climbed out of the
trashcan
.

“Gross!” Danielle exclaimed. “Mom, look at him.”

Ann
turned around and saw
the
remnants of garbage, pieces of wilted lettuce and crumbs, stuck to her son’s hair and clothing.
As he
started to walk
past her with his head down, she reached out
and removed a piece of banana peel from the back of his coat
.
Then she
hugged him. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.
And you get inside and clean yourself up right this minute!
”

“
Yeah, Doofus,
you stink!
”
Danielle said
,
holding her nose as she
follow
ed
her mother and brother into the house
.
She took off her coat and hung it up.
“Boy, Mom, am I hungry!”

“I’m starving!” Davey said, shrugging off his coat and dropping it on the floor.

“Get back here, Davey Kern,” Ann said, grabbing her son’s arm as he tried to dash past her
.
“You pick up that coat and put it where it belongs.”

“But Mommy
… .
”

“No buts!” Ann said sternly
.
“Now, both of you, go wash your hands.
And, Davey, you go wash
everything
.
”

When they were settled at the table a few minutes later, Danielle looked over at Ann
.
“Mom, where’s Daddy?” she asked.

Ann took a deep breath
.
“Daddy won’t be home for dinner
.
”

“He’ll be here to take us trick-or-treating, won’t he?” Danielle asked.

“No, honey
.
I’m sorry
.
He won’t.”

“Why?”

“Because Daddy ha
s
something
important
he has to do.”

“Who’s gonna take us?” Davey asked, a worried expression on his face.

“I am,” Ann replied. “Mrs. Berger is going to give out the candy tonight so I can go out with
you two.”

“But I want Daddy!” Davey whined.

“Yeah, Mom
.
Daddy always takes us out,” Danielle argued.

“Well, I’m sorry but this year he can’t
.
I know he would if he could
.
But that’s okay,” she added, seeing the disappointment on her children’s faces
.
“It’s Mommy’s turn
.
We’re going to have
lots of
fun
.
You’ll see.”

The three of them ate the rest of their dinner in silence
.
As Ann watched her two children eat, she felt a twinge of guilt
.
Should I have told them the truth? she wondered
.
But h
ow could I tell them that their father is in jail
?
That he was driving drunk
.
They
both
know how wrong that is; they’ve seen all the TV commercials about drunk driving and they’ve learned about it in school
.
They love their father
.
I don’t want them to think badly of him
.
A
nyway, how can I explain to them what I don’t even understand
?
I don’t know any other way to handle this.

The doorbell rang, jarring
her
from her thoughts
.
She glanced up at the clock
.
It was ten till six
.
I didn’t realize it was that late, she thought
.
She pushed back her chair and stood up
.
“I wonder who
that
is,” she said
.
“You two finish your dinner.”

“I’m done now,” Davey said, slamming his fork down on his plate.

“Young man, I said, ‘finish your dinner
’
!”

Davey started to get up but the expression on his mother’s face warned him that he’d better stay put
.

Ann hurried to the door and looked out the peephole
.
There was no one there. Annoyed, she stepped away and turned to go back to the kitchen when
there was
a
knock
on the door
.
“It’s not even six yet,” she muttered under her breath
.
“Can’t these kids wait?” But, she thought, I
remember how eager I always was when I was a kid. She smiled as she opened the door and was
surprised to see Olivia sitting there in her wheelchair
.

“Liv, I didn’t know it was you
.
I didn’t hear you come down
.
”

Olivia smiled
.
“Well, believe it or not, Charlie finally got around to fixing the darn lift,” she said, wheeling her chair through the doorway.

“That’s great. I’ll go tell the kids you’re here. They can’t wait to get going,” Ann said.

She went into the kitchen
.
“
Listen
, you two
.
You can go get ready now,
b
ut put your thermal underwear on under your costumes
.
It’s pretty nippy out there.”

“Mom, where’s my costume?” Danielle asked.

“Oh, sh
…
shoot,” Ann said
.
“I haven’t ironed your costumes yet
.
It’ll
only
take me a minute.”

The doorbell rang and, from the kitchen, they could hear the familiar chant, “Trick or treat!”

“I wanna go now!” Davey yelled.

“Mom, it’s okay,” Danielle said
.
“You don’t have to iron them
.
They’ll be fine.”

“Now
!
Now
!
Now!” Davey chanted, slamming his fist on the table.

“Stop that this minute, young man
.
But, okay
.
Okay
.
You win,” Ann said, smiling
.
“Go get dressed.”

Davey jumped up from his seat, ran into the living room
and
smiled at Olivia as he
grabbed his costume from the ironing board and
flew
by
.
Danielle followed at a slower pace.

“Was that a tornado?” Olivia asked Ann as she walked into the room.

“Sometimes I think so,” Ann replied
.
She went out into the hallway and gave each of the trick-or-treaters a handful of candy.
She closed the front door
,
came back into the apartment
and took a seat on the sofa
across from Olivia
.

“Ann,” Olivia said. “I love the sage green you painted these walls. It’s so calming and it
matches the green in your sofa perfectly.
” Her eyes scanned the room. “You’ve added such nice touches. Even your accessories coordinate. You really do have an eye for color and a flare for decorating.”

Ann
blushed
.
“Thanks.
We don’t have
the
time now but y
ou’ll have to come down one of these days and I’ll show you what I’ve done with the
other
rooms.
I had so much fun doing it. In our old apartment, I wasn’t allowed to paint and all the walls were
stark
white. I’m so glad … .
”

“We’re ready!” Davey announced
as he ran into the room
.
Danielle was right behind him.

“Oh my!” Olivia exclaimed
.
“You two look fantastic
!
Where did you get those beautiful costumes
?”

“Our mom made them,” Danielle replied
.
“We went to the Halloween store and saw costumes like these but they were really expensive
.
So, my mom drew a couple of sketches of them and then she got the material and made them
.”
Dani
twirled around in front of Olivia, striking a model’s pose
.
“Mom’s a good sewer
.”

“Well, she certainly is,” Olivia said, smiling. She looked over at Ann. “These are
extraordinary
.
You’re a woman of many talents
, Ann
.
Why, these costumes are as good as, no, better than, the ones John Berkley has in his shop.”

Ann
smiled
.
“My grandmother taught me to sew when I was a little girl
… .
”

“Mommy, come on,” Davey
urged
,
tuggin
g on Ann’s arm
until she stood up
.

Olivia reached into the pocket of her sweater for her digital camera.
She held it up.
“Would you two mind posing for a couple of pictures?” she asked the kids.

“But I wanna go
now
,” Davey whined.

Danielle grabbed his arm. “
S
tand still for one minute and smile for the camera,” she instructed him. “
Then
we can go.”

Reluctantly,
Davey did as he was told and Olivia quickly snapped several pictures.

“Now, Mommy?”
Davey asked.

Ann grabbed her coat from the living room closet
.
“I guess we’re going
now
,” she said, heading for the door
.
“I hope you kids will be warm enough
.
Maybe you should take jackets.”

“We’re fine,
M
om
.
C’mon
,
”
Danielle said.

“Okay
.
I’m coming
.
I’m coming
.
Liv, if you want anything, just help yourself
.
We’ll be back by eight.”