Mother's Day Murder (20 page)

Rachel threw her hands up in the air. “You know Bar. She always gets her way. She won’t give up. She’s got a million rationalizations for Ashley’s behavior.”

“And Bart’s going along with this, after what they did to him?” Sue was incredulous.

Rachel rolled her eyes. “He does what Bar tells him to do. She’s been keeping him on a very short leash since he admitted his relationship with Amanda Connell.”

“The one I feel sorry for is Lenny,” said Lucy. “He gave that girl everything. I mean, he was driving that old wreck of a Volvo, and she had a brand-new Prius. He adored her.”

“I don’t know how you deal with something like that,” said Pam, sadly. “Your own child turning against you.”

“Oh, he seems to be coping okay,” said Sue in a sardonic tone. “You’ll never guess who I saw him with.”

“Who?” asked Lucy.

“Elfrida!”

Lucy was still shaking her head over the vagaries of human behavior when the first kids started to arrive, still in their prom finery but toting duffel bags packed with comfortable clothes. One by one, they shuffled into the restrooms, where they transformed themselves from glamorous butterflies to average kids in T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers.

Lucy watched each new arrival, looking for Sara and one last glimpse of her beautiful dress. She was one of the last to arrive, accompanying Chad, who was resplendent in his tux and prom king crown. Sara, however, had no prom queen tiara. That was sitting on the platinum-blond head of Gerta Ingridsdottir, the Icelandic exchange student.

Lucy felt a pang of disappointment and hurried to console Sara. “You are so beautiful…I hope you’re not upset.”

“Upset? Why?”

“Well, because Chad’s king and—”

“It’s cool. Everybody loves Gerta, and she’s going home next week.”

“So you don’t mind?”

“Not a bit.”

“Did you have a good time?”

“It was terrific, except for Chad.”

Lucy had expected this turn of events, but not quite so soon. “What about Chad?”

Sara leaned close, whispering into her mother’s ear. “He’s b-o-r-i-n-g. All he talks about is sports, especially baseball.” Sara suddenly caught sight of Renee and waved to her, just as the Claws were beginning their trademark cover of “Sweet Caroline.”

Sara was bouncing from one foot to the other. “Look, Mom, I wanna dance, okay?”

“Sure,” said Lucy, watching as Sara joined a bunch of girls who were shimmying and shaking on the dance floor. The guys, she saw, were content to stand on the sidelines, watching and sipping sodas, before drifting off to the video games.

“Coffee?” Sue was holding two Styrofoam cups. “It’s going to be a long night.”

Lucy yawned, gratefully accepting the hot coffee. She took a sip, then chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was just thinking about Toby and Molly. They can’t wait for Patrick to sleep through the night so they can get a good night’s sleep. But you know what? It never happens, does it?”

“Nope,” agreed Sue, with a wry smile. “It never does. Even when they’re all grown up, you’re always waiting for that phone call in the night.”