The Happy Housewife (Samantha Sherman Book 1) (14 page)

Sam put on her ‘serious’ face and walked to Helen’s window. “Well, I tried Helen, and it did not go well. How did he ever get a job at a school?”

“Oh dear, what happened?”

Sam quickly relayed what had occurred. “While he never touched me, he blocked the door and was menacing. Are you sure he wouldn’t hurt anyone? I mean, he’s working around kids.”

Helen looked shocked, “Pete wouldn’t harm anyone, Sam. Really, I wouldn’t have recommended him to the school if I thought otherwise.” She paused and then seemed like she was carefully considering her words, “Sam, I know he’s a big guy and looks kind of scruffy, but he didn’t hurt you, did he? And he didn’t grab you?”

“That’s true, Helen. I’m not going to try and get him fired or anything, I just want to make sure he’s stable enough to be around kids. You know I’m not being crazy here. Pete was fine with hurting people at one point in his life and he still thinks he’s back in the 60s and 70s.”

“Yes, that’s true, but that was a long time ago and he’s not that person anymore. Really. His intelligence is lower, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly. In fact, if I know him he’s probably worried right now about being fired. He has most likely worked out what happened and realizes that your going into his office doesn’t mean anything.”

Sam felt like Helen might be subtly rebuking her for entering Pete’s office.
Well, I said myself that it was a bad move.
But going into someone’s office wouldn’t ‘trigger’ a reasonable person. I mean, what if she had been a kid? She bit her tongue and nodded, tired of going back and forth. “Well, we still have some time if you want to go in and chat with him. I’m not sure I’ll go in with you though.”

“I understand. It may take me a minute.”

“That’s all right. We’ve got about twenty minutes before we need to leave.”

While Helen slowly headed inside, Sam got in the car, rolled up the windows and cranked the air-conditioning. She could hear Doug’s voice talking about the waste of money but she sort of felt like treating herself. She pulled out her ‘to do’ list and started thinking about the next day. Today was a wash and tomorrow was going to be a wash too, with the funeral and the meeting with Don. What a week.

She jotted some notes on her list and then saw Helen shuffling back out to the car. She had been pretty quick, fifteen minutes maybe, if that.

Helen got into the car, looking a little more chipper. “How did it go?” Sam asked.

Helen smiled and said, “Sorry about all that, Sam. He was worried about being fired. He doesn’t realize anymore how intimidating he can be and what his demeanor does to people sometimes. I explained to him what was going on and that the police might talk to him. I really think he gets it. If we just tell the police about his condition, any interview with him will go all right.”

Sam was not convinced that Pete was entirely stable but decided now was not a good time to argue. She suddenly was incredibly eager, more so than usual, to see her daughter. “I’m glad you got to talk to him then. I’m sure it’s hard for someone like Pete to get and hold a job so it’s probably good to give him a warning. He can’t freak out like that with the police.”

“He’ll be fine, he’s ready.”

They headed over to the gymnastics camp and were a couple of minutes early. They sat down and watched Lindsey and the other kids working on cartwheels. Lindsey’s was fairly good, Sam observed. In fact, she was one of the better ones in the class, Sam thought proudly. She glanced over at Helen who seemed to be enjoying herself. Being around kids could really put you in a great mood.

The class finished up and Lindsey bounded over to Sam and Helen and chatted all the way home about the class and her new friends. Sam was relieved. She always worried about Lindsey’s shyness and the fact that she was an only child when she went into new situations. She was a nice girl though and she always seemed to do well once she felt comfortable.

Later that night, after Lindsey and Helen were in bed, Sam finally decided to talk to Doug about the events of the week. After listening to him explain the complicated rules banks follow to account for mortgage loans, she told him what was going on at home. She informed him that Helen was staying with them. She gave him the broad outlines of what had happened; including that Don was on the case. She left out Helen’s background and her meeting with Pete. After all, she justified to herself, all of that probably had nothing to do with what happened. As she presumed would happen, Doug was not happy about “a stranger” staying with them but he seemed to sense that this was important to Sam so he actually let it go with only a short, mild rebuke. In fact, he was more concerned that Sam and Lindsey be cautious if there was a violent burglar near their neighborhood.

All in all it felt good to talk to Doug, he was always so calm and in control. It was also soothing to talk to the person that represented her normal life. She got off the phone feeling closer to him, happy, and calm. She fell asleep peacefully but soon dreamed about narrow hallways and menacing janitors …

S
am was dead asleep when the alarm went off. She could not believe how hard she had slept. She felt so good last night and she wasn’t that tired. This week really was taking more out of her than she thought. She suddenly longed to have Doug home and things back to ‘usual.’ She was not looking forward to Evelyn’s funeral. Sam sighed and pushed back the covers.

Sam generally found that a routine made things easier with kids. Now at mid-week of her camp, Lindsey had adjusted to the new situation which allowed Sam to move through their early morning routine on autopilot. With Lindsey excited to be going back to camp, Sam didn’t need to spend time reminding her of all the fun things she would be doing that day. Getting Lindsey ready and dropped off was a smooth process.

Back at her house, Sam spoke with Helen who let her know that she was not going to go to the funeral. She didn’t know the Myer family, since they went to the Catholic school, and she said she just wasn’t up for it, particularly given that she would be talking to the police in the afternoon. Sam sensed that Helen also wanted to give her some space after Tuesday.
Probably a good call
, thought Sam. She was hugely relieved to have a break from Helen, even if it was to go to what would surely be a heart wrenching funeral.

Sam made sure that Helen knew where the breakfast supplies were and settled her at the kitchen table with the
Washington Post
to read. She then headed upstairs to change for the funeral. Let’s see. She didn’t have anything black that wouldn’t be stifling in the heat. Instead, she pulled out an A-line navy blue skirt with several small white flowers along the hem. She added a soft white cotton short sleeve shirt to the skirt and tan sandals. She curled her hair a little bit and pulled back part of it loosely, securing it with a clip. A couple of loose strands framed her face. She put small pearl studs in her ears and added a modest amount of makeup. Sam grabbed her purse and hunted around her dresser for another pair of sunglasses. She found an old pair that was slightly crooked but wearable. She would have to add buying new sunglasses to her ‘to do’ list.

The drive to the service was short and Sam quickly pulled up to Holy Spirit Church and gathered her things. She glanced over at the elementary school which was quiet now for the summer. It looked as though the church had opened up a classroom for parents to leave small children during the service. It was going to be a crowded mass
.
Jamie and Byron were well known in the church community. They were very active, volunteering for any number of committees, and of course, had two children who were at or had been at Holy Spirit Elementary School. There would be lots of mourners. Sam realized that with everything going on she hadn’t even checked with her sister to see if she was coming to the funeral. Sam didn’t immediately see Mary-Beth’s car. She glanced the other way and saw somber faced people dressed in dark clothing heading in to the church. She gathered her things and moved towards the entrance.

Sam nodded and smiled slightly at several people she recognized. Moving inside the church, she saw Mary-Beth over to the left with the twins. They were going to be a challenge during the service to keep quiet
.
They were too old to be dropped at the toddler room with their younger sister but goodness they were fidgety. Sam hadn’t seen an energy level quite that high in her daughter.

Sam gave Mary-Beth a tight hug and whispered “hi” to the boys. She reminded herself that her sister had no idea what was going on with Helen. It seemed like forever since she had talked to her sister even though it had just been three days ago on Sunday. They whispered back and forth until the service started. There really wasn’t enough time and this wasn’t the place to fill Mary-Beth in on Helen’s problems, so Sam saved that for later.

The service was beautiful but awful. If Sam craned her neck she could see Byron and Jamie in one of the front pews. Madison was clutching Sarah next to them. She was old enough to be at the funeral but it was horrible seeing her there. The priest did a wonderful job eulogizing Evelyn, and it looked like several school friends of Evelyn were involved doing prayers of the faithful and the offertory. Family members did the readings. Sam noticed that Pat and Celine were a couple of rows ahead of where she was sitting. She didn’t see William with them. As the service finished with
Amazing Grace
and then
On Eagles Wings,
Mary-Beth and Sam grabbed hands and gave in to the tears that had threatened to engulf them during the whole service.

The pews began to empty immediately after the final song. The funeral would continue at the grave site. Since it was only 10:00 a.m., Sam was going to continue on with the funeral caravan. Mary-Beth was not. The boys had been well behaved during the church service but another ceremony was pushing it for them. They quickly parted without Sam being able to tell Mary-Beth what had transpired over the past couple of days.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to call her
, Sam decided.

Whew
.
It’s gotten hot so quickly
, Sam thought as she followed the crowd of mourners out of the church. Once in her car, lined up in the funeral train, Sam blasted her air-conditioning, trying to beat the inevitable start of sweating. Her hair had quickly begun to lose its curl and started to frizz. She was glad she had it pulled back.

The line of cars wound its way out of the parking lot, turning onto Braddock Road and continuing to the cemetery. It was a short ten minute drive. Sam parked and followed the crowd to the grave site. It seemed as though most of the people at the church had driven to the cemetery. Sam was glad there was this kind of support level for Jamie, Byron, and Madison. Hopefully it helped. She had been at the beginning of the line of cars and she could see that it would take some time for everyone to congregate. Unfortunately, the sun was very bright and the heat was already pretty intense. The temperature was forecast to exceed ninety degrees today. Sam was pleased she had remembered to grab her other shades.

Up ahead, Sam spotted Pat and Celine. She sped up so she could check in with them. Sam approached Celine’s right side; Pat was on Celine’s left. She felt awkward walking up to them but she knew it was important in these situations to acknowledge what had happened and not to pretend that everything was all right. As she said her hellos, she could see Pat smile warmly, but still with a furrowed brow. Celine was a natural beauty with chic short dark hair, soft brown eyes, and olive skin. She was always impeccably dressed. Today she was in a linen tank top and slacks with gold jewelry at her neck and ears. An expensive looking gold watch graced her arm and her wedding ring, a subtle band with four small diamonds in a row, was on her elegant fingers. Sam knew that Celine played the piano and gave lessons; her fingers were perfect for it. Even her manicure was perfect; nails not too long, French cut and styled. Sam knew the Walters did not have lots of money but Celine was a good shopper and managed to look put together, whatever their income was. William had his father’s height but his looks were from his mother. He really had gotten the best combination of his parents’ genes.

Celine smiled at Sam, and Sam could see how tired she was in her eyes. It must be hard to come to this funeral, particularly when their son was still in the hospital. “Thanks so much for the food, Sam,” Celine said. “We really appreciated the casserole. We’ve been at the hospital so much recently. It’s such a big help.”

At this point they had reached the fringe of the crowd at the grave site and someone approached Pat. He turned slightly to chat so Sam was able to talk to Celine with privacy. “Good. We’ve been saying our prayers for Dwayne. We were so sorry to hear what happened, Celine.”

“Thanks, Sam. The good news is that Dwayne woke up this morning, at around 5:00 a.m. We were able to come in and visit with him. He recognized all of us. He was also able to explain what he was doing at the housing development to the police. They are now completely convinced that he was not involved in eco-terrorism. So we’re real happy about that.”

Well, that explains why she looks tired, thought Sam. She was up very early. Now why doesn’t she look happy? “Wow, Celine, I am so thrilled for you. That’s wonderful. I can’t wait to tell Lindsey that Dwayne is doing so well. When can he leave the hospital?”

Celine gave a half smile. She must just be emotionally exhausted, Sam decided. It certainly made sense that she would be
.
“It is wonderful news. It’s been such an awful couple of days. Everyone has been so nice too, even the police officers. Don and Nathan, those are their names, were so great about taking it easy on him … Oh, you asked about when he could leave. They are going to observe him for the next two days so we are hoping for his release on Friday. He’ll need to take it easy for the rest of the summer, probably no more working, but he’ll be home.” Celine trailed off and looked like she was going to start crying.