An Unlikely Family

His mouth twisted into a frown. “Hi, yourself. What’d you do?” He stared at the plastic items by her feet. “What are those?”

“Bugs. They’re not real.”

“How’d they get on that shirt?”

“They got glued there.”

He took a few steps closer and wiggled a stuck bug. “They sure did.”

Evie motioned to a chair. “Why don’t you sit down, Officer Muldoone?”

He sat stiffly, as if he were the one in trouble, and ran long fingers through his hair. “What happened?”

Evie briefed him, ending with the clean-up necessary to the playground. “Naturally we want all plastic insect infestation gone before Wednesday.”

“I saw Malcolm working out there when I drove up,” Billy said. “I couldn’t figure out what he was doing picking at the monkey bars like he was.”

“Well, now you know. He says he has a solvent that will loosen the glue, but it will take time.”

“Time the taxpayers of Heron Point will have to pay for,” he said, staring at his daughter. “Where did you get the bugs, Gemma?”

“At the Dollar Mart in Micopee. Nana had to go there for something and she gave me five dollars to spend. Somebody was putting out the Halloween stuff, and I saw these.” She held up a rubbery spider. “There were fifty in a bag. I bought five bags.” She paused before anticipating his next question. “I got the glue from Nana’s kitchen drawer.”

“One bag of bugs didn’t do it for you?”

“Not once I got started. It was fun putting them places.”

Billy pointed to the shirt on her lap. “Like that.”

“Specially here.”

“Whose shirt is it?”

She mumbled the answer.

Billy’s face blanched. “Whose did you say?”

“Bernard Hutchinson’s.”

He looked at the ceiling. “That’s just great. Why did you pick Bernard’s shirt?”

“He was saying stuff I didn’t like and that wasn’t true.” She blinked at Evie. “Isn’t that so, Miss Gaynor? He can’t say whether I go on field trips.”

Evie leaned against the desk. “You know that’s not the point, Gemma. There are more appropriate ways of handling problems. We don’t damage anyone else’s property. In this school we will respect one another’s belongings.”

Gemma raised a supplicating gaze to her father. “You would have done the same thing, Daddy.”

“Me? I don’t think I would have put bugs on Bernard’s shirt.”

“Maybe not Bernard’s, but you would his mother’s. You don’t like Missy Hutchinson. Didn’t you say she was stuck-up and con-de…” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth. “What’s that word?”

“Never mind. And that’s not the point, either. No matter how I feel about Missy— and quit listening in to adult conversations, by the way—I wouldn’t glue bugs to one of her hundred-dollar blouses!”

Gemma wiggled a centipede loose. “Oh. Well, we owe Bernard another shirt if this one is ruined.”

“That ought to set you back about a dozen weeks of allowances.”

Evie raised her eyebrows. “How much allowance does Gemma get, if I may ask?”

“Fifty cents a week…not counting the windfalls my mother obviously drops in her lap for no reason.”

“That would be more like sixty allowances,” Evie said. “Missy told me what the shirt cost.”

Billy shook his head. “Wonderful. I don’t have a shirt that costs thirty dollars.”

Evie sympathized with Billy’s situation. Thirty dollars was probably a lot of money to a small-town cop. “You can see why I called you,” she said. “This wasn’t just a harmless incident. When other students are victimized—”

His eyes rounded, and he interrupted her. “I’d hardly call Bernard victimized. That’s an exaggeration.”

“I don’t think so. His rights were definitely violated. And there is the matter of financial restitution.” Evie folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t think we can minimize this.”

Billy glared at his daughter. This time she actually squirmed. “You’re grounded until you’re twenty. You know that, don’t you?”

Gemma started to speak, but a commotion in the outer office stopped her.

“I’m going in there right now, Mary Alice.” The woman’s voice coming through the closed door was intended to dissuade all argument. “You can’t stop me.”

Gemma’s hands stilled. The shirt slipped between her knees to the floor. “Daddy, I think Nana’s here.”

The door flew open and a deceptively small, wiry dynamo in yellow sneakers, flowered shorts and a sweat-dampened crimson T-shirt burst into the room. Her tomato-red hair was loosely bound in a scrunchy, leaving coarse strands sticking out like sun-dried pampas grass. Her eyes, under bright lavender shadow glittered as she surveyed the scene. She looked first at Evie, then Gemma, then Billy. “What’s going on here? I saw the cruiser in the parking lot as I was jogging past.”

Billy’s face flushed as he turned from the huffing jogger to look at Evie. He stood. “Miss Gaynor, apparently it’s time for you to meet my mother, Brenda Muldoone. Ma, this is the new principal.”

Brenda nodded once. “What’s going on? You going to tell me, Billy?”

He frowned at her. “It seems that five dollars you gave Gemma at the Dollar Mart was not a particularly wise investment.”

“What are you talking about?”

“She bought a few hundred plastic bugs and has been sticking them on everything inside school property.”

“Oh.” Brenda’s perpetual motion ground to a stop as she considered her son’s statement. “So that’s where my glue went. I tried to seal the crack in a vase earlier and couldn’t find the tube of cement.” She stuck her hand out at Gemma. “Give it back, young lady, and the rest of those bugs, too.”

“I can’t, Nana. It’s all been con…confis…” She looked at Billy. “What’s the word?”

Evie answered for him. “Confiscated, Gemma. Not to be returned.”

“She glued plastic bugs on Bernard Hutchinson’s shirt.” Billy filled Brenda in. “It’s probably ruined.”

A sound inappropriately like a bark of laughter came from Brenda’s cherry-red lips. “I’ll bet the little heir to the Hutchinson fortune just stood there and let her do it.”

“Ma…”

Brenda quickly recovered and said, for Evie’s benefit, “Oh, Gemma, what a naughty thing to do.” Then, under her breath she added to Billy, “Guess she couldn’t find any live ones.”

“Mrs. Muldoone…” Evie said.

“I know, I know.” Brenda stared at the shirt. “What are the damages, Miss Gaynor? We Muldoones pay our bills.” She slipped her hand into the pocket of her shorts. “I’ve got a few bucks on me.”

“I don’t know yet,” Evie said. “If we can remove the bugs without damaging the shirt, then I’ll give it back to Mrs. Hutchinson for her approval.”

Brenda waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “That’s no problem. I’ll have that shirt looking like new.”

Billy took hold of his mother’s arm. “Ma, you’re not helping Gemma realize what she’s done.”

Brenda’s brows came together in a scowl. “I’m not finished with her yet. We haven’t started talking punishment. Now, what else?”

“The schoolyard has to be cleaned up. Those bugs are everywhere.”

Brenda strode to within a few feet of Gemma’s chair. “You really did it this time, didn’t you? Got yourself in a peck of trouble.”

Gemma shrugged. “Looks like it.”

“No dessert for you tonight.” She tugged at the tangled bangs on Gemma’s forehead. “Well, come on. You look a mess. I’ve got you an appointment to get your hair trimmed over at Ida’s. Then I’ll come back with you later and we’ll unstick all those bugs.” She turned to Billy. “With three of us working, we’ll have the place exterminated in no time.” She looked at Evie. “I’m going to go ahead and take my granddaughter and the shirt now, Miss Gaynor. We’ll fix up the schoolyard.”

“But wait…”

Gemma had already taken her grandmother’s words as her release from custody. She bolted to the door.

“Stop right there, Gemma,” Evie said.

Brenda grabbed her granddaughter’s arm and held her still. “We’ll see that Gemma learns her lesson.”

“I wish you could also assure me this type of behavior won’t be repeated.”

Staring at the top of Gemma’s head, Brenda said, “My granddaughter is a bit high-strung. But this was just a childish prank, a stupid one to be sure, but still a prank.” She curved her hand over Gemma’s hair. “I think we can assure Miss Gaynor that you won’t do this again, can’t we, Gemma Scarlett?”

The girl nodded. “I won’t do this again.”

“There, you see? So I’ll take Gemma and we’ll come back later for clean-up duty.” Brenda’s lips widened in a calculated grin. “You tell Missy Hutchinson that Brenda Muldoone is taking charge of Bernard’s shirt. I don’t think you’ll have any more trouble from her.”

“I’ll take you at your word, Mrs. Muldoone.”

“Call me Brenda. Everybody does.” She turned Gemma around and nudged her out the door. “You coming, Billy?”

“Not quite yet, Ma. If you need to use my truck to go to Ida’s, the keys are in the ignition.”

“Never mind,” she said. “I’ll use the Minnie Winnie. See you at home.” She flicked a wave at Evie and left.

Evie walked around her desk and sat. “Minnie Winnie?”

“Winnebago. My mother drives a motor home.”

“Is she always like this?” Evie asked.

Billy scratched the back of his neck. “Who? Ma or Gemma?”

Evie laughed. “I was talking about Brenda this time.”

“Yes. Pretty much. She’s kind of hard to ignore. But she takes good care of Gemma. And she means what she says. We’ll see that Gem doesn’t act out in this way ever again.” He gave her a sympathetic smile. “I know this wasn’t how you hoped to start the school year.”

“No, but with kids you can never be certain of anything. I’m aware that you’re a single father, and raising a child isn’t easy under the best of situations. I’m sorry I had to call you.”

“Don’t apologize,” he said. “I’m not sorry I’m here.” He passed his hand over the start of a grin. “Well, I’m sorry about the circumstances that brought me, but now that we’re alone, I’m kind of glad.”

He was glad? That wasn’t the response Evie had expected. “What do you mean?”

“I was hoping we could get to know each other a little better.”

CHAPTER FIVE

EVIE STARED AT Billy while she caught her breath. He would never win an award for impeccable timing.

After her silence became uncomfortable, she folded her hands in her lap and said, “Billy, are you asking me out?”

He walked over to the pile of litter Gemma had left on the floor, scooped up the bugs and deposited them into the trash can. Then he pulled his chair to the opposite side of Evie’s desk, sat and leaned back. “I’m not sure. But you have this look on your face that tells me you wouldn’t say yes.”

She sat forward. “No, I wouldn’t. We just had an incident with your daughter. I’ve had to appease Missy Hutchinson, who, I’m starting to believe, is not the town’s most understanding and forgiving citizen. And I’m still somewhat breathless over encountering your mother.”

She shook her head. “And to top it off, I’ve spent the day adjusting to a new job, new staff and the responsibility that comes with preparing for the arrival of one hundred and twenty-five youngsters the day after tomorrow.”

“Looks to me like you could use a night out,” he said. “With a friend.”

She pointed at him, then pointed at herself. “You and I? Friends?”

Billy shrugged one shoulder. “Sure, why not?”

“But we’re here as parent and school administrator. I was just about to discuss your daughter’s behavioral problems.”

“Okay. I know Gemma can be a handful. She’s going through a stubborn phase right now. Why don’t you and I talk about it over a couple of seafood dinners at the Tail and Claw restaurant?”

“I don’t know that we should—”

Mary Alice opened the door. “Sorry to bother you again, Evie,” she said.

Evie was beginning to think of the secretary’s sudden appearances as precursors of trouble. “What is it, Mary Alice?”

“There’s a UPS truck outside. The driver has a delivery for you.”

Evie groaned. “Already? I didn’t expect such prompt service.”

Mary Alice jutted her thumb at the window. “See for yourself.”

Leaning over the back edge of a van, a man dressed in trademark brown shorts and shirt lowered a hand truck laden with boxes to the ground. A half dozen other cartons already sat in the school yard.

“He needs to know where you want it,” Mary Alice said.

Evie pressed her hand against her forehead. “I never dreamed… I thought it would be days yet.”

Billy strode to the window and stared at the growing pile of boxes. “What is all that?”

Evie sighed. “Oh, books, reference materials, clothes, knickknacks…” A burst of near hysterical laughter escaped her. “…ice skates.”

Billy turned. “Ice skates?”

“I thought there might be an indoor rink. We have them up north…” She waved her hand in front of her face. “Never mind. It’s a total of fifteen boxes of all the things I thought I couldn’t live without.”

He chuckled. “You can live without ice skates in Heron Point.”

“I know that now,” she said. “I was hoping my things would arrive after I found a place to live.” She stared at the stack in the yard. “I can’t fit even half of this at the Pink Ladies.”

Mary Alice tapped her foot on the wood floor. “So what should I tell him?”

Evie looked around. “In here, I guess. Temporarily at least.”

Mary Alice made a clucking sound with her tongue. “It’s going to be crowded.”

Grimacing at the woman’s obvious and unnecessary observation, Evie said, “I’ve got to find a place. Now!”

The phone in the outer office rang and MaryAlice hurried to answer it. She called to Evie a moment later. “It’s for you. It’s the mayor.”

Evie grabbed the phone. “Claire?”

At the sound of her new friend’s calm voice, Evie’s breathing returned to normal. With each sentence from Claire’s mouth, she relaxed more. She finished the conversation by thanking Claire, hung up and looked at Billy.

He raised his eyebrows. “Good news?”

“Yes. What did I just say five minutes ago?”

“That we were heading to the Tail and Claw.”

She scowled at him.

“Okay, second guess. That you need a place to live.”

“Right. You won’t believe this. Claire just offered me the cottage behind her house. She said it would be ready by Friday.” As the first load of boxes was wheeled into her office, Evie exhaled a deep sigh. “I said yes. I’m moving in Friday.”

“I should have told you Claire was going to do that,” Billy said.

“You knew?”

His response was matter-of-fact. “It’s Heron Point. Of course I knew.” He began stacking the cartons against the only spare wall in the office. “I have Friday night off and I own a pickup.” The mischievous look over his shoulder was disturbingly similar to Gemma’s. “So, do you want my help?”

She watched him squeeze a box into a space between the stack and the ceiling. “Sure. And I’ll buy the pizza.”

THE NEXT AFTERNOON after school, Evie went by Claire’s bungalow, which she’d learned was called Tansy Hill by local residents. Interested in the history of the century-old home, which sat on a rise with a stunning view to the Gulf, Evie discovered that the original owner had raised herbs in the backyard, tansy being one of the principal varieties. Since then, everyone in town, even the postman, knew the property as Tansy Hill.

Claire took Evie through the kitchen, out the back door and down a brick pathway to a charming cottage that could have been out of the pages of a child’s book. It had a peaked roof with scalloped shingles over the eaves, small casement windows with flower boxes at the sills and a leaded-glass front door with a brass knocker shaped like a crescent moon. The entire structure was painted yellow and white to match the main house.

Claire opened the door and stepped aside. “I just had the cleaning lady here today,” she said as Evie went in. “If there’s anything you want to change, feel free. Aunt Pet packed up her personal belongings when she moved into Finn’s place, and what’s left is just the furniture that’s been here for a while. It’s still serviceable I guess, but I have no great love for any of it. You can bring in your own things.”

Evie quickly appraised the cozy parlor. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t change anything. Besides, I’m not moving the furniture from my apartment down here. It’s all in storage in Detroit.”

She was more than pleased with the bright chintz sofa, overstuffed wicker chairs and glass-topped wrought-iron tables covered with magazines dedicated to herb growing and the celestial arts. It was Evie’s taste with a touch of the unconventional Pet, and once she filled up the empty bookshelves along one wall and set out a few precious treasures, she knew she’d be comfortable here for as long as Claire allowed her to stay.

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