Last One Home (14 page)

“Daisy threw up.”

Daisy was their cat—or, rather, Lily’s cat, although she seemed far more attached to Buddy than she was to his sister.

“It’s all over my bed and it’s yucky.”

Great
. Just what she needed to start off her morning. “Come on, I’ll change the sheets for you.”

“It looks like blood.”

On closer examination Karen realized that Crazy Daisy had indeed thrown up and it wasn’t pet food that she was seeing mingled in with Buddy’s sheets. It was the remains of a mouse. Karen
pressed her hand over her forehead. Daisy was an indoor cat, which meant there were mice in the house.

“What’s happening in here?” Garth asked, standing in the doorway to Buddy’s bedroom. “Is there a party going on? How come I wasn’t invited?”

“Crazy Daisy threw up on my bed,” Buddy told his father.

“You might want to take a look at this,” Karen told her husband, pointing toward a readily identifiable rodent body part.

Garth walked over to the bed and his eyes met hers. “Gross.”

That was putting it mildly. “We’re going to need to get someone from a pest-control service to the house,” she said. “I don’t have a clue when I’ll have time to fit that into my week.”

Garth slowly exhaled. “Don’t worry about it, honey, I’ll take care of it.”

“The exterminator will only come on weekdays unless we’re willing to pay an outrageous fee for a weekend visit and then I’ll need to take a half-day off work and that’s only if he arrives on time—”

“Karen,” Garth said gently, and took hold of her shoulders. “I’ll work at home one day next week. I’ll take care of this. You don’t need to do everything on your own. You have a husband, you know.”

“You don’t mind?” She hadn’t expected Garth to be so willing.

“Waiting around for a pest-control truck isn’t my favorite job, but I’ll survive.”

Karen sighed with relief. “Buddy, while I’m changing your sheets, you take a shower.”

“Another one?” their son protested. “I had one last night before I went to bed, remember?”

“Do it anyway, and be sure and wash your hair.”

“Dad?” Buddy looked pleadingly at his father.

“Do as your mother asks.”

Although the cat-and-mouse incident wasn’t the greatest way to start her day, the field trip with the Girl Scouts turned out to be a lot of fun. Lily was at the age when she was still pleased to spend time with her mother. Karen felt she should treasure these years, building good memories with her daughter before she hit her teens.

True to his word, Garth got Buddy ready for his softball game and left a message with the pest-control company. Having him handle this was a huge relief. Karen appreciated that he was willing to take on the responsibility. He’d been making an effort to do more lately, and she was grateful. He’d even agreed to take on the task of bill paying when they got charged for a late payment. Karen admitted she hadn’t paid their Visa bill on time. Garth wasn’t that great with money matters, either, but lately he seemed to have more time than she did, especially now that she’d been elected secretary for the PTA and taught Sunday school class.

“I’m hungry,” Lily announced, after they left the Girl Scout troop.

“I know, honey. I am, too.” In fact, Karen had grabbed an apple and that had to suffice as breakfast. She drove around the block in the downtown area of Spokane, seeking a convenient parking spot.

“Where are we meeting Dad?”

“Pizza Pete’s,” she replied absently, spying a space in the next block up. If the light turned green she’d have the chance to grab the spot before another car got it.

“Dad’s not going to order those fish again, is he?”

“Those are anchovies. If he wants anchovies, he can order his own pizza.”

Lily was pacified. “You don’t like them, either.”

“Nope.” The light turned and Karen was able to grab the space on the street. By the time they walked into Pizza Pete’s, Garth and Buddy had secured a table and ordered the pizza.

“No anchovies!” Garth answered, before she could ask the question.

“Thank you.” Karen slid into the booth while Lily joined her brother in the video arcade. She’d barely had time to set her purse down when both Lily and Buddy catapulted back toward their table.

“We need more quarters,” Lily announced breathlessly.

Karen reached for her coin purse and dug out eight quarters, giving four to each of her children. As quickly as they’d arrived, the two departed.

“How did Buddy’s game go?” Karen asked, looking up at her husband.

“They lost.”

“Really?” His team, up to this point in the season, had gone undefeated.

“Thirteen to ten; it was a great game. Buddy was disappointed, but I think it was good for him. His team will learn more from the loss than another win.”

Garth was like this. No matter what the situation, he continued to have a positive attitude. It was one of his most attractive attributes and why she loved him as profoundly as she did.

“What are your plans this afternoon?” she asked.

“It’s time I started working in the yard. On the way home, Buddy and I will get lawn fertilizer and some organic plant food.”

Their yard was badly in need of attention. Karen couldn’t remember the last time she’d weeded the flower beds. Last year it was late July before she’d had a chance to plant the annuals, and by then the season was nearly half over. “Good idea.”

“I’m thinking it might be time to teach Buddy to mow the lawn.”

“Garth!” Their son was far too young to handle a mower.

Her husband laughed. “I was teasing.”

Their pizza arrived and they were quickly joined by their two
children. Garth had ordered one large family-size veggie pizza, which was Karen’s favorite. He preferred pepperoni and sausage.

“Where’s the sausage?” Buddy asked, staring down at his plate. “This pizza has tomatoes on it.”

“All pizza has tomatoes, Buddy.”

“In the sauce, maybe, but these are right on top where I can see them.”

“You can take them off if you want.”

Buddy lifted one thin slice of tomato as if it were a dead mouse in his bed.

Garth shared a smile with Karen. It was moments like this that she loved most, together as a family.

They parted outside the pizza parlor, Garth and Buddy heading off to the local hardware store while Karen and Lily went to Albertsons. If Lily sold her allotment of cookies, Karen would be home in time to lend a hand with the yard work.

Cookie sales outside the grocery were less brisk than Karen had hoped. By the time she returned home, she felt like she’d run a marathon. Garth and Buddy were just finishing up in the yard and putting away the lawn equipment.

“What’s for dinner?” Buddy asked, as soon as Karen was out of the car. She hadn’t given dinner another thought since last night.

“Hamburgers,” Garth answered on her behalf.

Where was her head? Karen had just spent three hours at the grocery store and hadn’t even thought to run in and get something for dinner.

“I didn’t take any burgers out of the freezer,” she confessed to her husband.

“Not to worry, I did. It’s warm enough for me to light up the grill.”

This initiative on his part was a change, and one she wasn’t about to question. “Perfect. Thanks, sweetheart.”

While Lily ran into the house to change out of her Girl Scout uniform, Buddy jumped on his bike to join his friend James. Karen walked out to the street to collect the mail. As she returned to the house, walking up the driveway, she sorted through the catalogs and junk mail. She stopped abruptly when she saw a notice from the bank.

She brought the mail into the house while Garth brought out the barbecue grill from the shed, where they kept it in winter, and washed it off. Holding on to the envelope, she set the rest of the mail on the kitchen counter and opened the notice from the bank.

Their account was overdrawn. Money had been automatically transferred from their savings account to cover the deficit. What was going on here?

Karen didn’t say anything when Garth came into the house. Instead she just handed him the single sheet and let him read the notice for himself.

“Oops,” he muttered. “I guess I’m not as good at this bill paying as I thought.”

“Didn’t you get a text from the bank?” she asked. Garth’s phone number was the one listed for the account.

“If I did, it slipped my notice.”

“Is there a fee attached to this?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Garth confessed. “I doubt it. We’ve never bounced a check before … well, technically, we didn’t now.”

“Only because we have a healthy amount in our savings account.”

“Thankfully.” He kissed her cheek and opened the refrigerator for the meat.

“I’ll make a macaroni salad to go with those burgers,” she said, and got going on a cake for tomorrow night, too.

Cassie had been in a blue funk when she’d spoken to Megan at the Habitat office. Losing the part-time job with the caterer had been an emotional hit that sent her reeling. But even before Steve showed up at Goldie Locks she’d decided against taking a hiatus. Their discussion, if she could call it that, as well as the apology after, had cleared the air between them. They’d sort of made peace with each other. Cassie had put in her hours that week, going directly from the salon to the construction site for an hour or two nearly every day. Shelly and George’s home was close to completion. The inside was all painted and the flooring was nearly finished.

On Sunday Amiee had a day planned with her best friend, Claudia, who was having a birthday party, which gave Cassie six hours to dedicate toward the Habitat project.

In addition, with Megan’s urging, Cassie had signed up to work at the Hoedown on the third Saturday in May, serving food and seating the guests. The time spent volunteering at the fund-raiser would count toward her five-hundred-hour obligation. A lot of the volunteers, including Shelly, talked about the Hoedown
and what a good time everyone had, and Cassie was actually looking forward to it.

She enjoyed working with Shelly. They were putting the finishing touches on the trim in the master bedroom right then.

“Everything going well in here?” Steve asked, stepping into the room to check their progress.

“Moving like a runaway freight train,” Cassie assured him.

“Then slow down. There’s no need to rush.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” she teased.

He smiled and returned to the kitchen, where he was laying down linoleum with George.

“Steve says that at the pace we’re progressing, George and I might be able to move in two or three weeks.”

“That’s wonderful news.” Cassie had a piece of good news herself. Habitat had purchased a vacant lot in the same school district where Amiee attended classes, which might mean she could stay in the same school even when they got their new house. This was especially gratifying after all the moves her daughter had made in her young life. What Cassie longed for most was to give Amiee love and a deep sense of security—uprooting her every few months had been traumatic for her daughter. It had gotten better after Cassie left Duke, but only slightly. The thought of a permanent home for her and Amiee was more than she ever dreamed possible.

“Cassie, would you …” Shelly asked.

Cassie turned around, but as she did, her foot slipped on a splotch of wet paint. Before she realized what was happening, she took a tumble. She heard the sleeve of her jacket tear and then felt a pain sharp enough to make her gasp.

Shelly raced across the room. “You okay?”

“I think so.” Cassie was more stunned than hurt, although she could see blood gushing down her arm.

“It doesn’t look like it. Stay here,” Shelly shouted in a panic. “Don’t move.”

“I’m fine, Shelly,” Cassie insisted, although her arm really did sting. She couldn’t get a good look at it but could feel it was bleeding badly. Worst of all, her jacket was ruined. It wasn’t like she had a closet bursting with a huge wardrobe. She should never have worn it.

“Cassie’s hurt.” Shelly shouted for Steve, and Cassie heard the panic in her friend’s voice.

It didn’t take a minute for Steve to find her.

Shelly stood protectively over Cassie. “I told her not to move.”

“Good.” Steve got down on one knee next to Cassie. “You did the right thing.”

His face was grim and she half expected a lecture. “Better let me see what you did to yourself,” he said. Looking over his shoulder, he asked Shelly to get the first-aid kit.

“I’m okay,” Cassie insisted, embarrassed by all the fuss.

“I’m better qualified to judge that.” The jacket sleeve was torn already, and he ripped it wide open to get a better view of the injury.

Shelly returned and handed Steve the first-aid kit.

“Thanks,” he said, as he opened it and removed a thick wad of gauze, which he pressed against the cut.

“There’s a lot of blood,” Shelly commented, her eyes brooding and serious. Because it was on the back of her arm, Cassie couldn’t get a good look at the cut.

“It looks deep,” George murmured, standing next to his wife. He, too, wore a look of concern.

Shelly’s face was grim.