Christmas Cookie Murder #6 by Leslie Meier Page B

this.”
    â€œMom—you’re not gonna tell Dad, are you?”
    â€œOf course I am. And Eddie’s dad, too.”
    â€œYou can’t do that, Mom,” begged Toby. “Dad’s already pissed off at me.”
    â€œAnd my mom’s sick and all—this’ll kill her,” added Eddie.
    Lucy took a deep breath. “Okay,” she finally said. “I won’t tell anybody, but you have to promise not to do this again. Ever. OK?”
    The boys nodded.
    â€œNow, inside. I’m going to make some coffee.”
    It was all she could think of that might counteract the effect of the marijuana and return the boys to their normal state. Not that they seemed to be out of control. They were content to sit at the table, watching her scoop instant coffee into mugs with bemused expressions on their faces.
    â€œI can’t believe you’re this stupid,” she hissed at them. “Especially after what happened to Tim Rogers. He got himself into a mess of trouble, and you could, too, if you get caught with marijuana.”
    She poured hot water into the mugs, set them in front of the boys, then made one for herself.
    â€œAnd you’ve wasted the whole afternoon,” she couldn’t help adding, glancing at the unfinished applications. “Don’t you want to get this over with and get those darned things in the mail?”
    Toby shrugged and shoveled several spoonfuls of sugar into his mug. “I don’t know, Mom. I don’t know if it’s worth it.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Lucy was puzzled. “You have wonderful opportunities ahead of you.” She glanced at Eddie. “Both of you. You’re lucky you have families that will help you get the educations you want.”
    â€œDad’s not so keen,” said Toby, stirring his coffee.
    â€œMy dad isn’t either,” admitted Eddie.
    â€œThat’s not exactly true,” said Lucy, with a flash of insight. “They just don’t want to admit that you’re growing up.”
    Toby sook a slurp of coffee. “Really good, Mom. Reeelly good. Taste it, Ed.”
    Eddie gulped down half a cup and smiled. “Yeah, man. Good.”
    Lucy sighed. “Well, I guess you’re not going to finish these today.” Lucy gathered up the papers.
    â€œWhat’s the point?” asked Toby. “Look what happened to Tim.”
    â€œYeah,” agreed Eddie. “He trained all year long. Made All-State and MVP. And then they took away his scholarship. Over nothing.”
    â€œHe lost his scholarship? Because he was arrested?”
    â€œBastards took it back,” fumed Eddie.
    Lucy was seized with the desire to grab the two boys by the scruffs of their necks and knock their heads together. Instead, she counted to ten. Then she spoke.
    â€œYou don’t get it, do you? Tim broke the law, that’s why he lost the scholarship. He got drunk and he drove the car and he got caught. It’s nobody’s fault but his own. Get that straight.”
    But looking at them, she knew they didn’t believe her. To them, Tim was just proof that the harder you tried, the more you had to lose. Therefore, you might as well not try in the first place.
    Finishing her coffee, she revised her earlier opinion of “Smart Kids, Smart Choices.” Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. It certainly couldn’t hurt, she thought, watching as the boys finished off the last of the gingersnaps.

CHAPTER NINE
    â€œY ou’ll ruin your appetites.” Lucy couldn’t help saying it, even though she didn’t think it mattered much to the boys whether they had room for dinner or not.
    Dinner, she realized with a start. She’d forgotten all about it. She had to get the chili cooking, and then she had to do something about getting Eddie home. Normally, Toby would drive him home in her car, but she couldn’t let him do that while he was still feeling the