was fine, then he got back to her. “Why wouldn’t you be?” he repeated. “Have you forgotten you could be the target of that lunatic criminal of Elliot’s?”
“Of course not,” she said, although she really didn’t think there was much chance of the lunatic targeting her.
“Then didn’t it occur to you,” her father asked, “that your mother and I would worry when you didn’t phone?”
“When I didn’t phone?” She was supposed to have phoned?
“About dinner,” her father elaborated. “I told you Marisa invited herself, remember?”
Oh, no. Dinner at her parents with her sister. She’d promised to call her mother and confirm. Then Billy and Hoops had shown up and she’d forgotten all about it.
“Oh, Dad, I’m sorry. I really am. It completely slipped my mind.”
“I see,” he said stonily. “Well, we had no way of knowing it had completely slipped your mind. So when you didn’t phone, we started thinking something might have happened to you and called your apartment. Then we started trying your cell phone, but that didn’t get us anywhere, either.”
“It’s not working. I forgot to charge it.”
“She forgot to charge it,” her father muttered to her mother. “Well, we had no way of knowing that, either,” he continued on to Lauren. “So, eventually, I called Rosalie, to see if anything had happened at the office. And when she told me where you’d gone…”
Lauren grimaced, imagining the third degree he must have given Rosalie to make her tell. She’d never have willingly volunteered the information. She’d seen enough of Roger Van Slyke to know he’d think taking off for Eagles Roost was a harebrained idea.
“When she told me,” he was continuing, “that you’d headed off to the middle of nowhere with a couple of that Sullivan man’s criminals-in-training, it certainly did nothing to relieve our minds.”
“Dad, Sully’s kids are not criminals-in-training. They’re boys from problem home situations. They’re not problems themselves.”
“No? You must be forgetting about the one who robbed the bank, then, but let’s not get into that at the moment.”
Lauren began massaging the right side of her neck where she always felt tension first. It was supposed to be mothers who were the experts at making their children feel guilty, but that wasn’t the way it worked in her case.
“By the time I finally called information and got this number, your mother and I were sure you were lying in a ditch somewhere,” her father went on, “so I called Sullivan to find out what time you’d left—as a prelude to calling the state police. But what do I find out? That you’re spending the night under the same roof as that ex-con! What on earth possessed you to do that?”
“Dad, I didn’t have much choice. I ran out of gas and the gas station was closed. So what should I have done? Slept in the car?”
“You ran out of gas? Oh, so that’s the real story. Sullivan said you’d had car trouble, but I should have known the car wasn’t to blame.”
Lauren began to massage harder, wishing she hadn’t mentioned the gas and wondering if Sully had intentionally tried to help her save face.
She took a few more deep breaths, sure that if her father said one more word she’d end up yelling that she was thirty years old, not twelve. Then she heard her mother saying, “Roger, for goodness’ sake, give me that phone.”
“Darling,” she said, coming on the line, “you’re absolutely certain you’re all right?”
“Positive,” Lauren assured her, immediately starting to breathe a little more easily. She adored her mother, and there was never the sort of tension between them that seemed so frequent with her father. “And I really am sorry I forgot to call,” she added.
“Don’t worry about it, dear. We all forget things sometimes. And don’t be upset with your father. He only sounded angry because he’s been so worried about you.”
“Yes…yes, I know.”
“Of course not,” she said, although she really didn’t think there was much chance of the lunatic targeting her.
“Then didn’t it occur to you,” her father asked, “that your mother and I would worry when you didn’t phone?”
“When I didn’t phone?” She was supposed to have phoned?
“About dinner,” her father elaborated. “I told you Marisa invited herself, remember?”
Oh, no. Dinner at her parents with her sister. She’d promised to call her mother and confirm. Then Billy and Hoops had shown up and she’d forgotten all about it.
“Oh, Dad, I’m sorry. I really am. It completely slipped my mind.”
“I see,” he said stonily. “Well, we had no way of knowing it had completely slipped your mind. So when you didn’t phone, we started thinking something might have happened to you and called your apartment. Then we started trying your cell phone, but that didn’t get us anywhere, either.”
“It’s not working. I forgot to charge it.”
“She forgot to charge it,” her father muttered to her mother. “Well, we had no way of knowing that, either,” he continued on to Lauren. “So, eventually, I called Rosalie, to see if anything had happened at the office. And when she told me where you’d gone…”
Lauren grimaced, imagining the third degree he must have given Rosalie to make her tell. She’d never have willingly volunteered the information. She’d seen enough of Roger Van Slyke to know he’d think taking off for Eagles Roost was a harebrained idea.
“When she told me,” he was continuing, “that you’d headed off to the middle of nowhere with a couple of that Sullivan man’s criminals-in-training, it certainly did nothing to relieve our minds.”
“Dad, Sully’s kids are not criminals-in-training. They’re boys from problem home situations. They’re not problems themselves.”
“No? You must be forgetting about the one who robbed the bank, then, but let’s not get into that at the moment.”
Lauren began massaging the right side of her neck where she always felt tension first. It was supposed to be mothers who were the experts at making their children feel guilty, but that wasn’t the way it worked in her case.
“By the time I finally called information and got this number, your mother and I were sure you were lying in a ditch somewhere,” her father went on, “so I called Sullivan to find out what time you’d left—as a prelude to calling the state police. But what do I find out? That you’re spending the night under the same roof as that ex-con! What on earth possessed you to do that?”
“Dad, I didn’t have much choice. I ran out of gas and the gas station was closed. So what should I have done? Slept in the car?”
“You ran out of gas? Oh, so that’s the real story. Sullivan said you’d had car trouble, but I should have known the car wasn’t to blame.”
Lauren began to massage harder, wishing she hadn’t mentioned the gas and wondering if Sully had intentionally tried to help her save face.
She took a few more deep breaths, sure that if her father said one more word she’d end up yelling that she was thirty years old, not twelve. Then she heard her mother saying, “Roger, for goodness’ sake, give me that phone.”
“Darling,” she said, coming on the line, “you’re absolutely certain you’re all right?”
“Positive,” Lauren assured her, immediately starting to breathe a little more easily. She adored her mother, and there was never the sort of tension between them that seemed so frequent with her father. “And I really am sorry I forgot to call,” she added.
“Don’t worry about it, dear. We all forget things sometimes. And don’t be upset with your father. He only sounded angry because he’s been so worried about you.”
“Yes…yes, I know.”
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