“Ha, you’re funny,” Hailey said. “Though that’s actually happened. You should have seen what was left of the book. Anyway, you have to get out of work early on October fifth.”
Lauren walked over to the calendar hanging on the fridge. “That’s two weeks from today, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Why do I need to get out of work early?”
“I made us a salon appointment. You know, for Paige’s wedding?”
“Is she definitely getting married on the sixth?”
“I guess Mitch is still waiting to hear from Liz, but the rest of the family can come from New Hampshire, so they’re going to do it. Paige said Mitch will get Liz here one way or another.”
She grabbed a pen and wrote wedding in the Saturday block. “What time is the appointment? Oh...wait. Dean’s coming on Friday to pick up Nick. They’re going camping for the long weekend, so I had to get out early anyway. What time did you make the appointment for?”
“Two. I’m closing the library at noon and we’re heading for the city, baby.”
“Dean’s picking Nick up at noon. It’ll be close.”
“We’ll make it. And it’s my treat. Hair, facials, manicures, pedicures, the works.”
It sounded like heaven. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone to a salon. Usually she ran into the barbershop during a lunch break and had Katie trim her hair. “I’m not letting you pay.”
“You can’t stop me. It’s going to be awesome girl-time and we’ll look hot as hell for the wedding. Oh, and speaking of hot, what’re you wearing?”
“I haven’t gotten that far. I looked in my closet, but all I have is a funeral suit and a dress with shoulder pads and sequins I don’t remember buying.”
“Since you were still a kid in the eighties, I’m going to pretend you went on a drunken shopping spree. We’ll find you a dress on the fifth, too. Something sexy and slinky.”
Lauren laughed. “I was thinking something warm, since Paige is getting married outside in October.”
“Trust me. We’ll find the perfect dress. Something you can dance in, too.”
She didn’t plan on doing any dancing. It was something she wasn’t very good at and tended to save for very dark nightclubs that served copious amounts of alcohol. “I have to go wash my floor.”
“And I have to batten down the hatches for the homework club. Last week the homework seems to have been to sneak all the sexy romances into the Y.A. room and giggle over them.”
“Lucky you. I’d rather mop my floor.”
By the time she was satisfied the old linoleum was as clean as she could get it, Nick had come out of his room. “You want a snack, honey?”
“I was thinking, you wanna watch a movie or something?”
She didn’t, really. She needed to get started on the laundry and make a shopping list. But it was his way of reaching out, so she nodded. “You get the movie, I’ll make the popcorn.”
*
Ryan knew he should be doing the final prep work so he could pull the kitchen windows out and put the new ones in with as little inconvenience to Rosie as possible, but he couldn’t be bothered. Instead, he sat on the porch with a beer, enjoying the quiet.
He’d always considered Saturdays just another workday, but he didn’t have a lot of ambition today. Matt and Dill had headed back to Massachusetts for the weekend the night before in one of the trucks. Rosie’s car was in the shop, so she’d taken Josh’s truck to some antique place with Fran Benoit. And because she had Josh’s truck, Josh had taken Ryan’s truck into town to do some errands.
Ryan couldn’t go anywhere without a vehicle and he didn’t feel like working, so he’d popped a beer and sat down. An hour later, he woke up, groggy and with a stiff neck from his head flopping over in the chair.
A sound caught his attention and he lifted his head, trying to place it. It was a weird plink, like something tapping glass, and probably what had woken him up. It wasn’t until he froze, straining in the silence, that he heard the pop of a pellet gun.
Somebody was shooting at the new windows. No doubt the same damn somebody who’d been making a nuisance of himself for weeks.
Ryan’s instinct was to go running out back, where the windows were leaning up against the barn waiting to be installed, but he didn’t. Instead he crept around the house and peeked until he spotted a teenage boy just in the tree line. Though it would probably cost him a pane of glass, he took his time moving to a spot where the kid couldn’t see him and sneaked into the woods. He slowly made his way through the trees and, by the time the vandal saw him it was too late.
The kid made a break for it, but Ryan had momentum and took him down to the ground. The pellet gun went flying and he hauled the boy to his feet by the back of his collar.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”