Free From the Grounds Up by Sandra Balzo Page A

never left.
    'I'm sure of Patrice and her kids.' Sarah stepped back on to the tracks and pretended to survey the building.
    'Be careful,' I said. 'We don't need another casualty.'
    Sarah didn't answer.
    I studied my friend. 'So what are you worried about? Sam and Courtney will have a nice summer with their cousins and be back with all sorts of stories to tell.'
    'If they come back,' Sarah muttered, kicking at one of the rails.
    Ah, that was it. 'You're afraid they'll like living on Cape Cod so much they won't want to return to Brookhills.'
    But Sarah's face was stony. 'Sam has two more semesters of high school after this, then he'll leave for college. Courtney will take off three years after that. One way or the other, they'll both leave.'
    Sarah shrugged. 'And I say good riddance.'
    I smacked her one.

Chapter Nine
    'Don't be a weenie.' I was leading the way around the depot building to the porch. 'When I used to play tag with my older brothers, I knew they would catch me eventually, so I'd just sit down. I let them tag me to get it over with.'
    'Nice analogy.' Sarah stomped up the steps. 'But you're calling me the weenie?'
    'I was four years old,' I said. 'You're forty—'
    '—ish,' Sarah finished. She tried the door. Unlocked.
    'Ronny?' she called from the threshold. 'Where are you?'
    I said, 'Avoiding the subject isn't going to change the way you're feeling,' following her in. 'You're suffering empty-nest syndrome, but Courtney and Sam aren't even gone yet. In fact, you want to shove them out of the nest, so they won't have the satisfaction of flying away on their own.'
    'Thanks, Dr Phil,' Sarah said, 'but that's ridiculous. 'I was fine before they came. In fact—'
    'Here I am.' Ronny appeared from behind the ticket windows and looked back and forth between us. 'Is everything all right?'
    'Sure,' Sarah said quickly.
    Except for the fact his father was smashed by a train and we'd just come from the nursing home with his stepmother's meager personal effects. Oh, and then there was Klepto Clara, deceased as well.
    'We were just talking about Sarah's wards,' I explained. 'Sorry to be late, but one of the . . . residents at Brookhills Manor died. Everything was fine, though, with Mr Levitt.'
    Besides him suspecting us of chair-hicular homicide.
    'Just call Levitt and he'll let you into Kornell's apartment to clear it out,' Sarah said.
    'No need. I have a key.' Ronny was looking at his cousin with concern. 'You said, "before they came". Is something wrong with Sam and Courtney?'
    Of course Ronny would know them. Sarah and he might not share a blood parent, but the cousins were family after all.
    'Nope,' Sarah said, holding up her hands as if to deflect any further conversation. 'They're just visiting mom's-side relatives for the summer.'
    'That's great,' Ronny said, a smile lighting his face. He wasn't a bad-looking guy, despite his quirky taste in dress. 'Are they staying with their cousins on Cape Cod?'
    Sarah scowled at him. 'How'd you know that?'
    'Facebook.' Ronny shrugged. 'They're very excited about going and I'm glad you're letting them.'
    'She doesn't want to,' I said, and Sarah threw me a dirty look. I didn't want to betray her, but I thought Ronny, who had lived with his father and stepmother, might be able to reassure her.
    I proved right.
    'They will come back,' he said. 'And they won't stop loving you because you're not "blood". Your aunt took me in, just like you did for Sam and Courtney.'
    He turned to me. 'My mother remarried after the divorce. I was seven and not getting along with my new stepfather. Vi insisted that I come live with them when she and Kornell married. God knows where I'd be today without that woman.' He used the back of his hand to wipe his eyes. 'Sarah, it's the same for you, with Sam and Courtney.'
    'Fine,' Sarah said, never one for sentimentality. 'They'll go. They'll come back. They'll still love me.'
    She waved her hand at the ticket counter in front of us. 'Now can we talk about getting