Free Murder at the Tremont House (A Blue Plate Cafe Mystery) by Judy Alter Page A

into silence, but I finally collected my thoughts. “You know, you’re right about Irv in a lot of ways. But your dad loves you a lot. He was frantic tonight, and now he’s angry.”
    “ At me,” she said. “I suppose he’ll ground me for weeks. I don’t care. I don’t get to go anywhere or do anything anyway.”
    Slow down, Kate. She ’s a freshman in high school, a time when lots of girls feel lost and lonely. She’s just got a double burden. “No, I don’t think he’s angry at you. He’s angry at the whole situation that made you so unhappy that you felt you had to disappear.” I walked over and put an arm around her. “I’m so glad you disappeared to my house and didn’t go someplace scary.”
    “ Like Canton? Or even Dallas?”
    “ Yes, like that. You’re safe here, and you’re not always safe other places. Never forget that.”
    We sat and talked, and I gradually eased some information out of her. Her mom ’s friendship with Sara Jo bothered her. Sara Jo had been spending a lot of time at the high school, and, yes, she’d interviewed Ava.
    “ She wanted to know about Mom and Irv. I didn’t tell her much. I don’t figure it’s any of her business. You know what?” She looked at me as though changing the subject would make it all okay. “I think that Sara Jo person has a crush on one of the athletes at school.”
    Wow! I don ’t want to go there. “Surely not,” I said. “She’s old enough to be his mother.”
    She giggled. “I know. That’s what we all think is so funny about it!”
    “ Who is we all?” Here was the kind of lead I wanted. Did Ava have girlfriends?
    “ Oh, some of the girls I pal around with. Francie is my BFF….” She looked at me. “Do you know what that means?”
    “ I’m not that old, Ava. Of course I know. She’s your best friend forever.” I didn’t say that would change six times before she got out of high school. If Ava was one of the lucky ones, it wouldn’t, and she’d have a lifetime friendship. “Who else?”
    “ Rachel and Deb and a few others. We talk about Sara Jo—she told us to call her that and not Ms. Cavanaugh—a lot. I think she’s trying to be our buddy, like she’s one of us. But she’s not.”
    There it was again. Sara Jo ’s presence in my town, like a vulture circling around the carcass. It made me shiver a bit.
    “ But she’s your mom’s buddy.”
    “ Yeah. Mom thinks her life is sophisticated, just like she thought Irv’s was. I wish Mom would just settle for being a mom. We don’t need the B&B. Dad makes enough money for us, if Mom would just stay at home, cook and clean and take us places like most moms do. Do you know, Aunt Kate, how awful it is to be always asking for a ride to basketball practice because my mom is busy?”
    “ Basketball practice? I didn’t even know you played until your mom mentioned it today.”
    She got up and rinsed her cup at the sink, shoulders drooping in dejection again. “See? No one pays attention to me.”
    She turned to go to bed, but I stopped her and wrapped my arms around her. “Ava, I will always pay attention to you. For starters, would you like to invite Francie and Rachel and Deb for a girls’ evening here? I’ll make homemade pizza, and we can do hair and nails and stuff like that.”
    “ Jess too?” Her question had a tentative quality to it.
    “ Nope. I’ll tell your dad to rent a movie for Jess and Henry. Now go to sleep. Tomorrow’s a school day, and you have to be up early. The others are in Gram’s bed, so why don’t you sleep in your mom’s old room?”
    For the first time that evening, she hugged me. “Thanks, Aunt Kate. I love you. And I always feel safe at your house.”
    “ Good. Always come here if you have a problem. Promise?”
    Ava looked at me a long time and then said slowly, “I will. I can’t go to Mom, and I don’t want to add to Dad’s troubles. You’re the best, Aunt Kate.”
    Her words made my heart both break and sing. I was so