“She seemed so nice,” said Rachel, shaking her head.
“Those poor little girls,” clucked Pam. “What will happen to them?”
“That’s the one bright spot. They’re with the coach’s brother. He’s a former priest who married a former nun. They were too old to have children of their own when they got married and they plan to adopt the twins. They say this is just proof that God works in mysterious ways,” said Lucy, who had spoken with the couple at the arraignment.
“Well, call me a heretic but I think God could have been a little tidier. Like maybe giving Coach Buck mad cow disease or something,” said Sue.
“I agree,” said Lucy. “Just think of all the heartbreak that could’ve been avoided if Coach Buck had an auto accident on the way to the robbery. Officer O’Toole would have lived, Mimi’s family would have remained intact, the whole terrible chain of events would have been avoided.” She took a bite of English muffin.
They all fell silent for a minute, thinking of the enormous suffering caused by a foolish college student’s ill-considered adventure.
“What I don’t understand,” said Pam, “is how Bonnie figured out that Mimi was O’Toole’s daughter.”
“I wondered about that myself,” said Lucy. “I don’t think she ever did. I think it must have been the other way around: Mimi figured out who Coach Buck was.”
“I think you’re right,” said Sue. “After all, she was a little troublemaker in her own way. She went right after Chris when she discovered she was operating a home business.”
“She went after Miss Tilley’s hedge,” said Rachel. “And Lucy’s lilacs.”
“I think it started with the hazing. Tommy was having a hard time making the team and she might well have decided to look into Coach Buck’s qualifications, something like that.”
“She didn’t really have to know,” said Pam. “Imagine if she’d told Bonnie she didn’t think much of the way the coach was running the team and was going to check him out. Bonnie would have freaked.”
“Paranoia would have done the rest,” said Rachel.
“You’re right there,” said Lucy. “She overheard me talking to the coach about the hazing situation and decided I was a threat to him. I think she’d really gone over the edge by then.”
“And face it,” said Sue, “emotions were running high that morning, what with the bake sale and all.”
“No, no.” Pam shook her head. “You can’t blame the bake sale. The bake sale was a good thing. I got several matching grants from banks and businesses, plus a donation of backpacks from Country Cousins, and—ta-da!—we gave fully-stocked book bags to thirty-one kids.”
“That reminds me,” said Rachel, smiling at Sue, “how are things going at the other end of the economic spectrum?”
“Fantastic. That Chris is something. We have bank financing, we’re going to construct our own building, we’re aiming to open next September and I have no doubt everything will be on time, on target, and on budget,” said Sue, positively beaming. “And we have a motto, too. ‘Where every child is a wonder child.’”
They all groaned.
“I know, I know,” said Sue, “it’s a little over the top. But that’s what parents want nowadays. Believe me, the days of ‘Duck, Duck, Goose’ are long gone. Now it’s ‘Proton, Neutron, Electron.’” Seeing their blank faces she explained, “The electron gets to run. Same game, different terms. It helps them become comfortable with scientific terminology.”
“Yikes,” said Rachel. “Thank goodness Richie’s all grown up. I had enough trouble with all those dinosaur names.”
“You did just fine,” said Lucy. “He went to Harvard, after all.”
They fell silent, turning their attention to their breakfasts. All except Sue, who never had anything more than coffee in the morning.
“I guess you’ll be getting some new neighbors on Prudence Path,” she said. “The Burkharts certainly won’t be needing their house.”
“Oh!” Lucy’s hand flew to her mouth. “That’s my big news!”
“Like this wasn’t big?” said Rachel, tapping the paper.
“This is bigger,” said Lucy, humming the wedding march. “Molly and Toby have set the date! And…” she drew out the word, “they’re buying the notorious Burkhart house. Turns out, the Burkharts were only renting. And Fred is so grateful for my efforts on his behalf that he’s giving the kids a real good price.”
“That’s terrific,” said Sue, thinking ahead. “I’ll be happy to help with the wedding.”
“We’ll have an exorcism before they move in,” said Rachel.
“And I know where they can get good furniture cheap,” said Pam.
“Yes to all of you,” said Lucy. “Now I’ve got to go back to work.”
“Oh, just one thing before you go,” said Pam. “There was something I wanted to discuss.”
Lucy sat down. “Shoot.”
“Well,” began Pam, “you know what a big success the bake sale was, right?”
They all nodded in agreement.
“Well, I was thinking about Columbus Day. A lot of people come to Tinker’s Cove that weekend to see the foliage. Leaf-peepers. And I was thinking that since we seem to have this bake sale thing nailed, we ought to do it again and get a head start on the Christmas fund. What do you think?”
“Only if I can make my Better-Than-Sex Brownies,” said Sue.
“No problem.”
“I suppose I can whip up some Kitchen Sink cookies,” groaned Rachel.
“And I’ll make Nutty Meringues,” said Pam. “What about you, Lucy? Dog biscuits?”
“Woof-woof,” agreed Lucy, throwing a five-dollar bill on the table and making a fast escape.