Open Arms

by Traci DePree

  Kate stared at the image for a long moment. Mouse. Kate clicked over to the girl’s Friends tab. Only Kate’s picture was there. She had no other friends, not a single link or message. It was a blank slate.

  When Kate returned to her own page, she clicked on the In-box tab to read the message from “Mouse” that was waiting for her. She took a deep breath and began to read as she vaguely heard the sounds of Paul’s truck in the driveway.

  Dear Mrs. Hanlon,

  I’m so glad that you created this FriendsForever page. I’ve been thinking about you and Pastor Hanlon ever since I sent you that first letter. I know you’re someone who cares about people. I’ve seen all the things you do around town. And you’re always so nice to me whenever I see you.

  I went to the doctor today. I’d only taken one of those home tests before. But the doctor said it was true—I am going to have a baby. How can this be happening to me? The doc promised me that he wouldn’t tell anyone. Said something about doctor-patient privilege. I hope that’s true. I hope he doesn’t go telling my dad. I am more afraid than ever of what my dad will do when he finds out. But he’ll find out soon enough, won’t he? And my boyfriend—I can’t even think about what he’ll say. I’m too young for this. I’m not ready to be a mother! The truth is, I still need a mother myself.

  This is all my fault. If I’d been a better person, this wouldn’t have happened.

  Mouse

  Kate stared at the last comment. Her heart broke for this girl. To go to a doctor all alone, knowing the news he would tell her, must have been torture. Kate placed a hand lightly on the screen and closed her eyes.

  “Oh, Father,” the prayer welled up of its own accord. “This young woman needs encouragement, and courage, but most of all, she needs a friend. I want to be that to her. But I am comforted to know that you are the best of friends. You stick closer than a brother. Please do that for her. Amen.”

  She opened her eyes to see Paul standing across the kitchen counter, staring at her, a question in his eyes.

  “I got an e-mail from the girl, Mouse,” she said simply, turning the laptop so Paul could read it. Kate watched his blue eyes track across the page.

  When he lifted his gaze, she saw the same concern in his eyes that she felt for this young girl.

  He shook his head. “What are you going to tell her?”

  “That she still has reason to hope.”

  Chapter Nine

  Kate kissed Paul on the forehead and headed to choir practice at Renee Lambert’s house. The choir met there every Wednesday evening for rehearsal. Kate didn’t consider herself much of a singer, but her voice wasn’t awful either. Since Faith Briar was a small congregation and had less of a talent pool to draw from, she’d joined the choir, singing alto.

  Kate pulled up in front of Renee’s house and walked up to the door. She knocked briefly to announce her arrival, then let herself in. The dozen or so members chatted here and there in clusters of conversation.

  Renee’s home was beautifully decorated in shades of mauve, ivory, and pale green, with a classic sensibility.

  When everyone had gathered on folding chairs that were set up in the large living room, Sam started the rehearsal. He played organ and motioned sometimes with a dip of his head, sometimes with a raised hand to let the choir know when to come in. The movement of his slightly swaying body helped them to keep the beat.

  Renee’s elderly mother, Caroline Beauregard Johnston, sat in the very back of the room with her arms crossed in front of her and a perpetual scowl on her wizened face. Kisses meandered past, and the woman swatted at him, causing the dog to scurry into the kitchen.

  When Sam had gone through several songs, Renee moved to the front. “I’m directing this song since Sam will be out of town next Sunday,” Renee reminded as she held up a copy of the sheet music for them to get out of their folders.

  Sam Gorman rarely called on Renee to fill in for him as choir director, though she was fairly good when she set her mind to it and wasn’t acting as though she was the director of the Nashville Symphony.

  “Now, everyone. Eyes up here.”

  Kate caught Sam’s gaze. A grin spread across his face, and he nodded to Renee, who tapped the white baton on the top of her music stand.

  The next Sunday’s piece, which they’d been rehearsing off and on for the past two months, was an ambitious yet beautiful song titled “He Took the Cup.”

  Renee’s arm moved with each beat while Sam Gorman kept up on Renee’s little organ. Betty Anderson stood on one side of Kate, singing in her high-pitched slightly nasal voice, with Livvy Jenner on the other side, singing alto in her pretty Karen Carpenter-like voice.

  They ran through several more songs, and Renee handed out a new piece, which they stumbled through awkwardly just once before returning to the next Sunday’s music one last time.

  When the song ended, Sam gave a satisfied smile. “That wasn’t half bad,” he said. Then he cleared his throat. “At least I think the congregation won’t throw rotten tomatoes at you.”

  “That’s easy for you to say,” Betty Anderson quipped. “You won’t be there.” A chuckle erupted from the group.

  Everyone passed their sheet music to the end of each row, and LuAnne Matthews set the stack on the coffee table.

  Renee motioned to her mother, who was now standing at the back of the room. “Mother has some treats for us in the dining room if you can stay.”

  Kate closed her folder and glanced at her watch. It was still fairly early, so she decided that a little visiting would do her good.

  The choir gathered around the dining-room table, where Renee’s mother was setting tea and scones out for a snack.

  More than half of the choir members excused themselves, so there was a smaller group than usual that night.

  Kisses yipped at people’s feet, and Caroline hissed at him to scat, then she thrust her jeweled cane at him, but the dog was undaunted. He bared his teeth at the elderly woman, and then when Renee’s back was turned, Kate saw Caroline give him a little kick in the hindquarters. Not too hard, but just enough to cause Kisses to run to his dog bed in the corner of the living room.

  Kate reached for a pretty china plate with tiny roses around the edge from the stack on the white tablecloth, then helped herself to a scone with a dab of whipped cream and settled down next to Livvy in the living room with a cup of Renee’s signature Earl Grey tea.

  “Did you find out who sent the flowers?” LuAnne asked Betty.

  The bleached-blonde beautician shook her head. “And Bob was none too happy when I walked in the door with that big bouquet in hand.”

  “Why?” Kate said, taking a sip of her tea.

  “He thinks I have a secret admirer.” She shook her head.

  “I haven’t seen him this upset since we were first dating, and another boy asked me to the prom!”

  Renee took the seat on the other side of Betty and LuAnne on the couch.

  “Did you tell Livvy about what happened today with Kisses?” Renee said to Kate, paying no heed to the previous discussion.

  Livvy looked blankly at Kate, who shook her head, but Renee didn’t need permission to continue. She launched into the tale immediately, telling about the dog’s fateful tomato dislodgement.

  “Kate hit Kisses so hard, I thought she’d knocked him unconscious.”

  “She did save your dog’s life, Renee,” LuAnne reminded her.

  “Excuse me,” Betty said, leaning to look Livvy in the eye. “Renee left out the part about Kisses climbing on top of the table in the middle of the diner and eating my salad.”

  “Well,” Renee said, acting offended at their barbs, though Kate knew full well she was enjoying the attention. “My poor Kisses. I was certain something terrible had happened. Maybe he’d had a lack of oxygen to the brain from having that tomato in his windpipe or Kate had broken something in his little body. Who knows what could’ve happened.”

  Renee’s mother took a seat at the other end of th
e living room. Kate heard her mutter, “We all know who had a lack of oxygen to the brain.”

  But Renee either didn’t hear the comment or simply ignored it as she continued her story.

  “Kate and I rushed Kisses to Dr. Milt’s. He was right there to usher us back to the examination room.” It wasn’t exactly how Kate recalled it. “Well, don’t you know it, Kisses was fine as rain. Not a thing wrong with him.”

  At hearing his name, the miniature dog lifted his head, tilting it from one side to the other.

  “Isn’t he just darling?” Renee gushed.

  Caroline harrumphed, then took a sip of her Earl Grey.

  “It was a nice excuse for me to say hi to Ashley Williams,” Kate said, wondering if anyone knew the girl better than she did. “She’s a really sweet girl.”

  “Did you see how much weight that girl has gained?” Renee said. “And she looked so peaked. I remember her when she was in high school. She was a twig of a thing, and now...”

  “She’s hardly fat, Renee,” Kate scolded.

  “No, but I bet she’s put on a good twenty pounds in the past few months.”

  The image of the girl’s pale face flashed before Kate, then of Ashley holding that wastebasket because she felt sick to her stomach.

  “I take Kisses in there all the time,” Renee continued. “I saw her when I took him in for his checkup in January, and she was fairly thin then.” Renee turned to Betty and went on, “I hear she was seeing Carl Wilson. I was in there once when he brought that dog of his in, and you should’ve seen how she lit up when she saw him.”

  “When she saw the dog or Carl?” LuAnne asked. Kate was already distracted by Renee’s comment.

  “Speaking of young people, my stylist has been acting so bizarre lately,” Betty said.

  Kate turned to look at Betty.

  “You know Ronda...” Betty went on. “She’s usually a little late to work but lately she’s been coming in later and later. Sometimes she leaves for no reason at all. It’s downright embarrassing. She’s left customers sitting in the chair unattended while she disappears to who knows where. She leaves the shop altogether! I’ve had to take over her work for her.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what I should do. She’s a good beautician, but if this keeps up, I might have to let her go.”

  Just when Kate thought she was narrowing down the pool, another suspect surfaced. It was enough to drive her batty.

  “I’ve known her since she was a little girl,” Betty went on. “It’ll just devastate her, but I can’t run a business this way.

  “She used to come in and watch me cut when she was younger. Didn’t have an appointment herself or anything. She’d just sit in the front chair with her eyes glued while I cut and colored and permed. I knew she was hooked.”

  She smiled, then her expression became pained. “And she’s been looking poorly. Her eyes are always red, like she’s crying all the time, and if you look at her cross-eyed, she’ll likely snap at you.”

  The e-mail had said that Mouse appreciated how friendly Kate was. And Kate knew Ronda from her visits to Betty’s Beauty Shop. The girl had always been amiable and had made conversation.

  But how much did she really know about Ronda other than the fact that she was a stylist and was gifted at back-combing? She didn’t even know if Ronda attended church.

  “Have you asked her about it?” Kate inquired. She leaned over the coffee table and took another bite of her scone.

  Betty nodded. “Oh, sure I’ve asked her. She acts dumb or changes the subject like she doesn’t want to talk about it. Or she’ll leave the room with some excuse about restocking the back shelves.”

  Kate looked at Livvy, who was talking to Sam in a side conversation.

  “I know an excuse when I hear one,” Betty said. “And this girl is up to something. I’m worried about her. More than whether she’s doing a good job at the salon, I’m worried about her.”

  Chapter Ten

  By the time Kate finally got into her car to head for home, it was closing in on eight forty-five. All the businesses in town were closed, their windows darkened except for the occasional security light. A few cars were still parked in front of St. Lucy’s Episcopal and Copper Mill Presbyterian on Smoky Mountain Road.

  Kate kept thinking about the various young women she’d encountered that day. Was she spinning her wheels by suspecting every girl she saw? Or was the girl in need indeed among them?

  Kate tightened her grip on the steering wheel as her frustration mounted. It seemed that almost every young woman in town had become a suspect. Did that say something about an innate lack of trust on her part? Or did she simply understand that human nature was weak, and everyone was capable of making missteps?

  She pulled into her driveway and then picked up her cell phone and called Livvy.

  “Did you catch the same things I did tonight?” she asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, first Renee says that Ashley Williams has gained a lot of weight, and then Betty goes on about Ronda, laying out many of the signs of pregnancy.”

  Livvy gasped. “Oh, wow, Kate, you’re right. Those may not be coincidences.”

  “Exactly, but we have to narrow it down.”

  “Let’s talk it out,” Livvy said in her pragmatic way.

  Kate walked up the walkway toward the door as she spoke, “Well, there’s Marlee Jones. She was the first one Max mentioned. Raised by a single father, acting moody and sad, and secretive lately. She called in sick to work and mentioned her father’s ambivalence toward her involvement in the afterprom party, and, of course, there was the Celtic cross on her mother’s grave.”

  Kate pictured Marlee’s freckled face and exuberant laugh. She would cover her mouth as if she didn’t want anyone to see the silver braces on her teeth, but it didn’t keep her from enjoying her friends. That was what had been so different about her the previous Sunday. Instead of that outgoing, vivacious teen, she’d been quiet and tearful. Kate had seen how she’d wiped the wetness away.

  “Her FriendsForever page says she has a boyfriend. I wonder who it is,” Kate said.

  “I have no idea.”

  “She’s seen us around church at least a few times. Someone like her would be more likely to open up to us than some of the other girls.”

  “That’s true,” Livvy conceded.

  “So far, Marlee’s the one who fits most of the clues,” she went on, not wanting to lose her train of thought. “Maybe I can ask Brenna a few questions tomorrow. I know they’re good friends. And there’s Ashley at the vet clinic,” Kate added.

  “There’s a lot about her that fits the description too,” Livvy agreed. “The weight gain, the nausea.”

  “And she acted like she knew me,” Kate said. “Like she wanted to confide in me. It felt out of place.”

  “Is she dating Carl Wilson?”

  “I’ll ask Paul. He and Carl are friends, so he would know.”

  “Is there anyone else?” Livvy asked.

  Kate pushed open the door and stepped gratefully into the house.

  “Angie, but she doesn’t seem to fit the girl in the letter. Angie’s very self-assured, confident. Hardly the timid girl who wrote... And, of course, there’s Ronda,” Kate said. “Maybe I should have her do my hair.”

  “I was just starting to think the same thing,” Livvy said.

  “Whoever this girl is, she’s having to do a lot of acting these days. She’s bound to slip up somewhere.”

  Kate hung up her coat and wandered into the kitchen.

  “Thanks for helping me think this through,” Kate said.

  “I’ll get back to you if anything comes to me,” Livvy said.

  Kate said good-bye and hung up. She stood there a moment in silence. Her quest was putting her in touch with several young women who could benefit from the friendship of an older woman. Whether or not any of these women was the girl in question, the budding friendships were a good thing not only for them but for
Kate too. To gain their fresh perspectives on the world would only help her to understand and empathize more—something she was always eager to do both as a youth leader and as a mother. It was the same way God reached down to humankind—by getting involved in their everyday lives.

  The house was quiet. Paul had gone to a meeting of the area pastors that he attended regularly. Usually they met at the Country Diner if the meeting took place during the day, but that night they had decided to meet at one of the other churches, since they had invited a few pastors and elders from churches in Pine Ridge.

  Kate caught a glimpse of her reflection in the kitchen window. Her strawberry blonde hair was getting a bit long, and her gray roots were peeking out more than she liked.

  Yes, she decided, she would definitely see about having Ronda give her a touch-up.

  ONCE SHE’D WARMED UP SOME SOUP and eaten, Kate decided to give Ashley Williams a call. What could it hurt to ask how she was feeling after the way she’d looked that afternoon? If she was Mouse, maybe a call would encourage her to speak up. If not, Kate could at least show that she cared about the receptionist by checking in on her and asking if she needed anything.

  She picked up the thin community phonebook and looked up Ashley’s number. There was nothing listed under Ashley Williams, but there was an Edward Williams. Kate wondered if it was the girl’s father.

  She glanced at the clock. It was nine. Deciding it wouldn’t be too late, she dialed the number. It rang several times before an elderly sounding female voice came over the line.

  “Williams’ residence,” the woman said.

  “Hello, this is Kate Hanlon. Is this where I can find Ashley Williams?”

  “Sure it is, dearie.” Then her voice was muffled as Kate heard her call, “Ashley Jane. It’s for you.”