Max & Me Mysteries Set

by Patricia H. Rushford

  “We ordered sunshine for you, Princess.” Dad winked at me in the rearview mirror on our drive home.

  I smiled. “Thanks.”

  On our drive through town, I was amazed at how different everything looked from just a few weeks ago. Spring had turned to summer, and I loved summers at the lake. Downtown the stores looked even better than last year. Flowers of all colors filled the planter boxes and overflowed their mossy hanging baskets. Music poured from the speakers by the amphitheater that overlooked the lake.

  The wooden signs at each end of town proclaimed that our town was A Little Piece of Heaven. I suppose that was true in a way. Chenoa Lake, along with two other small towns, Lakeside and Hidden Springs, lies at the base of the Cascade Mountains on one of the most beautiful lakes in Washington state. The lake covers some ten thousand acres, and we live at the northeast end. Most of the land surrounding the lake is national forest and is as wild as the dozens of species of animals and birds that live there.

  Dad stopped at one of main street’s three traffic lights. We watched a tall, clean-shaven man in a dark suit and tie walk out of the real estate office and cross the street. He looked out of place all dressed up. I watched him angle over to one of those expensive black Cadillac Escalades. He looked like a hit man for the mob. I almost suggested that Dad stop and check up on the realtor, Charlie O’Donnell. But, since my dad waved at the man, I thought I’d better keep my imaginative musings to myself. “Who’s that, Dad?” I asked instead.

  “John Porter. A potential customer.”

  “He looks rich. Are you designing a house for him?” My dad is an architect.

  Dad laughed and stepped on the gas when the light turned green. “He is rich. The house—or mansion—he wants will run around three-quarters of a million.”

  I hoped my dad got the job. With all my medical bills, we owe a lot of money.

  “Why didn’t Max and Sam come with you to pick me up?” I asked my parents.

  Mom turned around and smiled at me. “They’re planning something for your homecoming, but I’m sworn to secrecy.” She brushed her thick dark hair behind her ear. My mother, Amy Miller, is a professional artist and looks like it. Most of the time, she wears flowing dresses with Birkenstocks, and she almost always has a paint smudge somewhere on her face or arms.

  “Did Max tell you she might be moving in with Mrs. Truesdale?” I asked.

  “She did.” My father answered this time. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea. Max needs more supervision than what Amelia can give her.”

  “I disagree,” Mom said. “Max has been pretty much on her own for a long time. I think being with Amelia will tame her and make her more responsible. And Amelia could use the company and the extra help. Except for the workers she hires, she’s been alone since her kids moved out. And that son of hers …”

  Her angry tone when she mentioned Amelia’s son got my attention. I didn’t know she had a son. “What do you mean?” I asked.

  Dad gave Mom a this-isn’t-a-discussion-to-be-having-in-front-of-the-kids look. Mom said, “If Max is moving in with her, Jessie will find out sooner or later.”

  “What?” I leaned forward as much as my seat belt would allow.

  “That poor woman.” Mom sighed. “She has two children. The daughter lives back east somewhere—Minnesota, I think. She comes to visit about once a year, if that. Amelia’s son lives in Portland and has two children and I think three grandchildren.” Mom hesitated. “It’s really a very sad story …”

  “And you’ll have to save it for later.” Dad pulled into the driveway. “Will you look at that?”

  “Oh, wow!” I squealed. There in the front yard was a huge banner that read Welcome Home Jessie. It was decorated with wild splashes of red, yellow, and green and strung up between two trees. Max, Sam, and Ivy were blowing party horns and carrying balloons and cheering like I’d just made a home run or something. I have to say it was the best welcome home I’ve ever had.

  The kids took the balloons and noisemakers into the backyard. Dad carried me through the house and out to the back deck before putting me down. The table was all decorated, and someone had made a cake. At least that’s what I imagined it had been. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t be eating any of it. Ivy’s boxer, Deeogee, had pulled the tablecloth off the table and was in the process of licking the last few chocolate crumbs off the plate. The dog’s odd name was actually just the spelling of d-o-g.

  “Oh, no!” Ivy screamed as she ran toward the dog.

  Deeogee looked at her with huge brown eyes, whimpered, and ducked. Pieces of frosting and cake crumbs fell from his mouth and nose. Talk about getting caught with the goods.

  “He does this all the time.” Ivy grabbed his leash and turned back to us. There were tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I had him tied up, but he must have worked himself loose.”

  “It’s okay, Ivy.” I started laughing. “He looks so guilty and …” Then we were all laughing. I laughed so hard my knees buckled and I dropped onto them. I had tears in my eyes, too, and my stomach hurt, but the laughing didn’t stop. Finally after rolling around on the ground for a few minutes, the laughter faded. I held my aching stomach and groaned. I hadn’t had a good laugh in a long, long time.

  “Jessie, are you all right?” Dad kneeled down beside me, placed his arms under my neck and knees, and lifted me up.

  “I’m fine. This is so cool, even if Deeogee did eat the cake.”

  He grinned. “I’m glad you find it amusing.”

  “The cake wasn’t that great-looking anyway,” Max said, eyeing the dog with disdain. “I can make another one.”

  Mom brushed her hair back. “That’s all right.” She settled an arm around Max’s shoulders. “It’s the thought that counts. We’ll have plenty to eat with our picnic lunch. And I have ice cream and fresh strawberries for dessert.”

  “Ivy,” Dad said, “I think you’d better have your parents call the vet. I’m not sure what eating an entire cake will do to his system.”

  Ivy sighed and pulled on Deeogee’s leash. “I’ll take him home, where I should have left him in the first place. Dad will know what to do. We have to keep everything out of his reach or he eats it. Last Halloween he got into the candy and ate it all, even the wrappers.”

  She frowned and shook her index finger at him. “You are a naughty dog.”

  Deeogee licked her hand as if to apologize, but I had a hunch it was really to slurp up the frosting on Ivy’s fingers.

  I started laughing again.

  “Don’t encourage him.” Ivy rolled her eyes and headed for their yard next door.

  While Ivy was gone, Mom and Max cleaned up the mess Deeogee had made and then reset the table. They put out plates, and some veggies and chips for us to nibble on. Dad heated up the grill and put on the chicken. My mouth watered when I thought about how good everything would taste. Hospital food is about as tasteless as wallpaper paste. Not that I’ve ever eaten wallpaper paste.

  While everybody was busy getting the food ready, including Sam, who had the job of setting the table, I went inside and got my special quilt and pillow from the basket near the patio door, then curled up on the porch swing to watch. The trip home and all the laughing had worn me out, but in a nice way.

  Being home again and watching my family made my heart glad. I loved moments like this because they made me want to live for a long time.

  I closed my eyes for a second and the next thing I knew, Mom was on the swing beside me, kissing my forehead and brushing back my nonexistent hair. “Time to eat, sweetie.” She smiled down at me and squeezed my hand. “Are you up to joining us at the table, or do you want me to bring you a tray?”

  “I’ll eat with you.” Looking across the lawn, I saw that everyone was already seated and waiting for me. Everyone included Ivy, Max, and my family. I wished Cooper could have been there. I didn’t know when he and his dad were coming home.

  I felt a little shaky when I stood up, so Mom put her arm around my wai
st and walked with me, then held on to me until I sat down.

  “Okay, Sam,” Dad said. “I think we’re ready.”

  Sam punched the air and sang, “Thank You God for giving us food …” to the tune of the original Superman theme song. Everyone laughed at his antics. He went a little crazy and climbed up on the table to show us he could fly. Dad grabbed him around the waist and sat him back down. “C’mon, Buddy. You can fly later. Right now it’s time to eat.”

  Sam put his elbows on the table and cupped his chin in his hands. Heaving a heavy sigh, he said, “Okay.”

  “Will you be able to come to my party on Friday?” Ivy asked as we started clearing the table after we’d eaten.

  “Sure. I think so.” I glanced over at my mother.

  “As long as you don’t overdo,” she said. “Since you’ll be right next door it should be okay. But, Jessie, you need to promise to come home if you start feeling too tired.”

  I rolled my eyes at the all-too-familiar warning. “I know.” She’d invited Max, too, and I was a little nervous about what might happen. I don’t know if I was worried about the other girls doing something to Max and me, or if I was worried about Max doing something to them.

  Ivy turned to Max. “Have you decided yet?”

  Max shrugged. “I’ll probably come. I’ll need to make sure it’s okay with Mrs. Truesdale.”

  “Does that mean you’ve made up your mind?” I thought Max wanted me to go with her to talk to Amelia.

  “Why would you ask Amelia?” Ivy picked up another plate to add to the stack.

  Max told her about possibly moving in with the older woman. To me she said, “I’ll decide for sure after I go to her house with you.”

  “Neat.” Ivy seemed glad that Max might be leaving, and that annoyed me. I hadn’t said anything more, and I probably wouldn’t, but I was still upset that Max would rather live with Amelia Truesdale than with us.

  Max took a load of plates into the house, and Ivy and I started carrying in glasses and silverware. “Amelia is a nice lady,” Ivy said, “but she’s had some problems lately.”

  “Like what?” I asked. Ivy knew Amelia Truesdale better than I did because Ivy’s mother owned the Alpine Tea and Candy Shoppe where Amelia sold a lot of her lavender products.

  “The guy who worked for her left, and she had to do a lot of the work herself until she could find someone else. That meant she couldn’t spend as much time baking stuff for the shop, and that means less money. Less money means she can’t pay her bills.”

  “I heard about Carlos, but she has a new guy, right?”

  Ivy nodded. “Last time she was in, I overheard her telling Mom that her son wants her to sell the farm and go into a home.”

  “Like a nursing home?” I asked.

  “Something like that.” Ivy frowned. “Maybe it was a retirement home. Anyway, Mom was pretty upset. She told Amelia there’s no way he could make her move against her will.”

  Could he? I wondered. I thought about what Ivy had said and decided to ask my mom and dad about it later. I needed to tell Max too. If there was a chance that Amelia would end up in a nursing home, she shouldn’t be taking Max in. One thing was for sure—I didn’t want to see Max hurt again, and I’d do whatever it took to make sure that didn’t happen.

  We finished cleaning up, and Max suggested we take the rowboat out on the lake. Ivy said she needed to go home and clean her room and then go to work at the shop. Sam was already playing with the twins next door, so that left Max and me.

  “You’re going to have to row all the way,” I reminded Max as I slipped a life jacket over my head and put on a navy blue and white scarf. Mom always made me wear something on my head when it was sunny.

  “Don’t worry,” Max said. “After what happened to you last time, I may never let you row the boat again.”

  Dad yelled a warning not to go too far. Not that he had to. I’d learned the hard way that the lake sometimes has a mind of its own when it comes to currents and wind conditions.

  I trailed my hands in the water, feeling a little nervous as Max rowed away from the dock. Seeing as how I’d been stranded out there on an island for nearly two whole days, I would probably be afraid of the lake for some time.

  Max headed up the lake, looking as though she had a mission. “Going somewhere special?” I asked.

  “Yeah.” Max screwed her face up a little as she rowed, like she was concentrating really hard on something. “I thought we’d row by Mrs. T’s place.”

  “Is something going on that you haven’t told me about?”

  Max stopped rowing for a second. “Yeah, but I’m not sure I should tell you.”

  “What?” I hated when people said something like that and wouldn’t talk. “You have to tell me now.”

  “All right.” She started rowing again. “There’s something going on with her. I’m not sure what it is. Heidi seemed worried but wouldn’t tell me. No one likes to say anything to kids. Did you know Mrs. Truesdale brings her lavender tea and scones and gifts and stuff in to the tea shop for Mrs. Cavanaugh to sell?”

  I said that I did. “I bought some of her soap and potpourri for my mom once.” Amelia makes lavender-scented sachets with all kinds of neat material. She also makes lavender tea, jams, syrups, and scones that she sells at her roadside stand and at the tea shop.

  Remembering my conversation with Ivy, I told Max what Ivy had said about the money and about Amelia’s son. My finger snagged on a water lily tendril that had stretched itself from a clump growing close to shore. I pulled my hand in.

  “That fits,” Max said. “I was looking at all the stuff Mrs. T made and overheard Mrs. Cavanaugh talking to a lady who came in asking for Amelia’s Lavender Scone Mix. Mrs. C didn’t have any, and the lady seemed disappointed. Then she told her that Amelia was worried about losing the farm. She hasn’t been able to make her mortgage payments for two months.”

  “That’s terrible. Did she say why?”

  Max chewed her lip. “She said something about Amelia’s son wanting her to move into that place for old people in town. I couldn’t quite hear everything because she lowered her voice. I wonder why he wants to force her to move.”

  “Ivy said he wanted Amelia to sell the property,” I said. “You know how expensive those new places on the lake are. If her son talked her into selling the place to a developer or developed it himself, he could make millions.”

  “You could be right. Maybe he wants to get his mother out of the way so he can sell the land. Only what if she refuses to move or to sell? What can he do about that?”

  I didn’t know. “Mom might know something. When we were driving home from the hospital, she mentioned the son. She was going to tell me the story, but we were just pulling into the driveway. We’ll have to remember to ask when we get back.”

  We eased up to Mrs. Truesdale’s dock. Max got out and had started tying up the boat when we heard someone scream.

  Max took off running. I managed to get out of the boat and hurried after her. Mrs. Truesdale was lying facedown in a large pile of lavender. An Australian shepherd circled Max, barking furiously. The older woman rolled over and started laughing.

  “What happened?” Max asked. “We were on the lake and heard you scream.”

  “That was Nubie’s doing.” She pointed to a multicolored goat with its mouth full of flowers. “I was bending over to pick up some lavender and that fool goat butted me right where I sit down.” She reached up and took Max’s extended hand. “Thank you, dear.” To the dog, she said, “Hush, Molly. I’m okay, and these girls are friends.”

  Friends. I liked that, and I liked the way her blue eyes crinkled at the corners.

  The dog pushed at Max’s hand, apparently wanting to be petted and reassured. Max knelt down and let Molly lick at her face. When Molly came over to me, I slid my hand over her silky fur, wishing I could let her lick my face too, but I couldn’t. Just petting animals could be dangerous. I’d need to wash my hands soon. That was
one of the things the nurses and my mother had drilled into my head. I had to be careful about what I touched and always be aware of the germs I came in contact with.

  Mrs. Truesdale brushed the flowers from her clothes and picked several blossoms out of her hair. This was a side of Amelia Truesdale I’d never seen. She was wearing jeans and a plaid short-sleeved blouse. From the dirt stains on her face and arms, and the damp silver-gray curls pressed around her sweaty face, I imagined she’d been working for several hours. She chuckled again. “What a picture we must have made.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay, Mrs. T?” Max asked, apparently not seeing the humor.

  “I’m fine. I imagine I’ll have a few bruises tomorrow, but at the moment nothing is injured except my pride. And please, call me Amelia.”

  I don’t think Max believed her. “Maybe you should go see a doctor.”

  She straightened and looked Max in the eye. “I appreciate your concern, dear, but there’s nothing to worry about.” She picked up the large straw hat she’d apparently been wearing and slapped it against her leg. “Would you girls like some cookies and milk or tea? I could use a break, and I would love the company.”

  “Sure,” I said, even though I was still pretty full from lunch.

  When we went inside, Molly stopped at the doorway and curled up on the rug. I excused myself to go to the bathroom and wash my hands. Max and Mrs. Truesdale washed up, too, before going back into the kitchen.

  “What brings you girls up this way?” Amelia asked as she set a plateful of cookies on the table. We’d both opted for peach lemonade rather than milk, so she brought us each a full glass and poured one for herself.

  “Curiosity,” Max blurted out. “We wanted to see your place from the lake side.”

  “Sizing it up, eh?” Amelia smiled.

  “Yeah.” Max took a cookie and bit into it. “Hmm. This is awesome.”