Hot Potato (Shelby and Blue) - Alyssa Brugman [25]
Hayley nodded.
'Hey, you want to maybe come out on a trail with us this weekend?' Shelby suggested.
Hayley's lip curled up on one side. 'Umm, I don't think so. You know how it is. Thanks for the offer, though.'
Shelby felt dumb for asking. She backed out of the room and onto the veranda.
'What are you doing?' Lindsey whispered.
Shelby shrugged. 'I just didn't think it was polite to get up and leave as soon as she walked in.'
'Jill Crook is the biggest busybody in this whole place,' said Lindsey in a low voice. 'You know that she runs Hayley's life. We can't risk it.'
'OK. I was just being nice.'
Lindsey looked across the driveway. Her mother was striding purposefully down the laneway between the stable blocks. 'Mum's coming back now anyway. We'll have to do the ad tomorrow.'
'Oh no!' said Shelby. Parked nose-in to the side of the stables was the farrier's big red ute. 'Clint! What if he's talked to your mum?'
Mrs Edel wasn't looking at the girls, instead swivelling her head back and forth, looking into each of the yards as she marched past them. Shelby couldn't tell what sort of temper she was in.
'Hi, Mrs E.' Erin waved cheerily. Shelby wondered if she was hoping to gauge Brenda Edel's mood while she still had time to run.
Lindsey's mum climbed the steps, frowning. 'I was looking at our accounts today. Did you know there's a client who hasn't paid for months? For the life of me I can't remember what she looks like. I'm usually good with faces.'
The three girls followed her into the office warily. Did she know? Was she telling them this story as some kind of build-up?
She acknowledged Hayley with a nod and then shuffled through some papers on the desk.
'Did you see Clint out there?' asked Lindsey.
'Yes.'
Shelby held her breath.
'I didn't stop though. He told me as I was passing that he'd pop in for coffee when he was finished. He said he had something he wanted to ask me about.'
Shelby didn't dare to look at her friends.
'I think I might ring this Gwen Stefani woman right now,' Mrs Edel continued. She leaned over the desk for the phone. 'I can't believe we've let her get so far behind.'
'Gwen Stefani!' said Hayley.
'Do you know her?' asked Lindsey's mum.
Hayley looked over Mrs Edel's shoulder at the other girls. Shelby opened her eyes wide. Erin ran her hand across her throat in a cutting motion. Lindsey stood still, frozen – the colour draining from her face.
Shelby was dismayed. They hadn't considered the consequences of backdating the computer entry. It made the account months overdue. "Gwen Stefani" probably owed hundreds of dollars.
'Ah, not personally,' Hayley answered.
'What does she look like?'
Hayley tilted her head. 'Well, she's got blonde hair. Pretty. She wears a lot of make-up.'
Erin put both of her hands over her mouth, stifling a giggle.
Mrs Edel looked down at the number jotted on her desk pad and then dialled.
The four girls stared at each other. Lindsey was so pale that Shelby was worried she might pass out. It was all happening so fast. Shelby's heart started thumping in her chest.
A few seconds later Erin's mobile phone began to ring. She dug it out of her pocket. 'It's probably my mum,' she said, quickly stepping outside onto the veranda.
Erin wouldn't remember that Lindsey had used Erin's mobile number for Gwen. Shelby wanted to follow her and grab the phone out of her hand, but it was too late.
'Hello?' said Erin quietly.
Shelby could hear Erin's voice both through the doorway and through the phone in Mrs Edel's hand.
'Yes, errr, I'm looking for a Ms Gwen Stefani?'
Erin paused. Shelby could feel her face reddening. She wished they hadn't left a phone number at all. After a long silence Erin said in a very bad American accent, 'Oh, yar! How are ya?'
Mrs Edel frowned. She moved the phone away from her ear and stared at it, then she held it against her ear again. 'Erin? Is that you?'
'Like, who's Erin?'