Save Me - Lisa Scottoline [91]
“No, I never met her or the Cantons. I’m the housesitter. I was sent by the agency. They do the interviewing.”
“Is this her parents’ home, the Canton residence?” Rose asked, confused. The address she’d written down the other day at school popped into her mind. “Roberts Lane, Boonsboro, Maryland?”
“Yes, this is the Canton residence, but the professor and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Canton, are on sabbatical in Japan. I don’t know the family.”
“But isn’t Kristen living there?”
“No. Nobody lives here this year, but me and two cats.”
Rose felt mystified. Kristen had said she was home with her parents. “Do you have any address or number for Kristen?”
“No. You’re the second person who called for her today, though. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m in the middle of something.”
“Sure, thank you.” Rose pressed END, and Melly looked over, frowning.
“What’s the matter? Did she go out?”
Rose didn’t understand, and she didn’t want to tell Melly that Kristen had lied. “The woman said she wasn’t there.”
“Maybe she went to her other house.”
“What other house?”
“Her house in Lava Land.”
“What’s Lava Land?” Rose looked over, confounded. “Is Lava Land a real place? Is this a Harry Potter thing?”
“No, Mom.” Melly giggled. “It’s real, it’s near a beach.”
“Ms. Canton has a house at the beach? Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Rose gave up. It didn’t matter where. “How do you know about her beach house?”
“She told me. She loves the beach. We talk about it. I like the lake, and she likes the beach. She says I’m a lake person, and she’s a beach person.”
The traffic loosened, and Rose fed the car some gas, then braked, checking John in the rearview mirror. His pacifier had dropped out, and he was gnawing on his keys, but he looked happy.
“Ms. Canton said we could come visit her in Lava Land, in the summer.”
“Really.” Rose kept her foot on the brake. The traffic had stopped again. There must be an accident somewhere; lately, there was always an accident somewhere. Something had gone wrong with the world, and now Kristen was behaving strangely.
“So how can we talk to her?” Melly asked.
“I don’t know if we can. Let me think a sec.” Rose tried to process what was going on. She hadn’t realized how close Melly had gotten to Kristen. “You miss Ms. Canton, don’t you?”
Melly turned her head away, to the window. “I’m fine.”
“It’s okay to miss people.”
“You told me that, about Daddy.”
“Right.” Rose flinched. Melly could be so direct, sometimes it came out of left field. “Someone doesn’t have to die for you to miss them. It’s a loss for you, just the same. You don’t get to see that person, or hear their voice.” She was thinking of her father, whom she barely remembered, except for his voice. Low, deep, and gentle. “When you lose someone, it’s a sad thing, and it helps to talk about it.”
Melly remained silent, and Rose drove forward.
“Mel, what do you like about Ms. Canton? What will you miss?”
“Everything. We like to talk in class, and at lunch.”
“Lunch?”
“Yes, like when she saw me in the handicapped bathroom. She would tell me to come eat and talk, with her.”
“Over Kristenburgers, like on Fridays?”
“Yes.” Melly nodded, still facing away. “She doesn’t have anyone to eat with then, and she’s left out.”
Rose seized the proverbial teaching moment. “You don’t have to be a kid to be left out, huh?”
“No.” Melly looked over, breaking into a rueful smile.
“You don’t have to talk funny or have special needs or wear glasses. Anybody can get left out for any reason, anytime. Or even for no reason.”
“Or a dumb reason. Like Ryan. Josh won’t play with him and calls him Rye Bread because of his name. How dumb is that?”
“Dumb. Ryan can’t help his name, and he can’t change it.”
“I know, right?” Melly rolled her eyes. “He teases you if you have diabetes, like Sarah. She has to wear a pump, she showed us. And he teases Max because he can’t eat peanut butter. He has an EpiPen all the time.”
“See what I mean? That’s just dumb. We can’t control what people do or say, even if it’s dumb.” Rose hit the gas as the traffic started