The Pal List

Chapter 4

Saturday, October 20th

"Can I interest either of you in a desert? Uncle Troy made his apple cheesecake this morning!" I ask Mrs. Shepard.

Mrs. Shepard smiles. "No, thank you honey, we're on our way to see our granddaughter get ready for the homecoming dance this afternoon!"

Mrs. Shepard and her husband have been Saturday morning regulars at the bakery for as long as I can remember. I rarely let Kaisey or Ben wait on them, because I love the stories they tell me about their grandchildren. Their oldest granddaughter, Amara, is in the ninth grade so she finally gets to go to homecoming this year.

"I can't wait to see her there! Tell her I say hello!" I say, as I hand them their receipt.

"Will do. I look forward to seeing the pictures of you and your friends all dressed up next week. Have fun, sweetheart."

Mrs. Shepard is the sweetest lady. She and Mr. Shepard are like the town grandparents. Everyone loves them.

After I take the Shepards' plate from their table, I head back into the kitchen where Ben is standing in front of the sink, wiping his shirt and apron with a wet washcloth.

"What happened?"

"Kaisey spilled pancakes and syrup on me and now I'm sticky."

I can't help but laugh. It's typical Saturday morning behavior: me waiting on the Shepards, Uncle Troy singing show tunes as loud as he can while he cooks, and Kaisey spilling something on Ben that either causes him to change his clothes or be sticky for the rest of the day.

"He was in my way," Kaisey says as she strolls by, nearly spilling coffee in my hair.

"She's something else, isn't she?" Uncle Troy says, flipping over two perfectly round blueberry pancakes.

"If that's what you wanna call it," Ben says. Kaisey returns to the kitchen carrying two empty plates in one hand and a stack of cups and silverware in the other. I wait until she puts them in the dishwasher to get her attention to avoid any more disasters.

"Are you two still coming over before the dance?" I ask.

Thursday night, Kaisey brought her homecoming dress over and we put on a fashion show for Ben and my parents. I think other guys would probably pick on Ben if they knew that's how he spends his time, but I think it's sweet. He needs us like we need him. Plus, we usually return the favor. We've had our share of batting cage trips and Transformers movie nights. Ben could probably do those things with his baseball friends, but he's never had to before because Jude was always around. He's also protective of Kaisey and I like we're his little sisters that he won't let anyone touch. We love that about him.

"Yeah, I'm going to run home after work to shower and change," Ben says.

"I'm just going to shower and change at your house if that's okay," Kaisey says, pausing to scrub dried scrambled eggs off of a plate. "Anna and Liam are having their friends over tonight and I'd rather not have to deal with that mess."

"Perfect," I say, glancing up at the clock, then reaching back to untie my apron, "It's two o'clock."

"I'll see you kids later!" Uncle Troy exclaims.

"Bye Uncle Troy!" The three of us say in unison as we sprint out the back door.

When I get home, my mom has her back to me and is on the phone in the kitchen, so I shut the door ever so lightly so that it doesn't make a sound. As I'm creeping up the stairs, I hear something that stops me in my tracks.

"His name is Jude Crawford," my mom says in a stern voice. I can't make out what the voice on the other side of the line is saying. I take another step down the stairs so I can hear better, careful not to step on the creaky third stair.

"I understand. Well, thank you for trying." She hangs up the phone and lets out a long, disappointed breath. I turn to make my way up the stairs, and I slam my hand into the railing, forcing my phone out of my hand and all the way back down the steps.

"Shit" I whisper.

"Halle? Is that you?" My mom says, now appearing in the hallway between the kitchen and the stairs.

"Uh, yeah. I was just going upstairs to shower and get ready for the dance."

"Oh, great! Have you been home long?" she asks, probably trying to find out how much I heard, which unfortunately wasn't much.

"I just walked through the door." Smiling so she doesn't expect anything, "Why?" I ask.

"Oh, no reason. If you need any help, you know where I am. I can't wait to see you all dressed up!"

I give her a reassuring nod, grab my phone off of the floor and run up the stairs. Who was she on the phone with and why was she asking about Jude? My mom isn't allowed to talk to us about her court cases that haven't been processed yet, so what if this is one of them? Her and my dad have been very careful not to mention Jude in this house for the past several months. I thought that they weren't even wondering where he was anymore, but maybe they are. I know I am.

I run into my room and throw my apron and bag on my bed, then I pull my laptop open and search Jude's name on the internet. Nothing. The only things that come up are some baseball articles and the police report from last year, the same things that have come up every time I search him. A knock on my door makes me jump and I slam my laptop shut. Before I can tell the person at the door to come in, she does.

"I almost just ripped my dress on the- woah. You look like you just saw a ghost," Kaisey says, throwing her dress on my bed as if it's indestructible, her curly brown hair, just a couple of shades darker than mine, falling in front of her face.

"Not exactly. I overheard my mom talking to someone about Jude."

"Jude? Why?" I can tell we're thinking the same thing. If my mom is talking about Jude, there has to be a good reason.

"I don't know. I didn't hear much."

"Weird," she says. We sit there for a few seconds of comfortable silence. "On another note, did you get a pair of shoes to match your dress?"

"Yeah." I take a few steps to my closet and pull a pair of flat black sandals out of a shopping bag.

"Cute!" she says. "Should I do my hair in a braid or leave it down?"