Ask Anyone (10 page)

 

By the time Jenna had gotten the kids motivated, the fishing gear together and walked to Earlene's, she was a half hour later than the time she'd agreed to meet Daisy and Anna-Louise. Apparently it hadn't mattered, because when she finally walked in, she found the two of them deeply engrossed in a conversation. If it hadn't been for Tommy bolting for the booth, Jenna doubted the two women would have noticed their arrival at all.

“Sorry I'm late. Is everything okay?” she asked as she slid into the booth.

“Everything is fine,” Daisy said with what seemed like forced cheer. She grinned at Tommy and Darcy. “Were the fish biting?”

“No,” Tommy said, looking thoroughly disgusted. “We didn't catch a single one.”

“But they contributed a lot of shrimp to the diet of those swimming by,” Jenna said.

“I'm glad we didn't catch any fish,” Darcy said. “I think fish are yucky.”

Tommy stared at her as if she'd uttered a blasphemy. “What's wrong with
you?
Fishing is so cool! When you catch 'em, you can cut 'em up and clean 'em and they fry 'em for dinner.”

“Oh, gross,” Darcy said, looking at Tommy as if he'd suggested eating worms.

Jenna bit back a grin. Apparently some of the hero worship was wearing off.

“If you two are going to talk about eating worms and cleaning fish, maybe you should go to the booth across
the aisle,” Daisy suggested. “There's no point in all of us getting queasy stomachs.”

“Awesome,” Tommy agreed at once, scrambling from the booth and heading for the other table. “Pete said he'd be by. He can sit with us.”

Darcy stopped in the aisle, her expression instantly troubled. She turned toward Jenna, suddenly hesitant. “Mom?”

Jenna knew that whatever she decided right this minute might make a huge difference, not just for Darcy, but for Pete as well. Daisy had assured her that Pete understood what he'd done and that he was genuinely remorseful. Maybe he deserved a second chance. And they would be right here with plenty of adult supervision.

“It'll be okay,” she told her. “I'll be right here. And Pete is Tommy's friend. Nothing's going to happen.”

Still looking a bit uncertain, Darcy joined Tommy, but she sat right on the edge of the seat as if she planned to bolt at the first hint of trouble.

“They will be fine,” Daisy promised.

Anna-Louise looked from Daisy to Jenna to Darcy and back again. “What am I missing?”

“There was an incident on the boardwalk the other day. A bunch of kids, including Pete, got in Darcy's face. It scared her,” Jenna said. “If Bobby hadn't been there to break it up, I'm not sure what would have happened.”

“
You
would have handled it,” Daisy said with confidence. “These aren't bad kids. They would have listened to you.”

Jenna wasn't entirely convinced of that, but she didn't argue the point.

Anna-Louise looked distraught. “I don't like the idea of kids going around bullying other kids. Do you know who was involved besides Pete?”

“I don't,” Jenna said. “But Bobby does, and he's going to talk to the parents. He planned to do it right away, but there was a crisis at the yacht center.”

“Maybe I should go with him,” the minister suggested.

“He's already invited me to come along,” Jenna told her. “We don't want to gang up on them.”

“You mean the way the kids did on Darcy,” Anna-Louise said mildly. “No, I'm coming. I'll speak to Bobby and set it up for tonight. Will that work for you?”

“Sure,” Jenna said.

“Good. This isn't the kind of thing that should be allowed to drag on. It's best to nip it in the bud. I think a little community service might be a nice punishment. Something that gets all of these kids involved in an activity that teaches tolerance and doesn't leave any time for getting into mischief.”

“Any idea what that might be?” Daisy asked.

Anna-Louise shook her head. “No, but I'll have one by tonight.” She scooted out of the booth. “I'll call Bobby right now.”

Jenna glanced up. “No need. Here he comes now. For a man who has his own restaurant, he spends an awful lot of time in here. Surely he's not looking for recipe ideas?”

Daisy chuckled. “If Bobby's spending a lot of time in
here, it's something fairly new. I expect he's been drawn here by the clientele,” she said with a pointed look at Jenna.

Jenna felt the heat climb into her cheeks. It only intensified when Bobby slid into the booth right next to her.

“I heard the three of you were here,” he said, shooting a look of betrayal at his sister. “Conspiring behind my back, Daisy?”

“Conspiring is such a nasty word,” she said. “I prefer to think of it as being supportive of your best interests.”

“A convenient spin,” Bobby said. He leaned back in the booth and surveyed them all with interest. “So, what's the current topic?”

“Not you, if that's what you're worried about,” Anna-Louise chided. “We were talking about that bullying incident involving Darcy. I want to go with you and Jenna when you talk to the parents. And I think we ought to do it tonight, while the incident is still fresh in everyone's minds.”

Bobby slanted a look at Jenna. “Did you agree to this?”

“Actually, she pretty much just steamrolled right over me,” Jenna said with a grin. “But it's fine.”

Bobby nodded. “Okay, then, but it will have to be this afternoon or late tonight. Believe it or not, I do have a restaurant to run.”

Anna-Louise grinned at him. “Yet we were just discussing how much time you seem to be spending in here lately. Any particular reason?” she asked, her gaze sliding to Jenna as she spoke.

“I'm sure you have a theory,” he retorted.

“But facts are so much more interesting,” she shot right back.

Jenna chuckled. She had never known a pastor like Anna-Louise, one who seemed to radiate a certain kind of spiritual calm, yet had a sense of humor and a down-to-earth practicality. For the first time in years, she was actually looking forward to the prospect of going to church on Sunday primarily for the sermon.

Just then Pete wandered in and walked hesitantly up to the booth where Tommy and Darcy were seated. He looked warily at Darcy. “Is it okay if I sit with you guys?”

Darcy seemed surprised that her feelings were being taken into account. She glanced at Tommy, then nodded. “With him, though.”

Tommy slid over at once to make room for Pete, and Jenna let out the breath she'd been holding. When Pete said something that made all three of them laugh, she finally let herself relax. Bobby gave her hand a sympathetic squeeze.

“It's a good start,” he said quietly. “For both of them.”

Jenna nodded. “I know.”

“Bobby, who were the other kids involved?” Daisy asked.

He recited several names that Jenna didn't recognize, though the other women obviously did. At the mention of one, J. C. Gates, Anna-Louise and Daisy exchanged a worried look.

“Maybe I should go see J.C.'s parents alone,” Anna-Louise said.

For an instant Bobby looked as if he might accept the offer, but then his lips settled into a grim line and he shook his head. Jenna didn't understand the tense undercurrents at all.

“No,” he said flatly. “I said I was going to deal with this and I will.”

“But, Bobby,” Daisy protested, only to be silenced by a harsh look from her brother. “Okay, do what you want to do. Maybe it's for the best.”

Anna-Louise's gaze was on Bobby during the exchange, her expression thoughtful. “You know, I think it might be,” she said softly.

Bobby scowled. “Don't make too much out of this, you two.”

Jenna couldn't stand it any longer. Bobby looked so uptight he might snap. “Would somebody tell me what the deal is with J. C. Gates?”

Anna-Louise and Daisy completely avoided her gaze. Finally Bobby sighed and faced her.

“The reason these two are in such a dither is because J.C.'s mama was once my fiancée and his daddy was my best friend, at least until they ran off together right before the wedding. That pretty much put a crimp in my affection for either one of them.” He glanced at the two women across the table. “Did I miss anything important?”

Daisy shot him a defiant look. “You mean besides admitting that they broke your heart?”

“I thought that pretty much went without saying,” he said, his expression grim. He slid from the booth without
another glance in Jenna's direction. “I'll pick the two of you up at the church at three o'clock. Let's get this over with.”

Jenna wanted to rush after him, to tell him how sorry she was, but she could tell from the set of his shoulders that he wouldn't thank her for it.

Earlier she hadn't been especially anxious to confront the parents of the bullies, but now she could honestly say she was looking forward to it. She wanted to get a good look at any woman fool enough to walk away from a man whose heart was as decent and strong as Bobby Spencer's.

B
obby would have preferred to eat worms grilled in garlic to walking into Ann-Marie's house to face her and his former best friend, but a deal was a deal. He'd promised Jenna that he was going to speak to all the parents of the kids involved in bullying Darcy. That included Ann-Marie and Lonnie. He'd accepted that before he'd ever made the promise.

Maybe it was time to face the past. He'd caught glimpses of his ex-fiancée over the years, but they hadn't exchanged a single word. As for Lonnie, after one incident when they'd accidently encountered each other outside of Town Hall, his one-time pal steered as clear of Bobby as Bobby did of him. Maybe one bloody nose and a black eye were all Lonnie was prepared to take to have the woman he'd stolen from Bobby.

As if Anna-Louise sensed and understood his unspoken turmoil, she insisted on making the Gateses their first stop after their late start. It was past five by the time they reached the house. Even Jenna was subdued as they went up the front walk and rang the bell of the small home a few blocks away from the river. The unkempt
yard was littered with bicycles and toy cars, testimony to the houseful of children Ann-Marie and Lonnie had had in short order after their elopement.

At ten, J.C. was their oldest, a boy who was big for his age, just as Lonnie had been. He was accepted by older boys because of his size and the meanness he'd demonstrated in the incident with Darcy. Bullies tended to congregate, no matter what their ages, especially during the summer months when they all had time on their hands and not enough supervision.

When Ann-Marie opened the front door and found Bobby among the uninvited guests standing on the small concrete stoop, her mouth dropped open. Her stunned, devastated gaze immediately shifted to Anna-Louise, as if the minister had somehow betrayed her by bringing Bobby along. She never looked at Jenna at all.

“Good evening, Ann-Marie. I hope we're not disturbing you,” Anna-Louise said mildly. “There's something important we need to discuss.”

As if recovering from a trance, Ann-Marie shook her head, then stood aside. “Of course. Where are my manners? Come in, please.” She hesitated, then added, “Hello, Bobby. It's been a long time.”

“Indeed,” he said curtly, his tension no less palpable than his ex-fiancée's.

Anna-Louise stepped in. “This is Jenna Kennedy. Jenna, Ann-Marie Gates.”

Despite the circumstances, Jenna politely held out her hand. Bobby couldn't help noticing the contrast. Though the two women were approximately the same age, Ann-
Marie looked at least five years older. Her once-vibrant skin was dull. Her cloud of auburn hair had been inexpertly cut into a short style that didn't flatter her at all. Even so, Bobby waited for that once-familiar
ping
of awareness, the little zip of his pulse.

But there was nothing. All these years, even the thought of a chance encounter had filled him with dread, and now,
nothing.
Ann-Marie had lost her power to excite him…or to hurt him. He should have felt an overwhelming sense of relief, but instead all he felt was sorrow for all the years he'd wasted hating her for what she and Lonnie had done to him.

He looked into eyes that had once been as familiar as his own. “Is Lonnie home?”

She shook her head. “He should be here any minute, though. What's this about?”

“It's about J.C.,” Bobby said.

Alarm flared in her eyes and her gaze sought Anna-Louise's.

“Sweetie, it's okay. Nothing's happened to him,” the minister said at once. “But there was an incident we thought you should be aware of.”

“What kind of an incident?” Ann-Marie demanded, her tone turning defensive. She scowled at Bobby. “I don't know what you're accusing him of, but using that boy is a rotten way to get back at me.”

Bobby was about to snap that this had nothing to do with their past, but Jenna touched a silencing hand to his arm.

“Actually this has to do with me, or more precisely, with my daughter,” Jenna told her.

Ann-Marie looked completely baffled now. “I'm sure J.C. doesn't even know your daughter. Do you even live here?”

“Actually, no,” Jenna said. “I'm here on business. Darcy is with me. We were on the boardwalk a couple of days ago. Bobby and I were discussing the development project and Darcy wandered away. A few minutes later she was surrounded by a group of older boys. She was in tears, because they were taunting her.”

“J.C. was one of those boys,” Anna-Louise said.

Ann-Marie regarded them all with indignation, but she turned the heat of her anger on Jenna. “I don't believe it. How would you know, anyway?” she demanded. “Do you even know my son?”

“No, she doesn't, but I do,” Bobby told her quietly. “And it's not the first time I've seen him bullying another kid.”

“Kids pick on each other. That's life,” Ann-Marie said with a dismissive shrug. She cast a hard look at Jenna. “Your daughter needs to learn to cope with it, instead of running crying to Mommy.”

“Oh, really? Would you feel the same way if it were your child being harassed?” Jenna demanded. “What if some older kids cornered J.C. when there were no adults around? How would you like that?”

“Like I said, kids learn to deal with it. Life's not always fair,” Ann-Marie insisted stubbornly.

Bobby lost patience with her head-buried-in-the-sand attitude. “How many school shootings have been precipitated by kids bullying a classmate?” he asked bluntly.
“You do see the news on TV, don't you? Read the papers? This isn't a joke, Ann-Marie. It's indefensible. If parents don't take it seriously, it can have serious repercussions. We're here because we're trying to nip this kind of stuff in the bud. We need your cooperation, not a litany of excuses.”

“Repercussions? In Trinity Harbor? Don't be absurd,” Ann-Marie said, refusing to be convinced.

“Ann-Marie, bad things can happen anywhere,” Anna-Louise insisted quietly. “Kids are kids, no matter where they live. As you've conceded, they can sometimes be cruel. And their victims can just as easily reach the breaking point here as in any other community.”

“I still say you're making a mountain out of a molehill.” She shot a scathing look at Bobby. “From the minute I married Lonnie, you've been looking for a way to get even. Is this it? You're going to go after my son?”

“Dammit, Ann-Marie, this doesn't have anything to do with you and me.” Bobby leapt to his feet and began to pace. He paused in front of her and forced himself to meet her gaze with an unflinching look. “It's about a tragedy waiting to happen. I saw the terror on that little girl's face. She's nine years old, Ann-Marie. Was anyone in town allowed to pick on you when you were nine?”

“No, but—”

“And J.C.'s only ten,” Bobby retorted, cutting her off. “If he's involved in tormenting another kid at ten, what will he be doing a couple of years from now? Setting fire to somebody's pet? Shooting another kid?”

“Like you really give a damn about J.C.,” Ann-Marie
said. “He's the reason I ran off with Lonnie when I did, and you know it. I didn't have any choice.”

Bobby felt the color drain out of his face. “What?” He had been away by the time J.C. was born. He hadn't known the boy's exact birth date and he'd never done the math.

Watching his stunned reaction, shock registered on Ann-Marie's face. “You didn't know?”

“Nope. Afraid not,” he said wryly. “So, you see, none of what we're telling you has a blessed thing to do with the past. It's all about the here and now.”

Anna-Louise stepped in. “Bobby's right. Let's concentrate on the present. You and Lonnie have to give this some thought and deal with J.C. before the problem gets out of hand. I'll be happy to help in any way I can.”

“Keeping him away from the older boys might be a start,” Bobby said.

“They're all from good families,” Ann-Marie protested, still looking shaken over her inadvertent revelation.

“Even kids from good families need guidance from time to time,” Bobby said. “I intend to talk to all the parents tonight. We didn't just target you.”

Ann-Marie sighed. “I'm sorry that I overreacted,” she said grudgingly. “It was just seeing you after all this time. It was the last thing I expected when I opened the door.”

Bobby met her gaze. “Believe me, I can understand that.” For just an instant the old chemistry was there. There wasn't anything sexual about it, though. It had more to do with a memory of the way they'd once been
able to read each other's thoughts. The silence grew until Anna-Louise cut in.

“There are some groups at church J.C. might enjoy,” she said.

Ann-Marie broke eye contact with Bobby and nodded. “I'll speak to Lonnie and to J.C.” For the first time, she regarded Jenna with an expression of real regret. “I'm sorry your daughter was scared. But J.C. would never have hurt her.”

“But he did,” Jenna replied. “Sometimes words and threats can be just as terrifying when you're only nine.”

“And alone J.C. might not harm another kid, but if he's being goaded by older, meaner youngsters, there's no telling what he might do to fit in,” Anna-Louise warned.

“Trust me, we will deal with this,” Ann-Marie said firmly, sounding as if she was no longer in denial.

Bobby gave her a curt nod of satisfaction. “We'll be going, then.”

Outside, he forced a smile at Jenna and Anna-Louise. “After this, the rest are going to be a piece of cake.”

Jenna regarded him sympathetically. “We don't have to see all of the other parents tonight.”

“Yes, we do,” Bobby insisted. “Otherwise, J.C. will talk to his buddies, find out no one's been to see their parents, and Ann-Marie will conclude that we did single out J.C. because of past history.”

“Bobby has a point,” Anna-Louise said.

Jenna's gaze remained locked with his. “You're sure?”

He nodded. “Like I said, after this, the others will be a piece of cake.”

Besides, the longer he could postpone thinking about Ann-Marie's revelation about the timing of her pregnancy, the better off he would be. He'd had a whole half hour of being almost over his resentment of what had happened years ago, when she'd dropped that little bomb-shell. Now he wasn't sure what he was feeling. Maybe nothing. It was as if the part of him that had stirred to life when he'd met Jenna had just died all over again. Of all the things he'd hated Ann-Marie for, it had never occurred to him that she might have gotten pregnant with Lonnie's baby while she was still engaged to him.

 

Jenna couldn't help slanting worried looks at Bobby for the rest of the evening. He was right, none of the other visits were half as fraught with tension as their meeting with Ann-Marie. They bumped into a lot of denial, but she'd been pleased that not one single parent had reacted with indifference. Once convinced of the seriousness of the problem thanks to Anna-Louise's calm, persuasive statements, each and every one had agreed to separate their sons from the other troublemakers.

As they left the last home, Anna-Louise looked pleased. “Let's keep our fingers crossed that the divide-and-conquer strategy works,” she said. “And maybe some of these boys will get involved in other activities that will work off some of their misdirected energy.”

“We can always pray,” Bobby said wryly.

Anna-Louise grinned at him. “Now you're talking. Okay, you two, I'm exhausted and I have an impatient husband who's probably waiting at home to be fed.”

“Daisy said she'd keep something warm until we got there to pick up Darcy. You could call Richard and come along with us,” Bobby suggested. “Richard could meet us there.”

“Thanks just the same, but I'd like to be alone with my husband, if you know what I mean,” the pastor said with a wink.

Jenna chuckled at Bobby's startled expression. “I think we both know exactly what you mean,” she said.

“Not that I needed to,” Bobby said with heartfelt dismay. “By all means, though, go home. Do you need a ride?”

“Nope. It's only a few blocks, and the walk will do me good.”

After she'd gone and they were on their way to Daisy's, Jenna looked at Bobby. “She really is amazing, isn't she? I've never known anyone like her. Not only does she radiate sort of an inner goodness, but she puts herself on the line and gets involved. The church and the community are lucky to have her.”

“I can't speak for the church,” Bobby said, “but the town surely is. And Richard is making his own kind of contribution by publishing a newspaper that doesn't flinch at taking tough stands on local issues.”

“You don't go to her church?” Jenna asked, surprised. “From something Daisy said, I thought your whole family did.”

“I haven't been much lately,” Bobby said, his expression neutral.

The reason finally dawned on Jenna. “Because of your former fiancée.”

He nodded, but before she could say anything more, he held up his hand. “I'm not going to discuss any of that and I would appreciate it if you didn't bring it up around Daisy. My sister will pester me to death about it. In case you haven't noticed, Daisy is a nag.”

“I hadn't noticed, but I certainly won't say a word if that's what you want.”

“It is,” he said flatly.

“Can I say one more thing, though, before we let the matter drop?”

Bobby sighed. “Could I stop you?”

She returned his resigned look evenly. “Yes.”

He gave her a disbelieving look, then laughed. “In return for that astounding offer, you deserve to have your say. What is it?”

“A woman who would sleep with her fiancé's best friend is no loss. If she did it before the wedding, she would have done it after. Lonnie did you a favor, Bobby. Try to remember that and keep what she told you tonight in perspective. She only said it to hurt you all over again.”