Beyond Suspicion (2 page)

As she rounded the corner to her street, she spotted the white van. Crap. It seemed like every couple of days these two creeps came by to check out the empty house for sale. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the woman's head turn. What a freak. A baseball cap covered her long, platinum-blond hair and hid her forehead. Large dark sunglasses covered half her face. It made Shelby's skin crawl the way the two of them ogled her, especially the man behind the wheel. She didn't want to do it but she took a quick glance at him. Sure enough, he was hunched over the wheel, peering around the woman, staring at her. His dark hair slicked back from his sunken cheeks. It would be awful if those two bought the house and moved into the neighborhood.

Enough of them. Tonight was too important to let a couple of weird house-hunters spoil her day. Shelby shoved her eyeglasses back into place with one finger. That was another thing she was tired of doing. Her eyesight was too poor to go without glasses, but her mother didn't believe in contact lenses. With perfect vision her whole life, Mom just didn't understand. “I don't want you hurting your cornea or getting a disease from not cleaning them correctly,” her mother had said. “I just don't know…let me think about it before we make an appointment to see the doctor.” Shelby knew better than to push the subject, because money had been tight ever since Josh was born.

Shelby shoved all that out of her mind. This was the night she had daydreamed about for a month. Mom had taken her shopping and the emerald green dress they chose looked amazing on her, especially with the new push-up bra that gave her boobs. She had practiced makeup that would help the dress enhance the green flecks in her brown eyes and had perfected an upswept casual style for her light brown hair.

Her mom's hair was a deep chestnut that she used to dream of having—until her mom told her she wished she had Shelby's shade. “The sun does such wonderful things to your hair.” After that, Shelby appreciated the soft brown color, with its subtle highlights, fullness, and how easy it was to arrange. With a precision cut last week from her mom's hair stylist, she was so ready. If everything went the way it was supposed to, she might end up with her first boyfriend. Valerie had Andrew, Rachel crushed on Brandon, and it would be so awesome if she and Jace could get together.

***

As she reached her driveway, a car drove down the street. Shelby stopped to watch it roll past the van. Good, maybe the real estate agent was ditching them.

She hurried through the carport, opened the kitchen door, and froze on the threshold. Her mom sat at the kitchen table doing her nails. No pans were heating on the stovetop and no warm smells drifted from the oven. The sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach was all too familiar.
Please, please not tonight.
She came in and closed the door.
Please don't do this
.

“Hi, Mom.”

“How was your day?”

“Fine. Uh, Mom?”

Her mother blew on her fingertips. “Yes?”

“I have to be at Valerie's at seven. Do you want me to start dinner?”

Her mother's mouth froze in a pretty pucker. “Oops.” She smiled apologetically. “I'm sorry, sweetie, I forgot all about Valerie's party. Tonight you'll need to take care of Josh.” She went back to blowing her nails.

No. She couldn't do this again, she just couldn't. Jace was going to be there. It was all planned. Everything was perfect. She couldn't miss the party, she just couldn't.

“Mom, this is all we talked about for a whole month. You bought me new makeup and a dress and new pajamas. I have to go to the party.” Her fingernails dug into her palms as she clenched her fists. She had to stay calm, controlled, say the exact right thing to change her mind.

“I'm sorry, darling, but Josh was fussy all day. He wouldn't have done well at the daycare. So instead of going to the gym, I was stuck at home. You know how I get when I miss my routine. When this thing came up…well…I just forgot.” She lifted her shoulders in a helpless gesture.

Like that was supposed to make her not care about her own plans. Shelby took a step closer. “Mom, listen…”

Her mom waved her hand dismissively. “Please, Shelby, just drop it. I'm sorry, but you know how important Roger's career is to us. We have to make an appearance at every dinner, cocktail party, and meeting. It just can't be helped.” She beamed at Shelby. “Wait until you see the new cocktail dress I bought. It's red with sequins and the hem comes to points.” She blew on her nails again.

Shelby studied her mother. Just days ago she had bounced around as if she were the one going to Valerie's party. Now she acted like it was nothing. Shelby continued to stand there, unable to speak. Melissa Butler, the natural blue-eyed, brunette beauty who used to be admired, envied, and adored by everyone, was popular again. Roger had done that. But whatever Shelby wanted in the way of a social life was no longer important, not like it used to be, before Roger. There was money for hairdressers and gym memberships because these things were important in her mother's life. A new cocktail dress every week cost money they didn't have, so why waste money on a babysitter when you had a perfectly able fifteen-year-old in the house?

The silence between them thickened with tension. Shelby had to say something or give up. “Can't you call a real babysitter this time? Please, Mom, I can't miss this party.” Her throat began to ache as she fought hard not to cry.

“It's way too late.” She closed the bottle, carefully protecting her freshly manicured nails. “Besides, Roger's not sure about you going to a boy-girl party when we don't know any of the boys who will be there. He says in this day and age it's not a good idea. ”

That was the final straw in the large stack that had been dumped on her since Roger had come into her life. “Roger is not my father and I'm going to the party!”

An angry voice exploded behind her. “No, you are not, young lady.”

Shelby whipped around. She hadn't heard her stepfather come in. The sneak.

Roger glared tight-lipped at her as he shut the door. “I don't ever want to hear you raise your voice to your mother like that again! Consider yourself grounded.”

“Of course I'm grounded!” Shelby's face contorted in rage. She heard Josh start crying in his bedroom. “If it wasn't this you'd find another reason to keep me home taking care of your precious son. Well, it won't work because I'm not babysitting tonight.” She turned on her mother. “You married him and had his baby. You stay home and take care of Josh. Or better yet, take him with you!”

“Shelby, that's enough out of you!” Her mother's face flushed as she tried to control her embarrassment and anger. “I'm ashamed of you. I didn't raise you to act like that. You're a very lucky girl to be part of this family.”

“Yeah, you're right, Mother,” Shelby said, glaring. “I'm lucky you raised me to be your wimpy little built-in nanny who's not supposed to do anything else. I can't join any clubs and I had to drop out of my watercolor class because I have to take care of Josh after school. I can't go out with my friends or do any of the things you did in high school because my mother has a baby and she doesn't want to be stuck taking care of it. Yeah, I'm really lucky.”

“That's enough!” Roger moved to stand behind his wife, hands on her shoulders to comfort her as she sat there in stunned silence staring at her daughter. “Go to your room. Your mother and I will deal with you later.”

“No problem,” Shelby said then added with dripping sarcasm. “I know you're both way too busy to pay attention, but your son is crying. One of his parents needs to check on him because I'm not.”

She stormed to her room. As she passed Josh's door she yelled, “Oh, will you shut up for once!”

Two

Shelby kicked her bedroom door closed, shrugged off her backpack, and flopped across the bed. It wasn't fair. Nobody else in school had to take care of a baby. Every time Valerie and Rachel went to a game or anything after school, she was stuck at home babysitting. They had just about stopped asking her to do things with them. One day Shelby found out they had gone to a midnight showing of a new movie. It hurt a lot when Valerie brushed it off with, “Sorry, Shelby, you never get to go anywhere anyway.” Then Rachel added the final blow: “We decided there's no sense in even asking.”

Rachel wasn't trying to be mean. She had been her first best friend since middle school. She'd been sitting alone in the cafeteria at lunch the first day after she had moved to Whispering Springs when Rachel had spotted her. “Hola, que tal?” Rachel had asked, pausing with her tray behind the empty chair in front of Shelby. When she totally blanked, Rachel had laughed kindly. “Sorry, just having a little fun. I just said hi and asked you what you were doing. I'm Rachel Rodriguez. Mind if I sit with you?”

“Sure. That'd be great.” Rachel had led and Shelby had followed ever since.

Shelby stared at the ceiling. Last June, when Rachel turned fifteen, Mr. Rodriguez, a successful civil attorney, spared no expense giving her a traditional
Quinceañera at a big hotel on the San Antonio River Walk. Shelby had loved every minute of the dancing, singing, and piling onto decorated boats to tour the river in the evening lights. She pretended they were celebrating her birthday too. Shelby's real fifteenth birthday a month later had been small, as Mom had been expecting Josh, and setting up a baby's room cost a fortune.

Tears welled up in her eyes. While her two friends had big parties to celebrate special events, there wouldn't be any sixteenth birthday party for her at all. And she didn't want one. Not with Roger in charge. She pulled off her glasses and used the back of her hand to wipe her tears away. Her mom and dad had been storybook stars in high school. Dad was a quarterback and Mom a cheerleader. “Join everything,” was her mother's advice back when she was in middle school. “You'll make great memories.” She loved people and would have been happy to follow that advice. But then—high school would have been so different if her mom hadn't married Roger.

She could hear them arguing. Even though Mom was probably defending her, Shelby knew the only thing that would matter in the end was what Roger wanted. Shelby used her fist to pound her pillows before piling them against the headboard. Leaning back on them, she texted Valerie. In minutes, her friend called back.

“Seriously? You have to
babysit
?” Valerie screeched into the phone. “Your mom and stepfather are just mean to do this at the last minute. It's…well…it's just cruel!”

“I know, right?” Shelby sighed. “And she was all for it until Roger talked her out of it. Sometimes I just hate him—and his kid too.”

“Why don't you be nice and apologize?”

“For what? How can you say that?” Apologizing was the last thing she wanted to do. “None of this is my fault! I have a right to get angry and tell them off. And I'm not sorry I did.”

Valerie sighed. “Chill, okay? I know how you feel but if you tell them you shouldn't have been disrespectful, and you know how big my dad is on the respect thing, maybe they'll give in and let you go. It's worth a try.”

There was a short silence while Shelby thought about it. They needed a babysitter, so maybe if she brought peace back into the house they'd get someone else, especially if her mother felt guilty. Shelby had to go that party, but even pretending to be sorry infuriated her.

“It's worth trying, Shelby,” Valerie repeated, breaking the silence.

“I know, but let's talk about something happier.” It was Shelby's way to shift the focus onto her friends. “You were dying to get home to see what your house looked like. What did they do?”

“Oh, Shelby, they went all out!” Valerie practically squealed. “For the lawn side of the pool, they rented picnic tables. And for the side where the flagstone patio stretches from the pool to the French doors, they borrowed lawn furniture from the neighbors and set up a sound system. Everyone can sit and visit or dance on the patio. And Dad's grilling his version of Hawaiian chicken shish kebabs!” She laughed. “He practiced on us last night and they were delicious! And Mom's been cooking great stuff all day!”

Shelby had a little catch in her voice as she said, “That sounds great. Everyone's going to have so much fun.”

“Yeah, but it's not going to be the same without you. Please try to change their minds.” Valerie pleaded. “Apologize like crazy, okay? What else can you do?”

“I'll let you know what happens. Will you call Rachel?”

“As soon as we hang up,” Valerie said. “Now, go tell them you're sorry.”

“Okay.” Shelby disconnected and stared off into space. Valerie was right. There was nothing else she could do. Even though she hadn't done anything wrong, she was going to have to grovel and hope they'd let her go.

Josh cried louder. She took a calming breath before scooting off the bed.

***

Though the arguing had stopped, no one had bothered to check on Josh. Once Shelby was home, they dumped him on her. She stood in the doorway to her baby brother's room. It wasn't his fault. He didn't ask to be born.

When Josh heard the door open he stopped crying. He listened to see if anyone was coming to get him. Shelby had to chuckle. Josh was cute and she wasn't sorry he was born. It was just that everything had changed so fast in the last two years.

One time when they were doing the laundry together after her mom had become engaged to Roger, Shelby had pointed out that Roger was good looking with his black hair and blue eyes, but that her dad was handsome like a movie star.

Her mother had stopped folding towels. “I had handsome. He abandoned us and took off for Alaska to become a bush pilot.”

Shelby wanted to jump to her dad's defense, but she couldn't. He sent child support, but that wasn't good enough. She couldn't get over how easy it was for him to just walk out. Early in their marriage, her mom had worked while her dad got his degree in business and took flying lessons. When Shelby turned eleven, he'd moved them here when he landed a job flying commuter airplanes from the big cities to the smaller ones. They were financially successful and leased a home in the gated community where Valerie and Rachel still live. Her mother was able to quit work and take care of the house and Shelby. She joined the PTA and a gym. She did volunteer work and got her picture in the paper. Melissa Palmer loved her life. Her husband did not. He started talking about moving to Anchorage, Alaska, and starting a bush pilot business. Shelby thought Alaska would be fun. Her mother hated the idea. Their arguments had become unbearable.

Shelby was at school the day he left. He didn't even say good-bye or leave her a note. Her mom had to go back to work. She moved them into an apartment she could afford and filed for divorce. The last phone call between Shelby and her dad had been strained. It hadn't taken long to lose the familiar comfort when you had nothing to talk about. She missed the warm feeling she always got when he hugged her, the feeling of being safe. She wondered if Josh had that feeling when Roger picked him up. Every time Roger tried to hug her, she turned away. She had one father and didn't want another one.

Josh, tired of waiting, let out a long wail.

“Joshie, what's the matter, baby boy?” she asked in that singsong voice Josh responded to with excitement. The wail turned to excited utterings. Josh waved his arms and kicked his legs. Shelby couldn't be upset with someone who was that happy to see her. “I know. I love you too.” She leaned over the crib. “Whew, how could such a big smell come from such a little, bitty boy?”

She changed his diaper then went to the bathroom to wash her hands. In the mirror she saw her red rimmed, puffy eyes. After splashing cold water on her face, she decided she needed to get out of the house. The arguing had been replaced with cold war. “Be nice, Shelby,” she ordered her image as she slid her glasses into place.

Back in the nursery, she picked up Josh. His hands went straight for her hair, but she was faster and tossed it over her shoulder. “No, no, Joshie. Here. Hold Brownie Bear. He can take it better than I can.”

Grabbing the tiny bear with both fists, he shoved the terry cloth head into his mouth.

“Let's go to the park. You like that, don't you? Yes, you do. We can get outside and away from these mean old people.”

Josh liked riding in the stroller to the park. She'd thought she'd be able to skip it today, but maybe taking him out would help. And he wasn't really any trouble. In fact, the fresh air usually put him to sleep, allowing her to text or talk or read. Maybe, just maybe, if she was nice, they might be grateful and let her go to the party after all. If she apologized. The very thought of it made her grind her teeth. So unfair. It would be more satisfying to refuse to speak to them, but the picture of Jace leaning against his locker as she walked by made her swallow her pride. She just had to be at the party.

She put Josh in his stroller, tucked her cell phone in her pocket, and rolled him down the hall to the kitchen. A twinge of guilt wormed its way inside her middle when she saw her mother standing at the sink, staring out the window to the backyard.

Shelby fought the urge to rush over to her. Things between them had been so good before Roger. Together they had gotten over her dad leaving. Now all they did was argue. As much as Shelby wanted to, she knew it was too late to go back to the way things were between them. They'd never get that back with Roger and Josh permanent members of the house.

“I called Valerie and told her I wouldn't be there so I'll just take Josh to the park. I'll be back by the time you're ready to leave.” Shelby gripped the handle of the stroller until her knuckles were white. She hated apologizing when they were being so unfair. “I'm sorry, Mom, for everything I said. Okay? I love Josh. And I know Roger tries.”

“Yes, he does.” Her mother turned around. She had been crying. “He's just trying to be a good father to both of you. He's new at this and still learning.”

“I know.” Shelby swallowed the resentment bubbling to the surface. “I don't like having to give up stuff because you need someone to take care of Josh all the time. It's not fair. Tonight is very important to me. There's nothing sinister about the party. I'm almost sixteen….It's the twenty-first century!” She blinked back the tears threatening to spill over.

Her mother walked over and wrapped her arms around her. “I know. I'll talk to Roger about easing up on the babysitting. Now, you need to go apologize to him before you leave.”

Shelby, with her chin resting on her mother's shoulder, made an ugly face before they released each other. She forced an apologetic smile for her mother's benefit. “Okay.”

“While you're doing that, I'll give Joshie a sippy cup of juice.”

Shelby found Roger in the living room on the couch flipping through some papers. His tie was perfect and his white sleeves were buttoned at the wrist. It was obvious his plans to go out hadn't changed. Her palms were sweating so she rubbed them on her jeans then clasped them together. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Yes, you
may
talk to me.”

Shelby withered inside. He always corrected her English and it made her feel stupid and resentful. Roger put the papers down.

“I'm sorry for everything I said. I was just mad about the party. We planned it for so long and to come home and, just like that, find out I couldn't go was a shock. I thought it was mean and unfair.” Then she couldn't help adding. “I still do.”

Roger nodded. “I understand. But because of what you said and the fact we still need you to sit with Josh tonight, you aren't going to the party. So, if you were faking the apology to get us to let you go, it didn't work.”

They gazed at each other for a second, he wearing a smug, superior expression. Then he raised an eyebrow. Shelby turned, surprised to see her mother in the kitchen doorway, glaring at Roger. There was an immediate sense of satisfaction when her mom stepped aside to let her pass. Roger was in for it.

Before she rolled Josh out the kitchen door she heard her mother say. “What's the matter with you? She'll never apologize to you again.”

Right about that, Mom.

“Mel, it was a fake apology.”

“So what? It took a lot for her to come in here and admit she was wrong. What's the matter with you? If you ever expect to have a good relationship with her…”

Shelby closed the door. “I guess your daddy's going to wish he'd kept his stupid mouth shut.”

She pushed Josh's stroller past the two cars in the drive to the sidewalk. She was just in time to see the white van pull away from the curb and roll up the street. There was no other car around, so it looked like the realtor hadn't shown up. Good. She hoped that was the end of them.