Heather Webber - Digging Up Trouble

It was almost ten and there had been no BeBe sightings. I was adopting a don’t ask, don’t tell policy where she was concerned.

Stanley Mack had enlisted Coby’s, Marty’s, and two of Ignacio’s men to help with the deck. They were just starting with the support beams.

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Deanna was due to arrive at noon, to oversee the flowers and shrubs.

The original sod had dried out, and Noreen hadn’t wanted to pay for another load, so she opted instead to buy grass seed. The look definitely wouldn’t be the same, but there was little I could do about it.

I’d seen her first thing that morning but not since. I hoped she was off eating something because she looked like she’d lost ten pounds in two days.

I found a quiet spot near the front porch and called the hospital. Mr. Cabrera was having tests done and wasn’t in his room. Riley had stayed the night with him, refusing to leave his bedside. The two had a bond I didn’t quite understand but respected.

Then I called Ana. Again. After dropping me at the hospital last night, she’d taken a taxi home to get her car and gone back to the Blue Zone alone.

I’d yet to hear from her.

Yawning, I clipped my phone to the pocket of my jeans and looked around at all that still had to be done.

It had been a late night. I’d managed an hour of sleep in a hospital chair, not nearly enough, and woken up with a crick in my neck.

My cell rang. My mother.

“ Chérie, what’s this I hear about Donatelli? The neighbors are all abuzz about it.”

The neighbors being my neighbors. My mother was still overseeing the demo of my bathroom. Promises had been made about a Sunday finish.

“He’s going to be okay,” I said.

“I heard the woman didn’t make it.”

“No.” The doctors had said massive head trauma caused her death.

“What happened?”

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Heather Webber

The accident had been witnessed by at least a half-dozen Mill residents, but it made it no less bizarre or easy to understand.

“Seems Boom-Boom and Mr. Cabrera had been on their way to the local cribbage game after dinner last night when Boom-Boom started driving her golf cart erratically and yelling about polar bears chasing after her.”

“Polar bears? In the Mill?”

“I don’t understand it either.” Mr. Cabrera had been wearing a polar bear shirt the other day but wore mallards yesterday.

“Mr. Cabrera bailed out just as Boom-Boom jumped the curb and crashed into a tree.”

“Do the doctors think she had a heart attack? Mrs. Daasch mentioned she had a heart problem.”

“When were you talking with Mrs. Daasch?”

“She was walking her cute little fluffy dog this morning.

Very sweet lady. Nasty dog.”

I had to agree. Loofa looked angelic, but had a devilish personality.

“Tried to chew my Jimmy Choos.”

“Mrs. Daasch?” I asked with a smile.

“Don’t be a smart aleck, chérie. That lovely man across the street, the one with the flapping robe? He said Donatelli had broken an ankle?”

Flash Leonard. “Luckily that was all. They’re keeping watch to make sure there’s no internal injuries.”

“Has Boom-Boom’s family been notified?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll see what I can find out.”

Oh Lord. My mother fit perfectly in the Mill.

“And I’ll organize a committee to make sure Mr. Cabrera is properly cared for when he gets home. He’s going to have a hard time getting around.”

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“Thank you,” I said.

“For what?”

“For being you.”

“Don’t get me teary. My mascara will run. I don’t need raccoon eyes today. I have too much to do.”

I smiled. “Sorry.”

“Apology accepted.”

“How’s my bathroom?”

“What’s that?” She made whirry noises into the phone.

“You’re breaking up.”

“Good-bye, Mom.”

“ ’Bye, chérie. ”

In truth I wasn’t all that worried about my bathroom. I knew my mother would have everything under control.

Eventually.

I called the hospital again. Mr. Cabrera was still having tests run. The doctors were trying to determine whether to operate on Mr. Cabrera’s ankle or to just cast it.

What I hadn’t told my mother, and what hadn’t been spread around the Mill yet, was that the doctors suspected Boom-Boom had been under the influence when she crashed.

Of what, remained to be seen.

I started for my truck to grab the design plan when I spotted Meredith Adams marching my way. I turned and speed-walked away.

“Ms. Quinn! Ms. Quinn! I know you hear me.”

I wanted to start sprinting. Two things stopped me. One was that my body was an aching mess between being knocked down by BeBe the other day and sleeping on that chair last night, and the other was I knew Meredith was tena-cious. She’d probably chase me.

So I stopped.

“I assume you have all the proper permits to be working here?”

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Heather Webber

Kit had double- and triple-checked all the permits. We’d had to pull a few strings, and Kit even paid a little under the table to get it done, but everything was in order.

“Don’t you have better things to do?” I asked.

Her cheeks turned red. Probably not from the heat. “Your disrespect for the rules of this neighborhood is abominable.”

I looked over her shoulder as she lectured. A small white four-door pulled up behind the utility trailer. I knew that car.

I squinted as Mrs. Krauss got out of the car, tugged on something.

A black something. A big black drooling something.

Oh no.

I started for the car, but Meredith stepped in front of me.

“I have work to do,” I said.

I caught Mrs. Krauss’s eye. She looked upset. Again I tried to step around Meredith.

Again she blocked me.

I thought about pushing her down, but didn’t want to be sued.

I heard Brickhouse say something in German, and BeBe took off, galloping toward us at full speed.

“Eee!” I screamed.

Meredith spun, saw BeBe, and dashed up the Grabinskys’

front steps, plastering herself against the front door.

I braced myself for impact and was surprised when BeBe bypassed me and chased after Meredith.

Thoughts of more lawsuits flew through my head until another German phrase cut through the air and BeBe came to an abrupt halt and sat at the bottom of the stairs.

Brickhouse trudged up the lawn, handed me the leash.

“Are you okay?” I asked, despite myself. She looked horrible, with no makeup, white spiky hair every which way, and sad, sad eyes.

“I cannot do it.”

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“Do what?”

“Stay away. I tried. All night, I tried. But I cannot. He needs me and I need him.”

Ah. Mr. Cabrera.

“I must go. Fire me if you must. I know you want to anyway.”

“Um, excuse me,” Meredith said. “Will he bite?”

I shrugged.

She moved toward the step, and BeBe lurched forward, but didn’t go up the steps. However, she bumped into the pot of pansies, knocking it over. The terra cotta split in two, spilling soil all down the steps.

Meredith jumped back, banging against the front door.

I couldn’t help but smile.

“This isn’t funny,” she said. “I’ll sue!”

“Over what?” I asked. “Technically, you’re trespassing.”

She opened her mouth, closed it again.

My cell rang, but I pushed the silent button. “I understand, Mrs. Krauss. Just come back when you can. We will manage.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Why are you being so nice?”

“Why’d you make me soup?”