Ryan grabbed my hand and held on for dear life. "Yeah, we're a couple," he said. It was news to me. Dating, yes, but to me, couple meant something more. I just hoped it meant the same thing to Ryan as it did to me.
We dropped Cassandra off at her house, which was a cute little bungalow in the pricey part of San Carlos.
"Maybe I'll see you around at the Black Opal," she said. "Side Effects is playing another gig next weekend."
"You're going back to the club after what happened to you?"
"Sure, my dad always says you gotta get back on the horse, you know." She tilted her cowboy hat at a rakish angle. "Thanks again for everything."
"Cassandra," I called as she walked to her front door, "do me a favor and don't go anywhere alone, okay?"
"Will do," she said.
We watched from the car to make sure Cassandra made it inside safely, and then Ryan drove me home.
This time, he parked away from the streetlight and cut the engine. And when he kissed me, I didn't worry anymore about vampires, or beautiful redheads, because his kiss told me everything I needed to know.
Chapter Thirteen
That week, I didn't make much progress with the psionic vampire case. But in my defense, Samantha scheduled practice every single night after school, which definitely cut into my sleuthing time.
By Friday, every muscle in my body ached. It had been a long time since gymnastics. So I had to repress a groan when Samantha announced that we'd have a Saturday-morning practice as well.
"Bright and early," she said. "I expect everyone to be there."
"But we have an away game tonight," I protested. "We won't be back until late."
"Suck it up, Giordano," she said. "You need to toughen up if you're going to be a cheerleader."
Miss Foster smiled at me sympathetically but didn't override Sam's order.
"You're doing a great job, Daisy!" she said.
It was a drag to practice on Saturdays, but the football team practiced then, too, so I was looking forward to hanging out with Ryan afterward.
But I never even saw him after practice. I loitered outside the boys' locker room, but he never showed. Finally, I started feeling like a football groupie, so I gave up and walked home alone.
As I left the school, a car pulled up and honked its horn. "Hey, Daisy," Jordan called from the driver's seat, "do you need a ride?"
"No thanks, Jordan," I said. "I'll just walk, it's no biggie." I wanted some time alone to mull over the case.
I still liked being alone more than the average Nightshade cheerleader, but it was nice to know I had options. The old Daisy would have had to walk home by herself. Now I had friends. The thought made me smile the entire way home.
As soon as I got in the house, I checked the machine to see if there were any calls. There weren't. Evidently, having a boyfriend was suspiciously similar to not having a boyfriend, but I refused to sit around moping.
I went into the kitchen and inspected the cupboards. I felt like cooking something special. The kitchen was completely stocked, for a change.
In the living room Rose was studying as usual, while Poppy painted her toenails and watched television.
"I thought I'd make calzones if everyone will be home tonight," I announced. "And maybe we can rent a movie."
I looked at Rose, but Poppy answered. "I was going to go out with Candy, but her grandparents are in town. A night in sounds good, especially if it includes calzones."
"Maybe I'll make a tiramisu, too," I said, peeking at Rose. Tiramisu was her favorite. The book she was reading concealed her expression, but I thought I detected a twinkle in her eyes.
"Mom will be back from Grandma's in a little while," Poppy said. Mom usually spent Saturday afternoons with Grandma Giordano. "I'm sure she'll be glad to have dinner ready when she gets home."
"Great," I said, restraining myself from pointing out to Poppy that she never made dinner for Mom or anyone else. "You and Rose can go to the video store while I cook."
"Maybe we can rent An American Werewolf in London" Rose said as she and Poppy left. It was her favorite movie, and now I knew why.
I decided to make the tiramisu while the calzone dough rose. After I soaked the ladyfingers, I whipped up fresh cream and shaved a slab of dark chocolate. I put everything together in a trifle bowl and put it in the fridge to set.
The bread dough for the calzones was ready. I checked the clock—5:00 P.M. and Mom still wasn't back from Grandma Giordano's—if that's even where she'd been. I wasn't sure about anything since Poppy revealed her suspicion that Mom was still trying to find out what had really happened to Dad.
The phone rang right when I was kneading the dough. I grabbed it with one gooey hand.
"Hello?"
"Daisy, it's Samantha." Perfect timing. And what did she want now?
"Can I call you back? I'm in the middle of something."
"Is Ryan there?" she asked. "Is that why you're busy?" She put a particular emphasis on busy. She had a dirty mind.
"I'm cooking, Sam," I said. "Ryan's not here." I wasn't going to tell her I had no idea where Ryan was. It wasn't like we were glued at the hip or anything.
"Then I'm coming over," she said.
"But..." Dial tone.
I was surprised at how fast Samantha got to my house. Right after I finished the dough, I heard a car pull up. I peeked out the window and saw Samantha's cute little BMW convertible in the driveway.
I didn't give her time to ring the doorbell. She was already standing on the stoop, carrying a bag of groceries. Her hair was in a ponytail and she wore black designer sweats with pink trim. If DEAD was stamped on her butt, I was so going to kick her out of my house. Instead, her butt read DIVINE in pink letters.
"What's so urgent?"
"Daisy, are you going to invite me in or what?" Hmm. Did she need to be invited in? Sounded vampy to me.
"You don't need an invitation," I said. I watched her closely, but she just pushed through the front door and headed for the kitchen.
I trailed after her. She put the groceries on the counter and took an appreciative sniff. "It smells great in here. What are you making?"
"Calzones." Samantha used to love those, back when we used to be friends.
"Oh, fabulous! I'm starving." Starving? I thought cheerleaders didn't eat. Except me, which explained why I wasn't going to be climbing to the top of the pyramid any time soon.
I stared at her. "Samantha, what are you doing here?"
For a minute, her bright expression dimmed. I had sounded harsh. "I mean," I hastily continued, "it's Saturday night. Don't you have a date with Sean?"
"Oh, I told him I needed a girls' night out."
"What are you and the rest of the squad going to do?" Samantha only hung with other cheerleaders.
"I thought I'd hang with you tonight."
"Me?" I was surprised.
"You are a cheerleader, Daisy," she reminded me.
Oh, yeah. But not a real cheerleader. I had only joined the squad to investigate. Even so, I was kind of having fun.
"But I'm hanging out with my sisters at home tonight. Movies and junk food. Not very exciting."
"It sounds perfect to me," she said. "I brought ice cream." She gestured to the brown paper sack.
"I'm making a tiramisu," I said, and then realized my reply sounded less than gracious. "It's Rose's favorite, but Poppy loves ice cream."
Samantha looked around the kitchen. "Where are they?" she asked.
"Video store," I said. "Rose wants to see An American Werewolf in London."
"That's still her favorite?" Samantha asked.
"She always did have a thing for the furry ones," I said.
We both giggled and our eyes met, both of us remembering how we used to be friends. Part of me was hoping we could be again, but I wasn't going to admit it to Samantha, at least not until I knew if I could trust her.
"I'd better finish preparing the food," I said. I took the calzone fillings out of
the fridge and started to grate the cheese.
"Can I help?"
"It's really a one-person job." And I had no idea what to talk to her about.
"Why don't you pick out some music?" I pointed to the small player on the kitchen counter. "We can use this, but most of the CDs are in the living room."
"I'll go get them," she said.
I expected her to choose some trendy dance music, but she didn't. Instead, she put an oldies compilation into the CD player.
"Remember this song?" she said. "Your parents used to dance to it in the kitchen."
I snapped the stereo off. "That was a long time ago."
"I didn't mean..." She trailed off, and I was surprised to see tears in her eyes. "Daisy, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I did that year, everything I said."
"Why'd you do it, Sam? Why did you tell everyone that my dad left my mom for another woman?"
"Because I thought it was true." Our eyes were locked, which is why I didn't realize my mom was home until I heard her long shaky breath.
Could it be possible that my mother had never heard the rumors? That she really didn't have a clue?
The look on her face told me she had heard every rumor but that she didn't expect me to believe any of them. And now she knew I did.
Chapter Fourteen
Samantha realized it, too. "I guess I should be going now," she said, after one look at my mother's stricken face.
Mom seemed to gather herself together, but there were purple shadows under her eyes. A visit to Grandma Giordano's didn't make her look like that.
"Oh, Samantha, don't go!" she said. "We'd love to have you stay for dinner, wouldn't we, Daisy?" Mom looked at me expectantly.
"Yeah, don't go, Sam," I said. "We were going to watch a movie, remember?" I was shocked that the words came out of my mouth.
"If you're sure?" Samantha asked, looking up at my mother.
Mom smiled at her warmly. "It's nice to see you back here, Samantha. And you're welcome anytime."
"Thanks, Mrs. Giordano. Why don't I set the table?"
"That would be very nice," Mom said, "but maybe you'd like to call your parents first?"
"They're out of town this weekend," Samantha replied quickly. "I'm home alone."
"Why don't you spend the night?" Mom suggested. "We'd love to have you whenever your parents are away." I gave Samantha a don't- get- any- ideas look.
"Mom, why don't you go put your feet up? I'll make you a cup of tea."
"I think I will," she said. "It's been a long week." She wandered into the living room while I put the kettle on.
Samantha stood watching me for a moment. "Is everything still in the same place?"
"Mom's rearranged things a bit," I said. I showed her where we kept the silverware and napkins.
I put a little honey in the tea and added a splash of milk before taking it to Mom.
"Thanks, Daisy," she said. She watched me for a moment, then said, "It's not true, you know."
"What's not true?"
"Your father didn't leave us for another woman. He was working on something—something secret—when he disappeared."
"You think his disappearance had something to do with his work?"
She nodded. "I had no idea you'd heard those awful rumors," she said gently. "You were so close to him. I know it was hard for you, but don't ever doubt that your father loved us. You especially."
"If he loved us so much, why is he gone?" The question burst out of me.
"I don't know, Daisy," she said. "But I know that if it was within his power, your father would be here with us right now."
"That's not what the rest of the town thinks."
"Is that why you stopped being friends with Samantha? I'm glad to see you've made up."
I stared at her. "Samantha was the one who started the rumors, Mom, so don't think that she and I will start being best buds again."
"Daisy, go easy on Samantha," she said. "Things haven't been easy for her."
I ignored her last comment. Mom had always had a soft spot for Samantha. But I was still focusing on what she'd said about Dad. "So where do you think he is?"
Mom's smile faded. "I don't know, Daisy, but I'll find out."
I didn't say anything else. I grabbed an afghan from the couch and put it over her shoulders. "Why don't you rest? We'll have dinner as soon as Poppy and Rose get back."
"I am a little tired," she admitted. "A nap sounds good." Her eyes were already closing as I tiptoed out of the room.
I checked on the calzones and then went to find Samantha. She'd finished setting the table and was standing motionless, staring at a spot on the wall. She looked alone.
"All finished here?" I said. I felt like I was interrupting or something.
"I don't have to spend the night," she said. "It was nice of your mom to invite me, but I can leave after dinner, if you want."
"No, that's okay," I said. "I want you to stay." I was surprised to realize it was true. "Are your parents traveling?"
She nodded. "Dad's work again. You know how it goes." Samantha's father was a professor at the same college where my father had worked. In fact, they had done research together—research that Mr. Devereaux had published to great acclaim after my father disappeared.
Poppy and Rose came through the front door. "Are you ready for a movie marathon?" Poppy called out.
At the sound of my sister's voice, Samantha looked strangely self-conscious, like she wasn't sure of my sisters' welcome.
Poppy walked into the dining room. "Is dinner ready yet? I'm starving." Then she caught sight of Samantha. "Oh, hi there. I didn't know we had company."
"Samantha's spending the night," I explained.
Rose appeared in the doorway. "Good," she said. "After dinner, we'll make popcorn and watch the movies."
"Sam brought ice cream," I said. "And I made tiramisu. You want popcorn, too?"
"Sure," Rose replied. "What's a girls' night in without junk food?"
The timer buzzed. "Speaking of junk food," I said. "I need to take out the calzone before it burns."
Poppy came to help me carry the food into the dining room, and then we sat down to eat. My mom looked better after her nap and even had a glass of red wine with dinner.
After the food had been passed around, Poppy said, "Where's Ryan tonight, Daisy?"
"I have no idea," I admitted.
"Why the sudden interest in Ryan Mendez's activities?" Mom asked.
For the first time, I was glad my mom's psychic abilities had limitations.
"Daisy and Ryan are dating," Poppy blurted out.
My mom reacted quite calmly to the news. "I wondered about that. I know I've been so busy with work lately, but the chief mentioned to me that you and Ryan have been spending a lot of time together."
She changed the subject quickly, to my relief. I didn't want my love life to become the topic of dinner conversation.
"Samantha, Daisy tells me you're the captain of the cheer-leading squad. Are you enjoying it?"
Samantha chattered away about the upcoming homecoming game, but I only listened with half an ear. What was Ryan doing tonight, anyway? And why hadn't he called me? Oh, no. Clingy girlfriend alert. I decided to concentrate on having fun with my family and Samantha, and tuned back in to the conversation.
After we'd stuffed ourselves silly, we moved to the family room for DVDs and dessert. Mom headed to bed, but not before she'd had a big helping of tiramisu.
I was glad Mom had stayed awake long enough to eat dinner. I hadn't seen much of her lately. And her smile had been missing even longer, at least the kind of smile she gave us tonight, the kind that actually reached her eyes.
Rose snagged An American Werewolf in London and popped it into the DVD player. Poppy and I had seen it a million times, and she had to keep hushing us as we talked over it, but Samantha was as enthralled as Rose.
The movie was almost over when the doorbell rang. "Are you expecting company?" I asked and got negati
ves in reply.
I went to answer it and found Ryan on my doorstep. He had a nasty-looking gash above one eye.
"Ryan, what happened?" He swayed a little and I realized I hadn't asked him in.
"Come on." I took him by the arm, just in case he fainted or something. He was looking a little green.
"You don't look too good, Ryan," Poppy said when we entered the living room.
Rose looked him over and clicked off the movie. "Get the first-aid kit, Poppy," she said.
"No, it's okay," Ryan assured us. "I've already been to see the school nurse. This cut isn't as deep as it looks."
Rose looked doubtful.
"Is your dad home tonight?" Poppy asked.
Ryan shook his head. "He's helping with a case over in San Carlos. Nurse said I shouldn't drive until tomorrow, so I walked over here."
"You can sleep here," Rose offered. "On the couch," she added, just in case he was getting any ideas. From the sickly look on his face, I didn't think ravishing me was the first thing on his mind. "Someone needs to check on you, just in case you have a concussion."
"Now tell us what happened!" Poppy said.
"I was at the library at school," Ryan started, but Samantha interrupted him.
"On a Saturday?" she said disbelievingly.
"I was doing research," Ryan said, "about ... my family. But I'd just found something that might help with your investigation. I had it in my hands and then, suddenly, everything went black." He stared at his hands for a moment.
Was Ryan trying to contact his mother? Everyone knew that she'd left Ryan and his dad and lived in San Francisco with her new boyfriend. It was one of the things we had in common.
"When did this happen?" I asked.
"After football practice," he said. "Luckily, Sean came looking for me to get a ride home. I think he scared off whoever it was."
"Why didn't he take you to the hospital?"
"I wouldn't let him," Ryan said. "I'm fine." He swayed as he said it. I rolled my eyes. Guys, always trying to act tough. "Honestly, Daisy, I'm fine," Ryan reassured me. "We ran into Nurse Phillips on the way out of school and she cleaned me up. She even kept an eye on me for a few hours until she was sure I was okay to go."
"Do you think someone was following you?" Rose asked.