“Did something else happen?”
There was a loud click and the theater became suddenly silent, the normal whisper of moving air and rumble of a motor quiet. Eerie.
Or maybe it was just Jenna’s case of nerves.
Oliver, who had been hiding behind the bookcase, let out a worried meow before hopping onto Rinda’s desk and starting to groom himself.
“I did get a weird phone call,” Jenna admitted. “I couldn’t really hear because the connection was so bad, but I thought…” She hesitated. Had she really heard music in the background? Or was she getting paranoid?
“What kind of weird call?” Rinda prodded, her voice belying her worry.
“One where no one talks but you can hear music from the score of White Out.”
“That does it! You have to talk to the police. Pronto.” She shot to her feet and Oliver, startled, flew off the desk. He was out the door in a striped yellow blur.
“I know, I know. I will.” At Rinda’s insistent stare, she added, “Today.”
“Have you told the girls?”
“I mentioned that I got a strange piece of fan mail and that they were to be extra careful. I also told them to let the answering machine take all the calls so we have a record of who phoned in on the main line. I didn’t want the kids to freak out, and I didn’t let them read the letter.”
“Allie’s pretty young but maybe you should have let Cassie read it.”
“I just didn’t want to upset her any more than I have already. She and I aren’t exactly having a great mother/daughter relationship right now.”
“She’s a teenager. What else is new?”
“I know, but lately she and I are always at each other’s throats. I caught her sneaking out and grounded her, but I don’t think it’s doing any good.”
“Is she giving you the cold shoulder?”
“Make that a subzero shoulder,” Jenna groused, then wished she’d said nothing. What went on between her daughter and herself wasn’t anyone’s business but their own. However, there were times when Jenna needed someone to confide in, another parent who had dealt with teenagers, a mother who understood the frustration and worry of raising kids.
“You just don’t like her boyfriend,” Rinda charged as the furnace snapped on again and the steady movement of air filled the silence.
“That’s what Cassie says.”
“Is it true?” Rinda dumped the dregs of her coffee into a potted fern.
“What’s not to like? He smokes, drinks, does weed, I think, doesn’t work, and isn’t a great influence on my daughter. He’s going to graduate this year, I hope, if he doesn’t get kicked out for ditching class, and he can’t decide whether he wants to go to the local community college, join the Army, or take a job laying carpet for his uncle. All he thinks about is sex, drugs, alcohol, and getting into trouble.”
“So he’s like most eighteen-year-olds.”
“He’s nineteen and should be getting his act together.”
“Like you did?” Rinda said with a lift of one eyebrow, stretching one arm behind her head.
“At least I was working.”
“For a producer nearly twice your age who was taking advantage of you.”
“Robert wasn’t taking advantage of me. And I ended up marrying him,” Jenna said, before she heard herself and winced. “Oh God, I hope Cassie’s not thinking of marrying Josh.”
Rinda gave her a don’t-kid-a-kidder look. “It’s probably crossed her mind. Not that she’s serious.”
“But she’s got so much potential. She’s smart and pretty and…” Sighing, Jenna shook her head.
“Don’t you just love being a single mother?”