Suzie’s House 145 : Diane Makes Herself at Home

About half an hour early, Diane walked up the steps to the porch of Suzie’s house with her over night case in hand. She paused in front of the door, trying to decide if she should knock or simply walk in.

Before all those people moved in with Suzie, Diane wouldn’t have thought twice. She would simply have gone around back and walked into the kitchen, since that was where Suzie tended to spend her time.

That was months ago. From what Suzie had said on the phone, everything was different now. They had started locking doors to keep murderers out. Then again, now that the killers were in jail, maybe the door would be open.

“Hello?” The knob turned. Diane let herself in. “Hello? Anyone here?” She wandered down the hall to the kitchen.

“In here,” Suzie called, much to Diane’s relief.

Suzie must have been stressing big time because there was a huge mound of cookies building up on the counter. That or maybe it was merely a project for PTA or something because generally when Suzie stress cooked, it would include a wide variety of foods.

“You’re cooking now? Aren’t you supposed to leave in a few minutes?”

“Change of plans. Drew is going to be a couple of hours late. He had to go do something in the Milwaukee office that took longer than he expected. These are for the animal shelter’s fundraiser auction. Want to help?”

“Sure.” Diane automatically reached into a cupboard by the door and grabbed aprons for both of them. “How many do you need?”

“Oh, I went a little over board. These would probably be enough, but I still have some dough, and I changed my mind about what kinds so…”

“No need to explain. Just tell me what to do with them when we’re done.” She pulled close a cutting board on which sat a roll of dough, cold to the touch with wax paper still around it. She recognized the tan color of Peanut Butter Slices.

“The woman from the shelter will be here tomorrow morning to pick them up. We’ll put them in plastic bags for her, so you won’t even have to collect plates from her. Easy peasey.” Suzie put the apron on, though her shirt already had a white line of flour across the stomach.

Diane unrolled the dough and started slicing while Suzie pulled a batch out of the oven. Ben walked in.

“Hey! Diane! You’re here.”

“Yep.” She grinned at him and he grinned back.

“Want to know what I’m going to be?” He pulled up a chair.

“A smart-aleck kid?”

“A writer!”

“Oh, my.” Diane paused long enough to give him a hard look. When had he grown so lanky? Come to think of it, he was nearly as tall as her already. That couldn’t have happened in only a few months, could it? She bit her tongue before saying something stupid, like how big he was getting. “What brought this on?”

“I had this teacher last year who was really good. She taught us to write. Want to see?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll show you later. You know what the best thing is? I’ve got this professional writer, Alice Audrey, and she’s going to read my stuff, too. If she likes it, maybe she’ll show it to her editor or something.”

“Now, Ben,” Suzie said cautiously. “That might be expecting a bit much.”

“I know. I know. Anyway, I’ll go get it.” He jumped up, making for the door, so full of energy it hurt to watch.

Diane shook her head. “He’s really grown, hasn’t he?”

“Yes. In more ways than one.” Suzie didn’t bother to explain her enigmatic comment, merely removed all the cookies from the sheet. “I’d better introduce you to the other boy you’ll be taking care of. Oh. Speak of the devil. Diane, let me introduce you to Gene.”

Diane turned with a cordial smile on her face that froze like wet hair in the depths of a winter cold snap. This “boy” was easily her own height. He probably had a few pounds on her too, all of it muscle. He wore his pants too low so a narrow band of boxer showed at the top and a dark ShapeShifter T-shirt. But the scary part was his eyes. They were sharp and knowing, like a wolf.

He might not be full grown yet, but Gene was no boy. He was a proto-man. If he didn’t like any orders she gave him, he wasn’t the kind who would take them. Did Suzie really expect Diane to baby sit this? Diane glanced at Suzie, who casually handed the young man a cookie and realized that yes. That was exactly what Suzie expected.

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