“Sure.”

“And she can tumble,” Brenda said, her eyes widening. “I mean, tumble. I don’t know if she’s a gymnast or what, but this girl is really, really good. Like, you might not know anything about cheer, but if you saw this girl rip off one of her runs, you’d stop and watch and just know that she’s better than everyone else.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“But, apparently, she’s not going to be at regionals,” Brenda said. “She won’t be with their team. And don’t get me wrong; her team is still good. But without her, they won’t be the same. They just won’t.”

“So why won’t she be there?”

“Actually, I’m kind of surprised you don’t already know about this,” she said. “The girl lives in Moose River and goes to Moose River High.”

“Uh, so do a lot of people,” I said, picking up the nearly empty margarita glass.  “And in case you haven’t noticed, there are no pom-poms in my house.”

“Yeah, but it’s kind of a big deal,” Brenda said. She leaned across the table, her brown eyes wide. “She’s missing.”

I held the glass to my lips and the hair on my neck stood up. “Missing?”

Brenda nodded. “Missing.”

I set the glass down on the table. “Are you talking about Amanda Pendleton?”

Brenda smiled at me, a satisfied expression settling on her face. “See? You do know her.”

EIGHT

“Brenda have anything interesting to say tonight?” Jake asked, sliding beneath the covers.

We’d finished dinner, picked up the kids and gotten them to bed. I’d been completely preoccupied with what Brenda had told me about Amanda Pendleton and I couldn’t remember a thing that was said on the drive home. I’d hustled them into bed so that I could finally share my news with Jake.

Except now I was reluctant because of how he’d reacted the day before, offering me information on getting my investigator’s license.

“Um, well, yeah,” I said slowly, climbing into bed next to him. The sheets were cold and goosebumps prickled on my skin. “But did Johnny have anything to say?”

He chuckled and slid his arm under me, pulling me close. “Well, he went on a little more about his fear of corn mazes.”

“That was hilarious.”

“I think we should take him there for his birthday.”

“He might have a heart attack.”

“At the very least, a panic attack,” Jake said, still laughing. “And we could get it on video.”

“You’re mean. What if you went in there and saw a clown?”

His laughter died and he stared at me. “Okay, that’s not funny.”

“I’m just saying...”

“Clowns are different. Clowns are bad. Clowns are...evil.”

As much as Johnny may have hated corn mazes, I was willing to be bet money that Jake hated clowns more. A red nose and floppy shoes were enough to cause him to break out in a cold sweat. He’d do anything to avoid them and he, too, would’ve suffered a panic attack if one showed up out of nowhere and tried to hand him a balloon animal or something.

“Anyway,” Jake said, desperate to move off the subject of clowns. “What did Brenda have to say?”

“I may help her get Maddie to cheer next week,” I said.

“Oh, cool.” His tone wasn’t dismissive and he wasn’t just saying it to pretend like he was listening. I thought about Thornton, my ex, and all the times he’d muttered similar phrases during the course of our marriage. And how I’d known, without a doubt, that they had been platitudes, something to say to fill the silence and not an indication of him actually listening.

“And I guess their cheer team is good this year,” I continued. “They have a chance to win the regional competition or something like that.”

“How does one win a cheer competition?” he asked. “Isn’t everyone cheering for everyone else?”

“I have no idea,” I said. I paused for a minute, wondering if I should tell him the rest. Part of me wanted to just keep quiet so he couldn’t tease me about the PI stuff. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t keep quiet about anything. “But guess what?”

“What?”

“The powerhouse team, the defending champions or whatever they are, the team that always wins the regionals? They’re missing their star...cheer person.”

“Uh, okay.” Jake didn’t sound terribly concerned.

“Want to take a guess as to who that star cheer person is?” I asked, propping my chin in my hand and my elbow in his chest.

He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “I have absolutely no idea.”

“Actually, you do.”

“No, I really don’t.”

I twisted into him and threw my arm over his bare chest. “It’s Amanda Pendleton.”

It took a moment for the name to register. “Snow White?”

“The former Snow White,” I corrected. “But, yes.”

“She’s a cheerleader, too?” I couldn’t tell whether he was impressed or confused.

“I guess.”

“Hmm,” he said, pulling me closer to him. I breathed in the lingering scent of his aftershave. “Well, it’s a shame we can’t talk about that.”

“What?”

“I told you. I’m not talking about this stuff with you unless you start pursuing your investigator’s license.”

I tried to push away from him. “Stop it.”

“You stop it, Columbo.”

I wrinkled my nose. “No one even knows who that is anymore.” We were only a year apart and I barely even knew who Columbo was. “How old are you, anyway?”

“Old enough to know television private investigators,” he said. “And cool enough.”

“Whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes. “But seriously – don’t you find all of this kind of weird?”

“No. But seriously, I’m not talking about this with you.”

I smacked him in the chest. “Are you serious? You want me to go get a badge and a gun and fight crime around Moose River?”

“That makes you sound like a superhero,” he said, fighting a smile. “No, I don’t want that. But if you’re going to continue to stick your nose into the goofiness that goes on in this town, I feel like you should get paid for it. And like it or not, Daisy, you’re actually kind of good at it.”

I stared at him. “I am?”

“Let’s see,” he said, cutting his eyes at me. “You solved the mystery of the body in our basement. You solved the mystery of the body in the woods up at Windy Vista. And you figured out what happened to those computers at Prism.” He nodded. “Yeah, I’d say you’re pretty good at it.”

He did have a point. I’d gone three for three with things that had fallen into our lives. I hadn’t intentionally become a detective, but circumstances had sort of forced me into action.

But still.

I just didn’t see myself as Daisy Savage, P.I.

“I’m not good at it,” I told him. “I got lucky.”

He shook his head. “No, you didn’t. Don’t be modest.” I grinned and he muttered under his breath, “I can’t believe I just said that.” He cleared his throat and continued. “Your curiosity was actually an asset. You asked the right questions of the right people at the right time. That’s a skill, not luck.”

“Jake, I can’t get a job,” I said. “What about the kids?”

“I’m not telling you to get a job,” he said. “That’s way down the road. I’m telling you to check out what it takes to get your license. That’s all.” He scooted down and nuzzled my neck. “If you’re going to keep snooping around, do it as a professional.”

His lips on my neck were distracting and I tried to focus. “So if I read about what I have to do to be a private eye, I can tell you all my…” I sighed, trying to focus. “...all my theories about Amanda Pendleton?”

“Yes,” he whispered, raining kisses on my skin. “You can tell me tomorrow.”

I shivered and reached over to turn off the light.

“I should tell you something else,” he murmured, pulling me close to him.

I swallowed, my heart beating fast. “What?”

“Solving crimes makes you even sexier than you already are.”

I chuckled and pushed down under the sheets with him. “I knew you had an ulterior motive.”

He hovered over me and smiled. “Let’s talk about motives and Amanda tomorrow, okay?”