Page 18 of The Summer We Started Over

Have you talked to Dove today?

Barrett answered:No. What’s up?

Not sure.

Barrett and Eddie kept in touch all that day. They each called and texted Dove, but she didn’t answer. They decided she must be sick.

When Eddie and Barrett got home from school, they saw a moving van in the Fletchers’ driveway. Mr. Fletcher’s BMW wasn’t there. Mrs. Fletcher’s MG convertible wasn’t there. Dove’s antique red Mustang was there, but not Dove.

Barrett hurled herself up the steps and through the open door of the Victorian house. Most of the furniture was gone. She ran yelling Dove’s name through the house, but saw only heavy-muscled moving men lifting the remaining boxes from Dove’s bedroom and TV room and rec room.

When Eddie entered their own house, she found their mother talking on the phone. She held up her finger—wait.

“You won’t believe this!” Sabrina said when she put her phone down. “Mr. Fletcher has been arrested for embezzling money from the bank. They’ve lost their house, their cars,everything. Jeanine Fletcher will have to sell her jewelry!”

“Have you talked with Dove?” Eddie asked.

“You’re so sweet, worrying about your friend.” Sabrina picked up her purse and hung it on her shoulder. “Got to run.”

“Where’s Stearns?” Barrett asked.

Sabrina shrugged. “God knows.”

Barrett was crying. “What can we do? Wehaveto see Dove!”

“Girls, I know you were good friends with Dove. This will be anopportunity for you to make new friends.” Sabrina tweaked a twist in her hair. “I’ve got to get back to work.”

The sisters called and texted Stearns, but got no answer. Finally, when he came home from work, they tackled him at the front door.

“Where’s Dove?”

Stearns was flushed, his eyes desperate. “I haven’t heard from her since yesterday. I’ve called. She doesn’t answer. I’ve texted. She doesn’t reply. I don’t know where she is. Probably hiding because of this mess with her parents. I don’t know why she would hide from me.”

“Oh, Sterny.” Eddie’s heart hurt for her brother. “Oh, honey.” She hugged him. “She’ll get in touch with you. You know she will.”

“Yeah.” Stearns pulled away. “I’ll let you know.”

—

For weeks, the local news focused on the Fletcher embezzlement and arrest.

Trees budded and blossomed. The sweet fragrance of mown grass drifted in the air. A new family moved into the Fletcher house. The Brooks family had two small children, and soon Barrett was babysitting for them. It was odd to be in the big Victorian, with completely new furniture and curtains, but it was all right. It would have been so sad to be in rooms that reminded her of Dove. Eddie left for college. Stearns continued to attend classes and work at the computer shop. His parents were astounded at his salary. It was a new world for everyone.

One day at school, Barrett heard a group of girls in the corner of the hall, humming like a hive of bees. She heard Dove’s name mentioned.

She elbowed her way into the group. “What about Dove?”

“OMG, Barry, you should see her!” Skye Becker gushed. “She’swrecked. She’s like totally drunk and hanging out with some older guys and—”

“Where was she?” Barrett demanded.

“At the baseball field, no game, just Dove and some men and a zillion cans of beer. They were throwing their empty cans into the middle of the field!”

“That’s so sad,” Tara said.

Barrett caught the school bus, begrudging every laboriously slow mile the driver went. Her mind was on fire. Eddie had her car in Northampton but their father walked to the college, so his old Volvo station wagon was in the drive. Barrett snatched the keys from the kitchen corkboard.

The high school playing fields were out of town on Route 7. Barrett drove carefully, never speeding, and soon she was there. The football team was out, running, barking, scrambling after balls.

---