All Night Long

Benson’s new truck and took it joyriding out on Bell Road.”
    Annie Wilkins blanched. “How dare you bring up that old incident? It was just a childish prank.”

    “It was grand theft auto, and you’d better believe that Benson was determined to press charges,” Irene said. “But my father convinced him to calm down and back off. Then Dad had a chat with your son and his pals. Gave them a good scare. And guess what? Jeff and his friends avoided getting a rap sheet.”
    “That happened years ago,” Annie said fiercely. “I’ll have you know that Jeff is a lawyer now.”
    “Talk about life’s little ironies. I’m sure Dad would have found that very amusing.”
    Irene turned slowl n her heel, selecting another target from the small crowd. “Let’s see, who else benefited from the way my father did his job?”
    A shudder went through the small cluster of people poised at the end of the aisle.
    Two shoppers at the rear abruptly reversed course, trying to escape.
    Irene pounced on the woman with fake red hair who was taking a hard left into CA ruits & VEG .
    “Becky Turner, right? I remember you. I also recall the time your daughter got mixed up with that group of summer kids who were causing so much trouble—”
    Becky did the deer-in-the-headlights freeze and then lurched toward the checkout counter.
    All the shoppers in the vicinity were in motion now, wheeling their carts toward the nearest exit. There was a lot of clanging and clattering, and then an acute silence fell.
    For a few seconds Irene thought she was alone in the beer and wine aisle. Then she sensed a presence behind her.
    She turned slowly and saw an attractive middle-aged woman watching her with an amused expression.
    “Hello, Irene,” she said.
    “Mrs. Carpenter?”
    “Call me Tess. You’re not in my classroom anymore. No need to be formal.”
    Tess Carpenter pushed her cart down the aisle, closing the space between them. For the first time since she had arrived in town, Irene experienced the kind of inner warmth that came with happy memories.

    Tess had taught English at Dunsley High. She had enthusiastically encouraged Irene’s hunger for reading and her desire to write.
    Her honey-colored hair was subtly streaked with blond to hide the gray and there were some new crinkles at the edges of her eyes, but other than that, Tess seemed to have aged very little.
    “Looks like you cleared out the market,” Tess said, laughing. “Congratulations.
    Pamela would have been proud of you. She loved scenes, didn’t she?”
    “Yes, but only if she was the one causing them.”
    “That’s true.” Tess’s face softened. “How are you, Irene? Someone said you had become a journalist?”
    “I’m with a small paper in a town on the coast. What about you? Still teaching at Dunsley High?”
    “Yes. Phil owns the garage now.”
    Irene smiled. ” Dad always said that Phil could work magic when it came to cars.”
    “Your father was right.” Tess surveyed Irene with concern and sympathy. “I heard what happened, obviously. The whole town knows about Pamela. I’m very sorry that you had to be the one to find her.”
    “The only reason I’m in town is because she wanted to talk to me. After seventeen years of silence she sent me an e-mail saying she had to see me. But we never got the chance to meet.”
    “Do you really think there’s some mystery about her death?”
    Irene smiled wryly “That gossip got around fast.”
    “This is Dunsley, remember? We don’t even need our own paper. News travels at the speed of light.”
    A woman with a good-natured face and a ponytail came down the aisle.
    “Hi, Irene. Sandy Pace. Remember me? I used to be Sandy Warden. I was a year behind you at Dunsley High.”
    “Hello, Sandy,” Irene said. “It’s nice to see you again. How have you been?”
    “Things are good, thanks. I married Carl Pace right out of high school. We’ve got two kids now. Carl works construction around the lake. He keeps busy.”
    “I’m glad,” Irene said. “Congratulations on the kids.”
    “Thanks. They’re a handful, and it seems like it takes every dime Carl makes to keep them in clothes,
    but we’re doing fine. We’re building a new house.”
    “That’s wonderful, Sandy.”
    Sandy straightened her shoulders with an air of resolve. “Listen, I couldn’t help overhearing what yo aid back there to Betty Johnson and the others. I just wanted to say that you were right to tell those old biddies off like