An Allegheny Homecoming. T. McClure R.
the years he was a student. As he looked closer at the window, he could make out the design of a large cup with a thin handle. Crossing the slippery street, he glanced to his right. At the end of the street, the stoplight swung wildly in the blustery wind.
Someone had converted the old library into a tea shop. Tea for You. He wondered if he should try the door and then knew he would question himself if he didn’t. Grasping the doorknob, he turned the handle and pushed. The door swung open. Snow blew past him and landed on the runner leading from the door to a counter. He quickly shut the door behind him. “Hello?”
At least in his mother’s place of business his presence had been justified. Here, he felt like an interloper. He came farther into the room. The checkout counter had been refinished. A stained-glass lamp graced the top. Round tables and chairs were scattered through the space. Continuing through the shop, he passed a wall of loose teas in glass jars. He entered a kitchen area. The interior back door was wide open.
Josh stepped onto the back porch. Through the massive oak grove on the far side of the parking lot, the outline of the old mansion was barely visible. Dr. Reed’s home.
One car remained in the parking lot, covered with at least six inches of snow. He remembered his father telling him the building had been a carriage house, with horses and carriages on the ground floor, while the upper floor had been living quarters for the grooms. When they created the parking lot, they had to provide a basement entrance to the original ground floor. Josh walked to the edge of the porch.
A large silver maple grew at the edge of the parking lot. One of its branches had fallen from the weight of the snow and lay squarely across the cellar doors leading to the ground floor. If anyone had been in the basement when the limb broke off, he or she was trapped. He listened. Nothing, just the skitter of snow. He could barely make out anything in the darkness until a flicker of light caught his eye. Grabbing the railing, he eased down the steps. Looking under the porch, he noticed a bit of light coming through a small cellar window. Maybe the proprietor of the tea shop had been trapped below. And maybe he or she would know where his mother had gone.
Grabbing the thick branch, he tugged. Heavier than it appeared. He pulled again and felt a pinch in his right knee. Giving his leg a shake, he grabbed the branch again and finally uncovered the cellar doors. He opened one and slid the anchoring support into the slot so it wouldn’t come down on his head. Carefully descending steep stairs, he pushed open the door at the bottom and was hit with chilled air.
Boxes and supplies lined the shelves to his left. In the center of the room sat a square table, similar to the ones in the shop overhead. Lit votive candles sat on the table. Something glistened in the background. Josh stepped forward and directed his light into the recesses of the dark basement. The light landed on a brass bedpost, and then on a form on the bed, partially huddled under a quilt. He directed the light upward until he could make out a face.
“Mom?”
“THANK YOU, OFFICER WILLIAMS.” Wendy turned to the camera and gave a curt nod. “That was Officer Robert Williams with the Bear Meadows Police Department. They have their hands full tonight. Back to you, Casey.”
Phil’s smiling face appeared from behind the camera. “I’m headed up to the interstate for some more footage and then to the station.”
“Wendy, interview me, Wendy, interview me!” A child in purple coat and leggings ran through the deepening snow. A car door slammed.
As the little girl looked up into Wendy’s face, Wendy recognized Riley McAndrews, the police chief’s daughter. The girl was dressed in purple snow pants, and a matching jacket. She wore a white knit cap with cat ears made out of felt. Riley’s ever-present blond ponytail bounced from a hole in the top of the knit hat, custom-made for her. “Hi, Riley. Sorry, but we’re finished here. Phil has to leave.”
“You have to interview me. I have a big story!” She tugged the fringes of Wendy’s red knit scarf.
Wendy mostly knew the girl from Holly’s coffee shop after school. A desk had been set up in the corner especially for Riley while Holly worked. “I’m sorry, Riley, but—”
“I have time, Wendy.” With a hint of a smirk and giving Wendy no chance to respond, Phil repositioned the camera. “In three, two, one...”
The camera light blinked on.
Wendy knew Phil was a sucker for stories with kids, having two children of his own. “Okay, Riley.” She positioned the girl so they both faced the camera. “I’m here with Riley McAndrews, daughter of Bear Meadows’s chief of police. Tell our viewers about your big story, Riley.”
The girl’s light blue eyes fixed on the lens and the red light. “The baby is coming.” With a tilt of her head, she smiled at the camera.
“I know. How exciting for you.” Riley had spent the past eight and a half months announcing to anyone who would listen that she’d soon have a baby brother or sister. Wendy smiled back. “How old are you, Riley?”
“I’m seven years old and I’m in second grade at Bear Meadows Elementary. I’m going to be a big sister. Today.” She threw out her arms and turned her face to the falling snow.
Wendy waited a beat, entranced by the child’s beaming face, then remembered Phil and the camera. “Wait. You mean Holly’s having the baby now? Apparently snow isn’t the only big story in town. Can you share any more details with our viewers, Riley?” She crouched in the gathering snow so her face was even with Riley’s. She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Is Holly at the hospital?”
With a sheepish grin, Riley nodded. “Holly’s in labor. Daddy was supposed to work because of the blizzard, but he said he can’t be in two places at one time and Holly said if he knew what was good for him he better stay with her.” Riley crossed her arms and nodded as if agreeing with her stepmother. Then she pointed at the camera.
Wendy dutifully stood and addressed the camera. “Riley’s stepmother is the owner of The Wildflower Coffee Bar and Used Book Store. As I mentioned earlier, her father is the chief of police for Bear Meadows, which is busier than usual, even for a Friday night.” She glanced at Riley. “Anything you’d like to add, Miss McAndrews?”
“Well—” she rubbed her chin with fingers covered with a white mitten “—do you want to know a secret?”
Not accustomed to being around seven-year-olds, Wendy couldn’t imagine the type of secret the girl was about to divulge. “I sure would. What’s your secret?” She held the microphone close to Riley’s chin.
“I always called my daddy’s new wife Holly. But the new baby will call her Mommy. So I’m thinking I should call her Mommy, too, just to avoid confusion.” Blue eyes wide, Riley looked up at Wendy. “Don’t you think? Daddy said it would be okay.”
Wendy threw a glance at Phil. He just shook his head and smiled. “I think that would be nice, too, Riley.”
Riley bounced on the spot in satisfaction. “Good.” She placed her hand over Wendy’s, the one wrapped around the mike. “Can I interview you now?”
Wendy laughed. “Another time.” She looked at the camera. “So ends a tumultuous evening in Bear Meadows, Pennsylvania, where the snow is piling up at the rate of an inch an hour, babies are being born and television news reporters are in the making.” She wrapped her arm around the girl’s shoulders and whispered in her ear.
Riley put her mittens around the microphone and stared straight into the camera. “Back to you, Casey.”
Smiling at the little girl’s earnest delivery, Wendy took the mike and flipped off the switch. She shot another look at Riley. “So are you staying here tonight?”
“No, Grandma and Grandpa Hoffman just stopped by to drop off ham sandwiches for everybody. We’re going to the hospital because