Friends In The Best Places
By Diana
Mart woke up with a nasty taste in his mouth and a pounding in his head to rival the most energetic of jackhammers. What had happened last night?
He clutched his head with his hands in an effort to stop the hammering. It didn't work.
The mustiness shrouding his brain like a box of old books cleared just enough to reveal the image of Di as she'd looked at her party the night before. Oh, no, did he really make as big an ass out of himself as he thought he did?
Then the curtain cleared a little more and revealed the impromptu drink-fest with his blood brother and his Bob-White brothers.
A whiff of Moms' bacon and eggs wafted into his room, and his stomach lurched. It was a rare day, indeed, when the scent of his mother's cooking didn't send him into spasms of joy.
He'd screwed it up really bad last night. Di was gone for good, now. No, he'd screwed it up a long time ago. He just didn't know how. He and Di had been moving along happily as a couple. They'd begun dating in high school, and had stayed together all through college. Last year after she'd graduated and he'd gotten his teachng credential, they'd discussed marriage. He'd begun teaching ag and creative writing at Sleepyside high until Jim started his school, and Di had found a job in a small gallery in White Plains. Then all of a sudden, she'd dumped him. There'd been no explanation, no nothing. One minute they'd been together, and the next minute they weren't. And now a year later, she was engaged to someone else.
If he only knew why, maybe he'd be able to move on. Did he do something stupid? Probably, but he couldn't think of anything specific. He adored Di and wouldn't purposely do anything to hurt her. He shook his weary head and instantly regretted it as pain double-timed from one end of his skull to the other. Deciding to stay in bed until his family started worrying about him, he closed his eyes and tried to drift off.
What had they been discussing in the Wheeler's car last night? Something Reagan had told them not to do. Throw up in the car? There'd been that, but there was something else. What was it?
Kidnapping Di.
It had sounded like a wonderful idea at the time, a chance to get Di alone and really, really talk to her. But then anything would have sounded great when they were as drunk as they were last night. It actually was a stupid idea. An idea sure to make her hate him more than she already did.
And it was an idea that sounded better and better the more he thought about it.
* * *
“The emergency Bob-White meeting will now come to order,” Trixie said, pounding her fist on the table as an imaginary gavel. The guys all winced as one. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I guess Reagan's favorite hangover cure didn't work.”
“Are you kidding?” Dan groaned. “Raw eggs mixed with Irish whiskey? It's enough to make Rocky give up boxing.”
Trixie and Honey snorted. They were enjoying the mens' discomfort a little too much, as far as Mart was concerned.
“Anyway,” Trixie said, rolling her eyes, “it's been a long time since we had an emergency meeting. Mart, you called it, so what's on the agenda? And where is Di?”
Mart's face grew hot. He knew this was a wild idea, and the rest of the BWGs would shoot him down, but he had to try.
“I want to kidnap Di, and I need your help.” Three seconds of silence ensued before his friends exploded at once.
“Have you gone crazy?”
“Dude.”
“Over my dead body!”
“But, why?”
“Cool!”
Everyone else stared at Trixie. “Cool?” Jim asked, his brows knit together and his mouth turned down in the patented Frayne worried expression.
“Well, yeah,” Trixie said, tossing her curls, “Di needs a good kidnapping. She hasn't been herself since she broke up with Mart.”
She turned to look at Mart. “I assume you want a chance to talk some sense into her before she marries Stephen Uptight Hancock the Fourth.”
Mart wanted to run around the table and throw his arms around his almost-twin. He knew she'd be the one to understand.
“You're close. What I really want to do is just find out what happened between us. She never explained why she broke up with me, and she refuses to talk to me about it. It's slowly but surely killing me. Reconciliation woul
d be icing on the cake, but I could never hope for that.”Brian and Jim groaned in unison.
"Remember, we talked about this last night on the way home? You agreed at the time it was a good idea.”
“If you recall,” Brian said, “which you should if your hangover is as bad as mine, we were extremely drunk. Breaking into the White House would have seemed like a good idea. Now that I'm sober, I assure you it's not.”
Brian always had been a spoilsport, even when they were kids.
“While I agree with you in sentiment, Brian's right,” Jim said. Big surprise he'd agree with Brian. “We could get in a lot of trouble doing this. Trouble none of us can afford at this stage in our lives when we're just kicking off our careers.”
Mart's ears perked up. Jim had said “we”, not “you”. That meant his friend was thinking about it. He looked at Dan and Honey. Dan sported a grin that was growing by the second, and Honey's sweet face reflected such a mix of emotions he was surprised she didn't get dizzy and fall off her chair.
“You know,” Dan said, “it's the kind of grand gesture that women love.”
Honey sighed. “A grand, romantic gesture.”
Brian looked at Honey and Dan like they'd just said they'd seen Hobbits in the Wheeler preserve. “You guys are kidding, right?”
Dan shrugged. “Not so much.”
Honey held her hand out and looked at her manicure. “A woman likes to be swept off her feet.”
Brian and Jim both grimaced.
“Besides,” Honey said, her voice taking on a rare, “don't mess with me tone”, “Trixie's right. Di hasn't been the same since she broke up with Mart. Especially since she began dating Mr. Prim and Proper. Uppity, in a way that's not like the Di we know and love.”
“I've got to agree with Trixie and Honey about that,” Jim said. “Uptight Asshole the Fourth has not made Di a fun girl. I haven't wanted to say much before, because it's not really my business, but I don't like the guy. He's always cornering Honey and me to ask questions about Dad and the muckity mucks our family knows.”
Brian sighed, and Mart could see resignation creep into his face. “I know what you mean. He looks like his sphincter muscle is squeezed so tight, his tongue might pop out at any moment. When Honey and I go out with him and Di, he pretty much ignores me to talk about business and who's who in his social circle.”
“Then you'll help me?”
“No.” Brian said, his voice firm. “I can't risk it.”
“What about the rest of you?”
“I'm in,” Trixie said, laying her hand on Mart's. He'd know, out of all of them, he could count of her.
“I always was a sucker for romance,” Dan smirked, laying his hand on Trixie's.
“Oh, count me in, too,” Honey chirped. “I haven't been Trixie's friend all these years for nothing.” She laid her hand on Dan's.
Mart looked at Jim and could almost see the good and bad Jims on his friend's shoulder duking it out.
“I know I'm going to regret this, but you deserve to get answers, Mart.” Jim laid his hand on Honey's.
The Bob-Whites all looked at Brian. Honey rested her head on his shoulder. “Remember, the Bob-Whites are all supposed to be there when one of us is in need. Besides, Di might get mad, but she'd never report us to the police. And no one will get hurt.”
Brian rolled his eyes. Mart knew he'd never been able to refuse Honey anything.
“All right, all right. But don't say I didn't warn you.” His was the final hand on the stack. “I assume you have a plan?”
* * *
The following Saturday, Trixie and Honey met Di at the Wheeler stables to go riding. When Di arrived on Sunny, the others were just finishing up saddling Lady and Susie.
“This'll be so much fun!” Trixie enthused. “It's been a long time since just the three of us have been together like this.”
Honey finished adjusting Lady's bridle. “Just like old times.”
“I've missed hanging out with you guys, too.” Di's eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Maybe after the wedding is over with, things will calm down and we can get together more often.”When the wedding is over with? It didn't sound like Di was too happy about her impending marriage. Trixie channeled Honey's tact and ignored her friend's less than enthusiastic attitude. But inside she was jumping for joy. Maybe Mart had a chance after all.
Honey hugged Di.
“That'll be great, Di. Trixie and I are busy working at Turner Investigations, but we're never too busy for you. And let us know if you need any help with the wedding.”
“I will if I need it,” Di said, vaguely waving her hand, “but Mummy has everything under control.”
“I can't wait to hear all the details.” Honey's voice was enthusiastic, but she raised her eyebrows at Trixie when Di turned away.
Trixie and Honey mounted and the three young women headed off into the Wheeler preserve, Trixie in the lead. The trees were just leafing out, and the air smelled fresh and clean after the long winter.
“Where was Regan?” Di asked. “I don't think I've ever been in the stables without him being there.”
“Dan talked him into actually taking an afternoon off and going with him to the movies and then to dinner afterward,” Trixie said. “Can you believe it?”
“No!” Di exclaimed. “He actually left the horses for an afternoon? Usually he's standing over you to make sure you saddle the horses properly and clean the tack to within an inch of its life.”
Honey waived her hand airily. “Oh, that's more for show these days than anything else. He trusts us. At least he should after all these years.”
“Regan needs a girlfriend,” Di said. “He's just a little too attached to the horses.”
“You didn't hear it from me, but I think he may be asking Mother's new secretary out before long.”
Di tossed her long hair over her shoulder. “Really? What makes you think that?”
Honey peered through the trees all around them as if she might find someone listening to their gossip.
“Well, lately,” she said in a low voice, “he finds all sorts of excuses to drop in the house whenever Samantha's there. Then he actually giggled one day when she said she didn't know the difference between a mare and a filly. The final bit of evidence was when I saw him getting out of the truck one day carrying a garment bag from Crimpers.”
“A garment bag from Crimpers?” Trixie asked, her brow furrowed.
“He'd bought new clothes! Dressy clothes that needed to come home on a hanger!”
“How did I miss this? Some detective I'll make.”
“Well, I for one, am happy for him,” Di exclaimed. “He's been alone for far too long.”
By this time, the young women had reached the small clearing in which stood the old schoolhouse. The forest had gone unnaturally quiet. The birds were silent, and there were no sounds of wild animals in the underbrush. Trixie and Honey looked at each other behind Di's back, and Trixie hoped Di didn't notice anything was amiss. Brian and Jim were hidden a few yards away to keep anyone who happen by away from the small building.
“I'll never forget that night Jim, Brian, and I had to stay here to get out of the blizzard.” Trixie dismounted Susie and tied her reins to a bush. “What an adventure!”
“Dad and Mr. Maypenny keep it stocked with a few supplies since that happened,” Honey said, dismounting Lady. “That way if anyone needs it again, there will food and water. Blankets, too.”
“There's the woodpile in the same place it was then.” Trixie waved her hand in the direction of the stack. “I was as scared as I've ever been when that rope broke, and Jim was stranded in the blizzard.”
Di shivered. “It makes me cold just thinking about it. I'd just as soon not have that kind of adventure.”
“Come on,” Trixie shouted, heading up the log walkway where Brian and Jim and once tripped and fell. “Let's go check it out!”
“Okay.” Honey tied Lady's reins next to Susie's. The two horses munched contentedly on the bush. “I haven't been here in forever!”
Trixie looked back at Di still sitting on Sunny. “Coming, Di?”
A frown crossed Di's pretty face, and Trixie was afraid she would refuse.
“Come with us, Di,” Honey begged. “We'll call it a mini-adventure.”
“Oh, all right.” Di dismounted Sunny and tied her across the clearing from the other horses. A twig snapped, and Di whipped her head around. “What was that?”
“Oh, just an animal,” Trixie said in a rush, hoping Jim and Brian hadn't given themselves away. “Nothing to worry about.”
Di frowned again, but she followed Trixie and Honey across the log walkway. The door opened easily for Trixie. Their eyes took a minute to adjust to the dim light, but then they were able to see the old woodstove with a pile of kindling next to it, bags of birdseed and preserve supplies stacked against one wall, the three benches that were there on that long-ago night, and shelves holding non-perishable food and blankets. Everything looked as it should. Now to manuever Di farther into the building so she couldn't run out the door when Mart appeared.
* * *
Mart stood completely still inside the bell closet, barely breathing. If Di knew he was in here, she'd march right out. He just hoped she wouldn't hate him even more when she ended up locked in the schoolhouse with him.
“Hey, look at this!” Mart heard Trixie exclaim from the other side of the door. “Mr. Maypenny put a couple of boxes of Tastykakes with the other food!”
Tastykakes? He'd been in here for an hour and hadn't discovered those? His mother's baking was sublime, but he had a decided weakness for Tastykakes.
The girls did, too. The sound of running feet made it through the solid wood door of the closet. He rolled his eyes. They were as bad as him. He'd wondered how Trixie would lure Di far enough into the building. Had she planted the Tastykakes?
“Ohh, I love those,” Honey squealed.
“What kind?” Di asked.
“Butterscotch Krimpets and Peanut Butter Kandy Bar Kakes! Do you think it would be okay to eat a couple?”
“I'm sure nobody would mind,” Honey insisted.
“Go ahead, open them!”
That was the most enthusiastic he'd heard Di sound in months. Not that he saw her very often, but when he did, her voice always sounded. . .flat. . ., for lack of a better, more polysyllabic word. Except for last night when her voice had been as cold as he'd been when he'd been trapped in the avalanche. But even last night, when not only her voice, but her eyes and demeanor had been icy, there had been a lost, lackluster air about her. In the past, anger would have flashed out of her eyes. They would have sparked and snapped, and she would have told him to stop being an ass. In a moment of clarity, he realized now that Di was hurting, from what he didn't know.
Ripping cardboard brought him back to the present and then the crinkly sound of cellophane. He shifted from one foot to the other as the girls finished their snack. He knew Di was enjoying it, because she rarely allowed herself the pleasure of indulging in junk food. He loved to see her eat and enjoy food, loved her soft, womanly curves. She'd lost weight in the past few months, and he wondered if Uptight and Snobbish the Fourth wanted her model thin.
He steeled his nerves and put his hand on the doorknow. It was time to get this show on the road. Time to find out why Diana didn't want him anymore and if she was happy. He opened the door and stepped out into the larger room. The girls swung their heads to look at him. Honey and Trixie were between Di and the door to the outside.
“We're sorry, Honey said, her voice soft and gentle. “But we think you need to talk with Mart.”
Trixie nodded and they beat a hasty retreat, closing the door behind them. A click sounded as it was locked from the outside. Di's eyes widened, and the color drained from her face.
“Mart, what's going on?”