Sunday, October 27th, 2019, Noon

Baxter looked at the pool. “Time to retract the pool cover,” he said to himself. He walked into the pool house and pushed the button to roll back the cover. It took about three minutes, then Baxter turned and looked for Elizabeth and Maria. They were standing on the coping, eagerly waiting to get in the pool.

“Go ahead and get in the water. I’m going to wait for Mike.” They jumped in, holding each other’s arm.

“How’s the water temperature?”

“Perfect!” Elizabeth replied. She and Maria started splashing each other.

Baxter turned, walked to the patio, sat down on one of the lounges, and got comfortable. Then he heard the doorbell. He laughed and thought, ‘It always happens this way,’ then went through the house to the front door.

Mike was standing there, grinning. “I just got dropped off, and I’m so ready to get into your pool… oh my god, you look so hot in your Speedos!”

“Jeez, Mike! You want to take a picture?” Baxter asked, chortling.

“Yes!”

“You going to swim in those board shorts?”

“No. Where can I go to change?”

“Follow me.”

Baxter led Mike to his bedroom and closed the door.

Mike had a duffle bag with clothes and Speedos of his own. They were in the same Las Lomas school colors as Baxter’s.

He stripped his clothes off and pulled his Speedos on.

“Okay, I’m ready. Let’s hit the pool. Where are your dads?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they needed to pick something up at the store. I haven’t seen them since we prepped the pool and the tennis court. Maybe they’re playing tennis.”

Mike walked up to Baxter and hugged him, so he hugged back.

“This is weird. Elizabeth’s friend Maria hugged me, too. Now you hug me. What, am I extra huggable today?”

“Yup! Now, how do we get to the pool?”

Baxter led Mike from his bedroom through the house and outside.

“Oh, man, this is so great!” Mike enthused. “What a fantastic pool. Let’s get in the water.”

“No cannonballs!” Baxter warned.

“I wouldn’t have done that anyway, but thanks for reminding me.”

They jumped feet-first from the coping into the deep end of the pool. Elizabeth and Maria were leaning against the opposite side of the pool about half-way toward the shallow end.

“Let’s swim over to them, and I’ll introduce you.”

When they got to the two girls, Baxter did the introductions.

“Elizabeth and Maria, this is my best friend, Mike Miller. Mike, this it Elizabeth Choi, my sister, and Maria King, Elizabeth’s friend.”

They all said ‘Hi’ to each other, and a conversation started when Elizabeth asked Mike about where he went to school and continued from there.

Finally, Baxter asked, “Who’d like to play a pool game?”

“Me!” Elizabeth said. “How about pool basketball?”

“What’s that?” Mike asked. “I’ve heard of playing a pool version of water polo but not a pool version of basketball.”

“Me, either,” Baxter said. “Me, either,” Maria added.

“It’s a lot of fun. Pool basketball uses a ball sort of like a regular basketball, but it’s smaller, six and a half inches in diameter. Lemme get it set up; Baxter, can you help?”

“Sure.”

They got the game set up. It included a smaller version of a basketball backboard, hoop, and net, with the hoop about two and a half feet above the water, and netting behind the backboard to catch balls that missed everything so they wouldn’t have to spend as much time chasing them into the backyard.

“There are all kinds of rules for playing pool basketball, but most of them are too complicated,” Elizabeth said. “For us, it’ll be fun to play with two-person teams, and here are the basic rules.

“See those markers I set up on each side of the pool with the police tape running across the pool?” Everyone looked where she was pointing. “That’s the backcourt line. The team with the ball starts in front of that tape. The other team has to be near the basket to try to block shots. They can’t be near the backcourt line; that’s interference. If they are, they get a two-point penalty.

“Each basket is two points. When one team scores, the other team gets the ball and starts from the backcourt line. The first team to get over twenty points wins the game.

“If a team throws the ball outside of the pool, one of their players has to go get it, get back in the pool with the ball, and toss it to the other team, which will be at the backcourt line.

“A foul is when a player on one team grabs and holds any part of one of the players on the other team, including what they are wearing. The team that was fouled gets one point and the ball at the backcourt line.

“Since none of you have ever played pool basketball before, I think we should have a practice game. The winner of this game will be the first team to get over ten points, and they get the ball first for the real game.

“Any questions?”

“Yeah,” Mike said. “What if a player bumps one of the players on the other team? Isn’t that a foul?”

“Nope. Unless what that player is doing is trying to drown the other team’s player; that would be a flagrant foul. No drowning or attempted drowning is allowed!”

Everyone laughed at that.

“Okay. The way we’ll start is to pick the teams. Since it’s my pool, it’ll be one boy and one girl on each team. Me and Baxter on one team and Maria and Mike on the other. Anyone object?”

No one objected.

“Since I’ve played this before, the team with Baxter and me and will get the ball first so we can demonstrate how to get started. Anyone object?”

Again, no one objected.

Play got underway. At first, there was a lot of confusion, and the ball ended up outside of the pool several times. At one point, Baxter called for a time out.

“You have a question? Or do you need to get out and go and pee?” Elizabeth asked.

“A rule clarification. Let’s say our team has the ball. You jump on my shoulders, I give you the ball, and you dunk it. Is that legal?”

“No. That would be covered by a version of the ‘grabbing is a foul’ rule, and Maria and Mike would get one point and the ball.”

“Ah! So grabbing is a foul even among the members of the team that has the ball,” Baxter said. “Got it!”

Baxter and Elizabeth won the first game, 11 to 8. They played four more games, and each team won two of those games. They all had a lot of fun, but by then it was almost three o’clock. Baxter and the three others were tired.

“Let’s rest for a while,” he said. “I want to move one of the lounges into the shade and take a nap.”

“Me, too,” Elizabeth said.

“Okay, what are we going to do; there are only two lounges and four of us.”

“They’re wide enough for two of us on one of them.”

“Okay. So, we’ll share them with two girls on one and two boys on the other?” Baxter asked.

“Yes, that makes sense,” Elizabeth said.

Elizabeth and Baxter moved one lounge, and Maria and Mike moved the other. Now both were in the shade, but not near each other.

“How will we wake up on time?” Mike asked.

Baxter replied, “Your folks aren’t going to be here until four-thirty, and that’s an hour and a half. I don’t think all of us will sleep that long. If we do, our Dad or Pop will come out and wake us.”

Elizabeth and Maria walked to their lounge, which was near the back fence under several trees. “Nighty-night, boys,” Maria called out, and she and Elizabeth were laughing like they’d invented a funny joke.

“Middle school kids!” Mike said in a whisper, as he and Baxter repositioned their lounge near the side of the yard. “It’s shady now, and the sun will be moving in that direction,” he pointed toward the house, “so we’ll be in the shade until we wake up.”

“Looks good,” Baxter said. “Which side do you want, left or right?”

“I don’t care. Do you have a preference?”

“I’ll pick the left side. Is that okay?”

“Since I don’t care, sure.”

They lay down. The lounge wasn’t wide enough to give the boys any room between them, so they were pressed against each other. Baxter shoved his right arm between him and Mike. Not having anywhere to put his left arm, Mike just put it on top of Baxter’s arm. Then Baxter turned his arm over, so his right hand was facing up. That’s where Mike’s left hand was facing down. The natural thing to do would be to clasp their fingers together, and that’s what they did.

“Is this okay?” Mike asked.

“Yeah. It’s very okay,” Baxter replied.

They lay like that, not asleep but nearly so. Then Mike fell asleep and snored softly, and a couple minutes later, Baxter fell asleep, too.

After about ten minutes, Mike moved his left arm so it was lying across Baxter’s right hip. His hand was where Baxter’s groin and thigh met, and it caused a strong reaction.

Baxter woke up enough to push his hand into his Speedos and rearrange things, then he fell asleep.

Baxter woke about ten minutes later, even though he didn’t know how much time had elapsed. He woke because Mike’s left hand was rubbing the crotch of Baxter’s Speedos. He turned his head and squinted at Mike, who appeared to be asleep because he was still snoring softly. Baxter moved his right hand, so it was on top of Mike’s left hand. Baxter preferred having Mike’s hand pressing on his Speedos, so it was close to what was inside. The feeling was wonderful and was sending little shocks and shivers throughout his groin, across his pecs, and up and down his spine.

Baxter closed his eyes to concentrate on and enjoy the feeling, and fell asleep, again. Suddenly he was wide awake. There were voices: his dad and pop and two other voices, a man and a woman. The Stewarts! Mike’s new folks!

He dragged Mike’s arm off of his Speedos then elbowed him. Mike jerked awake.

“What?”

“I think your folks are here.”

“Is it time to eat?” Mike mumbled.

“Mike?”

“What?”

“Did you know what you were doing to me while I was sleeping?”

“No. What?”

It looked like Mike was still half asleep. Baxter saw from his expression that Mike didn’t seem to know what Baxter was asking about, so he dropped it. But he needed something to say to explain his question.

“You were snoring. Kind of loud, too.”

That made Mike wake up. “I don’t snore!”

Baxter laughed. “Oh, yes, you do!”

“I don’t believe you. If I snore, you would’a told me that you’d heard me snoring in our room at Groveland.”

“Next time, I’ll make sure I have my phone, and I’ll record your raucous snoring.”

“Lies, lies, lies!” Mike said. Then he heard the voices that had caused Baxter to wake up. “Wait… that’s my folks! They’re here! Let’s get up, and I’ll introduce you.”

Fortunately, the contents in Baxter’s Speedos had relaxed. “Okay, let’s do it.”

They were joined by the girls.

“You guys have a good nap?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes!” Mike replied.

“We did, too!” Maria added. She yawned. “Maybe not enough, though.”

 The four kids and Kathy and Tom Stewart, Mike’s foster parents, met and were introduced. Baxter could see they were very nice, and it was apparent to him that they loved Mike. That made Baxter happy. Mike was his best friend, and he deserved to be adopted by a great family. They also seemed to like Baxter, Elizabeth, and Maria, and got along great with Rob and Vincent.

The four kids spent another hour and a half in the pool, with an occasional break for something to drink or nibble on.

Finally, they were tired enough to voluntarily get out of the pool and go in to shower and change. While they were cleaning up, Rob and Vincent were moving the steaks and veggies outside and onto the barbeque grill. Catherine Stewart offered to make the salad.

It was still warm enough, so they ate outside at the table on the patio.

The steak was the best Baxter ever had. Medium rare, so tender he could cut it with his fork, tasty and juicy. Elizabeth was right when she said grilling them outdoors was best.

Catherine Stewart warmed the home-made apple pie she’d brought and served it with vanilla ice cream. Baxter admitted that it was delicious, even if it wasn’t his favorite, chocolate cake.

After eating, the kids cleaned up and spent the next hour watching TV. Then Maria’s dad picked her up, and the Stewarts and Mike left to go home.

Baxter and Elizabeth were both ready for bed, and Thursday was a school day, even though it was Halloween. Elizabeth and Baxter debated whether Halloween should be a legal holiday in the USA or not, and Rob and Vincent acted as moderators. The deciding argument was there would be no Halloween activities at school if it were an official holiday — because school is always closed on official holidays.

“Okay, I have to agree. Let’s keep it exactly like it’s always been,” Elizabeth said. It was unanimous when Baxter also agreed.

Thursday, October 31st, 2019: Halloween

When Baxter got home from school, he stopped in the kitchen to get a banana then went to his room to start on his homework.

It was Halloween. Baxter felt he was too old to go trick-or-treating.

Elizabeth wasn’t home; she’d gone directly to Maria’s house from school. She felt she was still young enough to go trick-or-treating. She’d been invited to a Halloween party at Maria’s house and had been distracted in all of her classes thinking about the party.

The girls finished their homework under the watchful eye of Mrs. King. They had an early dinner with the King family, then changed into their costumes and waited until all the others invited to the Party had arrived.

They watched a Disney Halloween-themed kids’ movie that Maria’s mother had selected a Disney movie, Hocus Pocus. Then it was time to go out and stalk the neighborhood trick-or-treating.

Maria’s father went with them and stayed on the sidewalk as the kids would go up to each house that had their porch light on. They’d holler ‘Trick or Treat’ then accept their candy treats.

Baxter had decided, with his dad and pop agreeing, that he would give out candy to the trick-or-treaters as they came to the door. That was the reason he wanted to finish his homework right away.

He heard the house phone ring at the same time as as he was checking his geometry problems; Baxter let it go to voicemail as he concentrated on his homework. Whomever called could leave a message or call back later.

As soon as he finished his geometry assignment, he went back and continued to check his answers; he felt they were all correct. Next, he had a responsive reading assignment for his English 1 class due Friday. It was a rather spooky short story, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Ms. Carpenter told them it was a good story for Halloween week homework. He read the story, then went back and read it a second time. Then he wrote his response. It was just over the 400-word minimum.

There was a test in his Living Earth science class on Friday. He’d already read the chapters but did it again. ‘Can’t study too much for a test!’ he thought.

Baxter yawned, stretched, and got up to get something to drink. As he walked into the kitchen, the house phone rang. Instead of letting it go to voicemail, he answered.

“Hello?”

“Baxter, this is Betty Taylor. I called you earlier and left a message. I received some news today from the convalescent home where your grandmother has been living. Unfortunately, she passed away last night. You’re her only living relative, so they wondered if you had any instructions for her burial and if you wanted to attend a brief memorial service at the convalescent home.”

“I don’t even remember where she lived,” he replied. “I never met her. It’s embarrassing, but I don’t even know how old she was. I need to talk to my dad and my pop to get advice. Maybe I should call my lawyer, too. He could give me some legal advice.”

“She lived in a convalescent home in Chandler, Arizona. She was 96 years old. Sorry to dump this on you, especially on Halloween. But a decision is needed in two days.”

Okay, Mrs. Taylor. I’ll try to get back to you later tonight. Is it okay for me to call your cellphone number?”

“Yes, that’s fine. I’ll talk to you later, Baxter. Bye for now.”

“Bye, Mrs. Taylor.”

Baxter thought about his grandmother. It was sad that she’d died. She was his last relative in the USA, and had been on his father’s side of the family. He realized that meant little to him. Now he had no relatives except for the ones on his mother’s side of the family. They lived in Canada, in the province of Alberta — he’d never met them, either.

It was early enough, four forty-five, so he phoned Carter Danhof, his lawyer. He dialed his direct number.

“Danhof, Lynman, Rogers, and VanHorst. You’ve reached Linda Keene, Mr. Danhof’s assistant. How may I help you?”

“This is Baxter Hansen. I need to speak to Mr. Danhof. He’s my lawyer. Would you please let him know that my grandmother died yesterday, and I think I need legal advice about what I should do now.”

“Mr. Danhof is with a client. I’ll let him know that you called. He will call you back as soon as he is available. Please confirm the phone number you want him to use when he calls you.”

Baxter gave her the house number. “Please let him know that I don’t have much time to decide what to tell them to do. I have to tell the care home where she’d been staying in two days.”

“Alright, I’ll let him know. Is there anything else?”

“No, that’s all for now. Thank you. G’bye.”

“Goodbye.”

Besides advice about how she should be buried, Baxter wanted to find out how to stop the payments being sent from his trust to his grandmother’s convalescent home each month. That’s something his mother had set up for her mother’s care.

Baxter finished his homework, so it was time to get the candy ready to hand out. He pulled out a large metal bowl he found in one of the kitchen cabinets, then opened three of the bags of Halloween candy and emptied them into the bowl. There was still room, so he emptied two more bags into the bowl. He lifted it to take into the living room.

“Whoa!” he said out loud. The bowl was heavy now that it was filled with candy. He looked at the empty bags. Five pounds each! He looked at the bowl. That meant he would be lifting twenty-five pounds plus the weight of the bowl.

He carefully picked up the bowl and carried it into the living room, making sure he didn’t trip on anything. He set it on the sofa, then moved everything from one of the end tables to the coffee table, and carried the end table so it was next to the front door. Then he moved the bowl of candy to the table. He was all set.

Giving out Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters was something that Baxter had never done. When he was little, his mom would take him trick-or-treating. When he got too old for that, he was at Groveland, where there was no trick-or-treating. Why? Because some religious nut decided that it was a pagan holiday and kids shouldn’t be allowed to participate and took Groveland to court and, until the lawsuit would finally be decided, Halloween was a no-go. Now he was with the Chois. So he volunteered to give out candy to the kids. He thought it would be fun.

Baxter still wasn’t sure how much candy to give each kid. Should little kids be given less than bigger kids? Or vice-versa? Or the same no matter whether they were little or big? He’d had little guidance from his dad and pop. “Just make sure there’s some left for us,” Pop had told him. “As if,” Baxter retorted. Rob and Vincent had laughed at that.

He went to the kitchen and looked at the bags. There were seven bags, five with 120 pieces per bag and two bags which had 156 smaller pieces each. He dumped the contents of the two 156 piece bags into the bowl and the contents of three of the 120 piece bags. Then he used his hands to mix up the contents. That was 312 plus 360 equals 672 pieces of candy. Last year, according to Dad and Pop, they had about 75 kids that came trick-or-treating. 672 divided by — he rounded it to an estimate of 80 kids this year — so it would be about eight pieces per kid. ‘Wow, that’s a lot per kid,’ he thought. He decided on about five pieces instead; that would take care of 130 kids. Plus, the two bags still in the kitchen if the bowl of candy ran out. The pieces weren’t large, but five per kid was probably okay. He grabbed a handful to see how many that would be. It was six on his first try. He practiced grabbing candy. The picks were more often six per grab; if he were one under or over, it would still come out okay. So, an average of six pieces per kid plus some getting a piece or two extra would still take care of about 110 kids. And the two 120 piece bags were still in the kitchen, available if needed.

He went back to his room and got a notepad and pencil to keep a running count of kids doing trick-or-treating.

He also got his tablet to have something to read while he was waiting. He hadn’t finished Geography Club, so he decided to continue reading it. He sat down on one of the comfortable chairs in the living room and started reading.

The first group of kids arrived about twenty minutes later. It was five little kids and a father and a mother right behind them. He asked who each kid was dressed up to be, even if some were obvious like the kid wearing a Spiderman costume. He thought it was funny that a couple of the kids didn’t know what their costumes represented. After giving out a handful of candy to each kid, he looked at the parents and grinned.

“And who are you two dressed up as?” he asked.

The parents laughed, and the kids must have thought it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard because when they got to the sidewalk, he could still hear them laughing.

As it got later, the kids got older and weren’t accompanied by their parents. Some were kids he knew from Las Lomas High, and some were students at Walnut Creek Intermediate that he’d known when he was in the eighth grade last year. Some of the kids he knew seemed surprised to see him.

His friend Lane was trick-or-treating by himself. “Hey Baxter, what are you doing here? House sitting?” he asked.

“Nope. I’m here because I live here now. I’m being adopted.” He smiled.

“Man, that is so cool! Congrats! See you at school tomorrow?”

“Sure. I’ll tell you about it.”

The flow of trick-or-treaters eventually seemed to slow down. Then he heard what sounded like a large group of kids, laughing and someone trying, unsuccessfully, to shush them. Instead of ringing the doorbell, it sounded like a dozen kids were knocking on the door and laughing simultaneously. It reminded him of a word that sounded like the noise he was hearing: cacophony. He liked to collect unusual words, and he especially liked onomatopoeia — which the dictionary defined as words that imitate the sound they denote, like meow and splash.

The kids continued their loud knocking and laughing. He grinned as he thought of the perfect onomatopoeic word to use. He pulled the door open all the way and, as loud as he could, shouted, “BOO!”

They all screamed, then laughed and hollered, “Trick or treat!” Elizabeth and Maria were standing in front, grinning, holding their bags out. He counted seven other kids, both boys and girls, behind them.

“I’m so sorry, we’re almost out of candy, so I can only give one piece to each of you.” He grabbed a few pieces and dropped one in Maria’s bag and one in Elizabeth’s bag. Trying to look sad, he said, “You two will need to move out of the way, so each of your friends can get their one piece of candy.”

Elizabeth put her fists on her hips and glared at him. “Come on, Baxter, I know you’re pulling my leg!” Then she and Maria laughed. That made Baxter laugh, too. He doled out a big handful to each kid, a lot more than what he’d been giving out to any of the other trick-or-treaters.

“How was the party?” he asked.

“Fun!” a boy standing next to Elizabeth said. His hair was as red and messy as Baxter’s, and he had lots of freckles, too. They were staring at each other and grinning. “I like your hair and your freckles,” the boy said.

“I like yours, too,” Baxter responded.

“My name’s Sean Murphy.”

“I’m Baxter Hansen.”

“You’re Elizabeth’s new brother, right?”

“Right!”

“Come on, come on! We got more houses to go to,” Maria shouted as she headed for the sidewalk.

“Okay!” Elizabeth called out. She looked at Sean then at Baxter. “You two can ogle each other tomorrow after school. We gotta go!”

Sean grinned at Baxter. “See you!”

“Same!” Baxter responded.

“I think he likes you,” Elizabeth whispered to Baxter, then she and Sean ran to join the other kids in their group.

‘That was interesting,’ Baxter thought. He wrote the number of kids, nine, on the note pad, adding it to the cumulative total. He included Elizabeth’s and Maria’s first names. Then he added Sean’s first and last names along with a note, ‘He looks like me!’

Seeing what he’d written embarrassed him for some reason, but then he grinned, shrugged his shoulders, and waited as another group of kids walked up the driveway to the front porch.

Thursday, October 31st, 2019, Evening

Rob and Vincent both got home at six-thirty. Kids continued to arrive, and Baxter continued giving out candy. Finally, at around eight p.m., the last few stragglers arrived, and he decided that was enough. After those kids left, he turned off the porch light to indicate that trick-or-treating was over at their house.

“Did you have anything for dinner?” Rob asked Baxter.

“No, I completely forgot about eating. I had a big lunch at school today. It was pizza day, a dollar a slice, and for once, it was really good pizza. It had mushrooms, pepperoni, and sausage, and I got three slices. When I got home, I ate a banana while I finished my homework. Then I set up for the trick-or-treaters.”

“Do you know how many we got this year?” Vincent asked.

 “Let me check the number of kids.” He took the notepad and looked at the cumulative total. “We had 103 kids. Not including you two.” He grinned.

“How much candy was left?” Vincent asked.

Baxter looked in the bowl. There were maybe twenty pieces of candy. “There are two of the 120 piece bags unopened in the kitchen, plus what’s left in the bowl, so about 260 pieces in total.”

Rob sneered at Baxter. “So, there’s a bag for me and a bag for Vincent in the kitchen. I think we’re in good shape.”

Baxter smirked. “You won’t be in good shape if you eat all of that candy!” That made Rob and Vincent laugh.

“Did you eat any of the candy?” Vincent asked Baxter.

“No. Between trying to read a story on my tablet and having to get up every minute or two as trick-or-treaters arrived, I never thought about eating any of it myself. I’ll bet Elizabeth will bring home a lot of candy. Her bag seemed pretty full when she and Maria and seven of their friends from Maria’s party came trick-or-treating.”

“I think you need something for dinner. There’s some pizza in the freezer. You want that?” Vincent asked.

“I don’t think so. I’ve already had enough pizza today. I’ll see if there are any leftovers in the refrigerator.”

Baxter found some salad fixings and veggies. He used that to make a salad and sat down at the kitchen table to eat. Rob and Vincent sat down, too.

“Did you eat?” he asked.

“Yes. There’s a new Mexican restaurant that opened up downtown, Capullo Cocina Mexicana. We decided to try it — a test-run — and we liked it a lot. I think you and Elizabeth will like it, too.”

“I’d like to try it. What does ‘capullo’ mean?”

“We asked the waiter. He said it’s the the first name of the woman who owns of the restaurant. One meaning is ‘flower bud’ in English.” Rob said.

Vincent added, “Other meanings include ‘pod’ or ‘cocoon’ or ‘wrapped’ — Spanish, like English, has individual words that have many wildly disparate definitions,”

“Capullo’s especially weird,” Baxter said.

“Would you like to go there for dinner on Saturday?” Rob asked. “I think you’ll enjoy the food, and you can ignore the different meanings of the name.”

“Sure.” Baxter grinned. “I love Mexican food.”

“How were your classes today?” Vincent asked.

“Okay. A lot of kids weren’t paying attention. That irritated a couple of my teachers. I was paying attention.

“Oh… I almost forgot something important, and it’s sad. while I was doing my homework there was a call from Betty Taylor. She said my grandmother died last night. The convalescent home called her — I guess because I’m still registered with CPS. Anyway, they told her there were three questions they need me to answer.

“First, did I want my grandmother buried or cremated.

“Second, did I want to attend a brief remembrance ceremony at the convalescent home.

“Third, they need my answers in two days, starting yesterday because the remembrance ceremony is going to be held on Saturday. That’s the day after tomorrow!

“So, I called Carter Danhof on the house phone. He was my mom’s lawyer, and he’s mine now. He was with a client, but he’s supposed to call back as soon as he’s available.”

“Vincent and I know Carter Danhof. Betty Taylor and Barbara Mayhew told us who he was and his relationship with you, so we’d contacted him last month. When he calls back, we’d like you to put the call on the speakerphone. Then we can all listen to his recommendations and decide how to respond to those three questions.”

“I’ve been thinking about it. I never met my grandmother. She had Alzheimer’s and wouldn’t know… wouldn’t have known me if I’d visited her. All I have are some pictures of her with my mom. So, it doesn’t make sense for me to fly all the way to Arizona and back for what Mrs. Taylor called a brief remembrance ceremony.

“My mom paid for my grandmother’s care. Now I’ve been paying for it out of my trust. Maybe that could cover the cost of her burial or cremation. The other thing, I want to make sure what’s being paid to the convalescent home stops being taken from my trust. It’s over six thousand dollars a month.”

“I’m sure that it can be taken care of between Carter Danhof and the trustee of your estate,” Vincent said. “So, what we should do is wait until Mr. Danhof calls.”

“It’s pretty late,” Rob said. “He might not call until tomorrow. But you have school tomorrow, and Rob and I will be at work tomorrow. So we’ll have to arrange a time when all three of us can be on the call together.”

“His assistant said he would call back. It was about four or four-thirty when I called his office.”

As if Baxter had wished it, the phone rang. He looked up and seemed nervous. “Should I answer it, or should one of you answer it?”