curious look before asking, “Why are you interested in knowing where I live?”
Ellen grinned while confessing, “Actually, I’m interested in knowing where Andie’s uncle lives. I would like to talk to him.”
“Okay,” Danny said in a confused tone.
“I do have a reason for wanting to talk with him,” Ellen assured him. “It’s personal though, and it involves helping Andie out with something.”
“Alright,” Danny said in an uncertain tone before giving Ellen the address to the uncle’s house.
When Everett heard the address, he quickly supplied, “He… and Danny only live two blocks from you, Ellen.”
When Ellen gave Everett a curious look, Everett described how to get to the uncle’s house from her house.
“Cool that I live that close to Andie’s uncle,” Ellen said. “When I get done with my appointment after school, I’ll go talk with the uncle.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Everett asked.
“I would like it if you came with me,” Ellen said. “But how are you going to get to my house? I mean, I doubt that your dad will swing by and pick you up before taking me home.”
Danny gave Ellen a curious look as Everett said, “I might be able to tag along with you two, and then I’ll try to get him to drop me off at your house when you’re done.”
Ellen saw the curious look that she was getting from Danny and volunteered, “I have a doctor’s appointment after school and Everett’s dad is the one who’s driving me to my appointment.”
“Okay,” Danny said in an uncertain tone.
“I’m telling you because you are giving me a curious look,” Ellen said.
Danny slightly grinned before saying, “I was curious about what you two were talking about, but because of it being none of my business, I wasn’t going to ask.”
“I have no problem with you knowing,” Ellen told him.
Danny shut his locker while saying, “Okay, well, I’m going to class. You two can now get back to what you two were doing before I came.”
Ellen amusingly grinned before saying, “I need to get to class too.”
“I’ll walk you to class, Ellen,” Everett said while shutting his locker.
“Okay,” Ellen said as her grin changed to a delightful one. As Danny was walking away, Ellen had a thought. “Oh, uh, Danny.” Danny stopped and faced Ellen. “What’s the uncle’s name?”
“Cole Middleton,” Danny said.
“Thanks,” Ellen said.
Danny nodded before walking away.
As usual, Jessica had beaten Ellen to class, and when Jessica sensed Ellen’s presence as Ellen was walking into the classroom, she turned to face Ellen. When Jessica waved to Ellen, Ellen waved back with an unreadable expression on her face, and as Ellen walked towards Jessica, Jessica’s cheerful expression changed to a confused one.
As Ellen stepped up to Jessica, Jessica questioned, “Is something wrong?”
Ellen shook her head before saying, “Harris’s second cousin Blaire and two of her… associates are visiting us from London.” Ellen glanced towards the student next to Jessica. Jessica also glanced towards the student. “They knew what Eleanor Thorne was referring to, and I’ll fill you in on it later.” Jessica nodded in agreement. “Blaire and her associates also have a proposal for you, Karla and me.”
“What kind of proposal?” Jessica asked curiously.
“I was told about it, but I was also asked that I would allow them to pitch their proposal to you and Karla.” Jessica gave Ellen a curious look. “It’s nothing bad. In fact, I think that their proposal might be something worthwhile.”
“And you won’t tell me anything about it?” Jessica asked.
“I was requested not to, and I feel that I should honor that request.”
“Alright,” Jessica agreed. “Once we get to our gym class, we’ll let Karla know that she and I will need to go over to your house tonight.”
“I have my doctor’s appointment after school, so you may want to wait an hour or so after school before coming over to my house.”
“Alright,” Jessica agreed.
Ellen gestured towards her seat while saying, “Okay, well, I should take my seat.”
When Jessica nodded, Ellen turned towards her seat and stepped away.
Hours later, Lance and Everett sat in the waiting room as Ellen followed Dr. Pendell into his office.
Dr. Pendell’s office was a twenty by twenty foot center office. The door to the office was on the north wall and centered.
The south wall had two five by five foot pane glass windows, separated by a three-inch wide muntin bar. The muntin bar was also centered.
The medium tan curtains, which drew back on both sides, were open. Dr. Pendell would open them each morning and then close them before leaving for the day or on request by one of his patients.
The walls and ceiling were a light tan color and it blended in with the tan and green patterned carpet.
Hanging centered on the west wall was a fifty-two-inch wide by thirty-eight-inch long painting. The theme of the painting was about Native American villagers of the Great Plains going about their daily work routine.
Barely pulled out from the west wall was an average size green couch that faced the east wall. There was no coffee table, but there were two end tables—one on each end of the couch. A box of tissues was setting on each of the end tables. An armchair sat five feet from the couch while facing the couch.
Hanging on the east wall were several doctor diplomas. Barely pulled out from the east wall was a sixty-six-inch by twenty-four-inch by twenty-nine-inch credenza, and on top of that were nick-knacks and family pictures. Three feet from the credenza was a seventy-two-inch by thirty-six-inch by twenty-nine-inch desk.
Arranged neatly on the desk were a desk pad, a few photos and in-and-out trays filled with neatly stacked papers. On top of the desk pad was a closed laptop computer attached to a docking station.
In the southeast corner of the room was a tall filing cabinet that faced the west wall. Along the north wall between the door and the northeast corner of the room was a ceiling-to-floor bookshelf, which was filled with medical books, small statues and knickknacks.
Next to the window, between the desk and the armchair, was a birdcage that caged two finches.
When Ellen stepped into the office the finches became more active and vocal than usual, which immediately caught Ellen’s attention.
“They normally
