Page 43 of Half Baked

“It is,” Noah said. “And call me Noah, please. I’m not here in an official capacity. Maddie has a lot of questions about her mother, and as Maddie’s boyfriend, I’m here to offer moral support.” He reached over and clasped my hand.

A shiver ran down my back at his touch. He declared us to be in a relationship again, but this time I suspected it helped sell the unofficial status of our investigation.

Dawn’s face lit up. “Oh. That’s surprising. You were the detective investigating Martin Schroeder’s murder.”

Noah shrugged. “Maddie’s a special woman. I know we met under unusual circumstances, but…” He gave me a soft smile. “Sometimes you know when you have to get to know someone more, no matter how you met.”

My stomach somersaulted, and I told myself this was still part of the act, but I knew that he was being sincere.

Dawn nodded, but she didn’t necessarily look like she approved, which surprised me. It also hurt a tiny bit. It felt like her approval or lack thereof equaled my mother’s.

“I appreciate you talking to us,” I said, eager to change the subject. “I’ll try not to keep you long.”

“Don’t be silly,” Dawn said, smoothing a wrinkle out of her pants. “Of course you’re curious about your mother. I’m surprised you haven’t asked questions before now.” She hesitated, then added, “Without a detective.”

Noah dropped my hand. “I can leave if that makes you feel more comfortable.”

Dawn hesitated. “No, you can stay. I’m sorry. It’s just the last time either of you were in the school, it was because of Martin, and we were all so certain he’d killed Andrea that it dredged up a lot of unpleasant memories.”

“I understand,” Noah said, “but please just think of me as Maddie’s boyfriend.”

Her lips pressed into a tight line. “I’ll try.”

I flashed a look at Noah. He gave a slight nod of encouragement, and I turned back to face her. “Dawn, it occurred to me that I was a typical teenager who paid little attention to her mother’s life. I’m now closer to the age she was when she died, and it’s become obvious to me that she had a life outside of me that I know nothing about. Since you were her best friend, I hoped you could help fill in the gaps.”

The tension in her shoulders eased. “Of course, but we could have met at my house for that.” She shot a glance at Noah, then turned back to me. “And you could have arranged it yourself.”

She was right, of course. No wonder she struggled to believe this was an unofficial investigation. But even if we were asking questions about the murder, why would it make her nervous? “Sorry about that,” I said apologetically. “Noah has the week off and was trying to be helpful since I had to work today. He’s here for emotional support.”

“Hmm,” she said, obviously still not entirely buying it, but she settled back in her chair. “What would you like to know?”

“When did you and Mom become friends? When she began teaching?”

She laughed. “Good heavens, no. We had known each other since we were practically in diapers. We went to church together, then school and college. We even got jobs together. I knew Andrea her entire life.”

I stared at her, trying to wrap my head around what she’d just said. I’d had no idea they’d known each other that long. Then again, I couldn’t remember much about my mother’s life outside of me. Was it because I’d been that self-centered as a kid, or had I blanked it out? But another thought occurred to me. “So you were already good friends with my mom when my father left.” I knew next to nothing about my father other than what little my mother told me. It occurred to me that Dawn might be able to fill in some of those gaps too, even though I’d never been very curious about him. Mom had told me he’d left us when I was a tiny baby, and that had been enough to convince me I didn’t want anything to do with him. Especially since he hadn’t stepped forward or even gotten in touch with me after she was killed.

Dawn gave me a grim smile. “Tony was never meant to be domesticated, and deep down, Andrea knew it. They met in college. He was from money, and his family didn’t like that she wasn’t. In the beginning, he didn’t care. Then again, neither one of them was thinking about forever. Andrea was a free spirit and didn’t want to be painted in by convention. Tony was intrigued by her. She was different than the usual girls he dated, and her wildness fascinated him.”

“Wildness?” I was even more shocked. “My mother was the last person I would describe as wild.”

Dawn waved a hand in dismissal. “That’s because you didn’t know her when she was young. She changed after you were born. She took her role as your parent very seriously. Tony didn’t, unfortunately. He only married your mother because his family insisted when they found out Andrea was pregnant, which is part of the reason the marriage didn’t last long. I also think he was taken aback by how much she changed. His free-spirited, rebellious lover had been replaced by a mother.” She gave an exaggerated shudder.

“They were married?” I asked in shock. “I didn’t know that. I always thought she got pregnant, and Tony didn’t want to be part of our lives.”

She shrugged. “Truth was, he didn’t want to be, but even assholes can be pressured into doing things they don’t want to do. Only he couldn’t be pressured for long. You were only a few months old when Tony took off, so your mother returned to Cockamamie.”

I blinked hard. “I wasn’t born here? She said we’d always lived here.”

“She preferred to think of it that way. She lived with Tony in Nashville in a cute little house his parents bought for the three of you. But once Tony left, she came back home and pretended he’d never been part of your lives, like you were immaculately conceived.”

“And she took back her maiden name?” Noah asked.

A mischievous grin lit up Dawn’s face. “She never took his to begin with, and she insisted that Maddie have her last name on her birth certificate. His parents were furious.”

“What about Tony?” Noah asked. “Did that piss him off too?”

“Honestly, if he cared, it was only because of his parents. By the time Maddie was born, I think Andrea could tell it wasn’t going to last, and she didn’t want her daughter to be like her in-laws, so she insisted on making you a Baker.”

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