Heart to Heart (12 page)

“Is that a zillion like in dog years?”

I laughed. I was beginning to really like her and I didn’t think she was so creepy anymore just because she had some strange links to Elowyn. I liked her because she was honest and because she knew what it felt like to lose someone she loved.

“Hey, Arabeth and Kassey! The fireworks are starting,” her mother called.

We crawled out of the house and looked up just as a burst of gold showered the dark sky and rained downward. A rocket boomed in the sky and I saw Arabeth cover her ears.

“I like to see fireworks, but I don’t like the noise they make,” she said.

“It’s loud, all right.”

We watched the sky fill with colors.

“It makes me think of Dad and the bomb that blew him up. I hope he didn’t have time to feel any pain.”

I had wondered the same thing about Elowyn. Had she seen the tree coming at her? Had she felt the air bag smash against her? Had she felt her head snap and hit the side window? Had she hurt before she died? I shuddered, struggling not to get teary as I sat on the grass watching fireworks beside the girl who sheltered my best friend’s heart.

My summer filled up with people paying attention to me. Not just family and doctors, but the new group made up of Wyatt, Kassey, and the Edens. Wyatt’s attention was what interested me the most, of course. I had been scared that Mom’s ban on me dating would be a turnoff for him, but he surprised me by shrugging it off. He came over a few times a week. I was nervous at first. Nothing to do but sit on the front-porch swing and talk, or watch DVDs, or sit in the backyard around the picnic table or on the Adirondack chairs. At first I apologized for the lack of excitement.

“Not a problem,” he said. “Nothing wrong with hanging around. I like your backyard. It’s pretty out here.”

“Yard service,” I confessed. “The place was a mess when we bought it, a real jungle.” Mom’s gardens were thick with blooming flowers and trimmed shrubs. The air was heavy with the scent of honeysuckle on vines and roses. We were outside eating fresh coconut cake at the picnic table. I pointed to one bed where a newly planted stand of lavender plants was growing—something I had wanted when I first came home from the hospital. “Kassey said that Elowyn liked everything French. Do you?”

“We were taking French and she loved to write me notes and text me in French, but I didn’t like reading them. Give me English.” He turned toward me. “You into French?”

I shook my head. “My room’s decorated in French country, though.”

He looked startled. “So was El’s room.”

“That’s what Kassey told me.” I explained how I woke up from my transplant with this odd craving for French decor. “It’s bothered me for a long time—you know, this ‘out of Arabeth’s life experiences and into Elowyn’s’ I’ve been having ever since the transplant.”

“It’s freaky, all right.”

I had a question for him, but felt self-conscious asking it.

“What?” he asked, sensing my mood.

“Do you …” I took a deep breath. “Do I remind you of her?”

He gave me a long thoughtful look. “Sometimes,” he said.

His answer made my stomach knot. I didn’t have the guts to ask “how?” Instead I asked, “What was she like?”

“Bubbly. Outgoing. People liked her.”

“So she was perfect?”

He shook his head. “Hardly. She had a wild temper. I should know because she aimed it at me a lot.”

I did a quick self-evaluation. Blowing up wasn’t my style, and that realization made me feel better. I made a note to be calm and cheerful around him.

“Maybe we can figure it out,” he said, out of the blue.

“Figure what out?”

“Why El’s haunting you.”

A chill ran up my spine. “I don’t believe in ghosts,” I said.

“Well, something’s going on,” he said.

“I keep thinking it will stop,” I told him. “You know … if enough time passes.”

He shrugged. “She was persistent too. Stubborn. Like a dog with a bone.”

His words made me shiver. In the quiet of the summer night, all I wanted was for Elowyn to step out of my life and leave me alone.

After our first get-together at the Buckhead Ritz-Carlton, Terri started calling to chat and even began stopping by the inn. She surprised Mom and me by giving me a few of Elowyn’s books. “I kept a box of her favorites,” Terri said. “I donated most to charity, but I thought you might enjoy having her best-loved titles even though they’re a little dog-eared.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“That’s nice of you,” Mom said for me. “Dog-eared just proves how much a book’s adored.”

“Thanks,” I said.

Terri surprised us further when she came and booked a week’s vacation at the inn for her and Matt. Mom was out grocery shopping, so I showed her the rooms and took the reservation.

Curious, I asked, “Why do you want to stay in Atlanta? You live here.”

“Who has time to explore their own city? I mean, look at all the nice things to see and do in and around Atlanta. And a change of locale will be nice too.” She smiled. “Plus, your mother’s cooking must be a real treat.”

Our inn had been written up a week before as a
top spot in the area and Mom’s cooking had been praised. I returned Terri’s smile. “I’m her sous-chef. No one brags on how nicely the vegetables are cut.”

Terri laughed and squeezed my hand. “Arabeth, you’re so funny.”

I was pleased I could make her laugh. “You’re all set for the last week in July for the Dolley Madison room.” Mom had named the inn’s rooms after famous early American women.

“Good.” Terri took the paperwork. “So will you be here that week?”

“Sure, Mom needs my help because summer’s so busy. I’ll be hauling bags all week. At your service.”

“Excellent. Having you around will make it more fun.”

I watched her leave and wondered how in the world my presence could possibly add to her enjoyment.

I liked hanging around Kassey best of all. It had been a long time, since Monica, that I’d had a real friend. Being sick wasn’t a way to collect them. Plus we’d moved and then I’d had the transplant and then I’d never clicked with anyone at Athena. It wasn’t as if Kassey and I were real close, but she was smart and nice and said funny things that made me laugh.

When she wasn’t working, we hit the mall together
and went to the movies and hiked a few walking trails. “I need to keep fit,” she told me. “Volleyball and all.”

“It helps me too,” I said. We were on a greenway not too far from the inn. The day was hot, the air still and heavy. Leaves on the trees overhead dangled limp and dry. “I think about all the days I couldn’t walk,” I added. “Days I was on oxygen and could hardly breathe. Without the heart transplant, I’d be dead by now.”

She slowed and looked at me. “That true?”

“I could smell the breath of the Grim Reaper.”

She chuckled. “Don’t joke about that.”

I was trying to make my plight sound less desperate and pathetic. “I don’t think about the bad times very much. I mean, I feel so good now, it’s no fun remembering how bad it used to be.”

She seemed lost for words, so I said, “Now don’t feel sorry for me. I saw a lot of television and read a lot of books. Do you know I can quote whole pages of
Jane Eyre?”

“I had to read it in eighth grade, but I could never get into it. Elowyn did, though.” She grimaced. “I didn’t mean to say that. Heck, tons of girls like
Jane Eyre.”

Suddenly the heat seemed oppressive. “We had a lot in common,” I said. “I wonder why? I never knew her and yet she … she’s influencing my life.”

“I know about the ice cream and the French-decorated bedroom. Is there more?”

“When I was writing an essay for admission into Athena, I wrote the whole thing with my left hand … hundreds of words.”

Kassey stopped in the middle of the trail and stared at me. “Your
left
hand?”

“It was automatic. I didn’t even know it until the headmistress said something about it. I’m not left-handed. But I’ll bet Elowyn was.”

Kassey nodded. “That’s what made her so valuable on the volleyball court. Opponents never saw her spikes coming.”

I sighed. “I’ve never been able to write left-handed since that day. Not once.”

Kassey looked sympathetic. “I don’t know what to tell you.” She looked up at the sky. The sun had vanished and the air smelled of sulphur. Kassey took my elbow. “We’d better hurry. A thunderstorm’s coming.”

Sure enough, the sky was darkening and a breeze was stirring the leaves. My mood darkened with the gathering clouds. Was I ever going to be free of Elowyn Eden?

“You know what we need to do?” Kassey asked, turning her voice cheerful and bright.

“Tell me.”

“We need to spend a day at the Six Flags water park. Would you like to do that?”

I could have hugged her. “I’d love it.”

The rain came, soaking us. We jogged back toward the parking lot and Kassey’s car. She cracked jokes all the way and we sloshed in the rain puddles and giggled like two little kids.

It was my job to help Mom serve breakfast and dinner to the inn’s guests. I was also responsible for clearing dishes and silverware from the big farm table and loading the dishwasher after meals. I was carrying out platters of scrambled eggs and bacon from the kitchen when a woman called, “Arabeth, good morning.”

Terri and Matt sat on the far side of the long table. “Hey,” I said, giving them my brightest smile. It was Monday, so our weekend guests had gone, replaced by four couples who were staying for the week.

“Can you believe July’s almost over?” Terri asked. Her smile beamed.

I set down the platters. “Welcome,” I said.

Matt had been reading the newspaper, but he peered over the top at me. His blue eyes softened. “Good morning, Miss Arabeth.”

“Are you two going exploring today?” I asked.

Terri glanced at Matt. “That’s what we’d like to talk to your mother about.”

“We have tons of sightseeing brochures at the front desk,” I said. Mom kept the brochures well stocked. When guests asked for suggestions of places to see and explore, there were plenty of options to choose from.

“We have an agenda,” Terri said. “We’re heading to the new aquarium. Ever been there?”

I shook my head. “Not yet.” The Atlanta aquarium was renowned and had been written up in all the travel magazines Mom bought.

Terri smiled broadly. “Can we talk to you and your mom in the kitchen?”

“I have to get the rest of the food. Come with me.”

She followed me into the kitchen, where Mom was busy heaping her homemade cinnamon rolls into baskets. “Hi,” she said, surprised to see Terri. She handed me two baskets. “I thought you’d gone back to bed,” Mom grumbled at me.

“My fault,” Terri said. “I was holding her up talking to her.”

“Now!” Mom said, giving me a nudge toward the door. “While they’re still warm.”

I delivered the baskets, checked the juice and coffee pitchers on the table, and returned to the kitchen to refill them. Terri was talking to Mom, who was nodding, but she didn’t look gloriously happy.

Mom turned to me. “The Edens want to know if you can go with them to the aquarium today.”

“If your mother can spare you,” Terri added in a conciliatory tone.

“Can I?” A day of doing something fun seemed great to me—like a reprieve from a work detail and wearing the orange jumpsuit.

“Monday’s wash day,” Mom said.

I was responsible for gathering the towels and doing the wash. My hopes took a nosedive.

“We can pick another day for the aquarium if that’s more feasible,” Terri said. “Matt and I would really like you to come with us.”

Mom’s lips pressed together. I knew she wasn’t thrilled about a last-minute change of plans, but on the other hand, these were the people who’d donated their daughter’s heart to me. “I’ll call your aunt Vivian and see if she’ll come over and pitch in,” Mom said. “Your cousins are at church camp this week, so it’s possible.”

•    •    •

Terri and Matt made me feel like a princess all day long. Their car was plush, the nicest car I’d ever ridden in, and Terri bubbled over with conversation during the drive to the aquarium. We parked, and I watched Matt drape three cameras around his neck. I must have looked awed because he laughed and said, “I’m an amateur photographer. This one’s digital video, this one’s digital and small for grab shots, and this one uses plain old-fashioned film. I have a darkroom for developing film at the house.”

“It’s been his hobby for over a year,” Terri said. “Ever since—” She stopped abruptly. Her expression darkened, then in a flash turned sunny. “Never mind. He loves photography, and I compile scrapbooks of our travels. We’re the perfect couple.” She hooked her arm through his.

The awkward moment passed and we went inside the building. We saw every exhibit, with Matt snapping photos of everything that moved. We only stopped long enough for lunch in the aquarium restaurant. “Pick whatever you want,” Matt said, motioning to my menu.

Dining out wasn’t something I did very much, but the menu choices were simple, so I chose a hamburger.

“You young people always get burgers,” Matt said, leaving me to wonder if that was what Elowyn would have chosen too.

“Are you eager to begin school?” Terri asked me.

“Maybe not
eager
, but I’ve always liked school.”

“Where do you attend?”

I took a bite out of my burger and told her about my scholarship offer to Athena, but also of how much I wanted to attend Roswell High.

“No contest,” Terri said, picking at her salad. “Athena’s the best. You must be very gifted. It’s a wonderful opportunity.”

“That’s what Mom says too, but I really want to be in a regular school.”

“Boys?” she asked knowingly.

“Wait until college,” Matt said. “Better selection.”

“That’s where we met,” Terri said.

“I rest my case.”

They laughed at the joke between them. Terri turned to me. “Really, Arabeth, if you have a shot at graduating from Athena, take it.” She dropped her gaze. “Listen to me … lecturing you. Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” I said, not wanting to dampen her spirits.