Holly's Heart Collection One (33 page)

“I’d rather write stories.” I paused, thinking about that. “Or letters.” Lucas Leigh flashed across my thoughts.

“Do you think your mom will let you read her letter?” Andie asked, taking a giant bite of ice cream.

“Mom tells me everything,” I said.

“Everything?”

“Well, close,” I said, spooning up a tiny bite and relishing the fruity flavor.

“Think she’ll marry Mr. Tate?” At that Andie stuck her nose in the air, imitating the man’s response to Zach’s request for ice cream.

“Not if I can help it,” I said with more confidence than ever. “Now, we need to devise a plan to ruin Kayla’s volleyball lesson with Danny tomorrow.”

Andie leaned back on her elbow on the floor. “Your little sister is staying with Stephanie over at the Millers’, right?”

I nodded.

A gleam of mischief twinkled in her brown eyes. “Can you arrange for her to stay there all afternoon?”

“Easy,” I said. Andie was on to something and it was perfect. “Let’s call Jared and tell him Paula’s coming over
here
tomorrow at three.”

A silly grin played across her face. “Great idea!”

“Wait,” I said, reaching for the phone and handing it to Andie. “What if he can’t come?”

“There’s no way Jared would miss out on some female attention.”

“Andie, you’re a genius!”

“Put that in writing, would you?” She dialed the numbers for Jared’s house. If this little scheme worked, Kayla would have to take Stephie and Carrie along when she practiced volleyball with Danny because her sister, Paula, would be busy, over here visiting me. Until Jared showed up, that is.

Giggling, I waited. “This is the Plan of the Hour,” I whispered.

Andie shushed me. “C’mon, Jared, answer the phone.” A few more seconds ticked by, then she gave up. “I’ll call later.”

I went to my window seat, facing Andie, who’d flopped down on the floor. “How long do we wait before we phone Jared again?”

“Five minutes,” she said. “Maybe he’s in the shower…. Can a guy take one that fast?”

“Maybe,” I said, reaching for Bearie-O, my favorite teddy bear, who was really Andie’s. We’d traded best bears back in first grade, almost half a lifetime ago.

“Well, I can’t shower in five minutes. My hair’s so thick it takes that long just to get the shampoo rinsed out.”

“I know what you mean.” I draped my hair over my arm. “This takes half a day to dry.”

“Ever wish you could whack it off?”

I stared down at the blond strands. “Not really. Why?”

“Just wondered,” Andie said, watching the minute hand on her watch. “You’ve never really cut it your whole life.”

“It’s probably the best part of me,” I said. “If only I had a perfect shape, like the Miller twins.”

“Don’t forget your personality.
You
have that. Besides, you’re tall and slender and—”

“Make that
skinny
and underdeveloped,” I interrupted. “People don’t call me ‘bones’ for nothing.”

“
People
don’t. Miss Neff is just one person, and she probably calls you Holly-Bones because she thinks you can handle the teasing.”

I sighed. “When school starts, I’ll tell her I hate it. Then maybe she’ll stop.”

“You might not have a chance, you know. You’re getting rounder—where it counts,” she said in a silly voice. “Take it from your best friend, which is, by the way, another good thing you’ve got going for you.”

I squeezed Bearie-O. “Why did Paula and Kayla Miller have to move here right when Danny and I were—”

“Holly!” Mom called from downstairs.

I took the steps down two at a time. “What is it, Mom?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” she said, waving the mystery letter.

I scanned the living room for Mr. Tate. The house was empty. “Who’s it from?”

“It’s not signed,” she said. “And no return address.”

“What’s it say?” By now Andie was at my side.

“It’s very short, almost childish, but definitely humorous.” Mom handed the letter to me.

I studied the handwriting on the envelope. The penmanship was scrawled. “Do you recognize the writing?”

Mom shook her head.

I opened the letter and read:

Dearest Susan,

I still remember the first time I saw you. It was a long time ago. I wish I could see you more often, the way it used to be. Please remember to laugh like in the old days. Okay?

Here’s a joke to help you do that. Why doesn’t a bald man need any keys? Because he has no locks. Ha, ha. (No offense.)

I miss you. I’ll write again. Maybe sooner than you think!

I read it again silently.

“Strange, isn’t it?” Mom said.

“Sure is,” Andie said, surveying the envelope again.

“Do you know anyone in Japan?” I asked.

“Certainly not,” she said. “And it says I’ve known this person for a long time.”

“That’s not all,” Andie said. “The person writing the letter must know Mr. Tate.” She giggled, and so did I.

Mom seemed to know what we were getting at. “He can’t help it he’s bald.”

“But what person in Japan knows you’re dating Mr. Tate?” I asked.

Mom motioned us into the kitchen. “Could there be another Susan Meredith?”

“No chance,” I said. “This person even knows about your divorce. See, here it says, ‘Please remember to laugh like in the old days.’ ” I shivered. “Ooh, it’s almost spooky.”

Andie had an idea. “If you really do get another letter soon, Holly and I will be glad to read that one and discuss it with you, too.” Mischief glinted in her dark eyes.

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” Mom said, playing along. “You’ll be my correspondence consultants.” She looked at the clock above the refrigerator. “How late do you girls plan to be up?”

“Not too late,” I said, leading Andie out of the room. “We have a couple more phone calls to make.”

“Well, try to be extra quiet after ten. I’m getting up rather early tomorrow.”

I stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “How come?”

“Mike and I are having breakfast downtown. We have some important things to discuss.”

I frowned, glancing at Andie.

She mouthed the words silently, “Who’s Mike?”

“Mr. Tate,” I whispered, trudging up to my room, banging the door shut.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, heading for the phone to call Jared.

“This could be the end of life as I know it.” Mom and Mr. Tate were spending too much time together. I wished I had a Plan of the Hour to keep
them
apart!

SEALED WITH A KISS

Chapter 4

The next morning I tried to push Mr. Tate out of my mind by going over the scheme Andie and I had cooked up last night.

Everything was set to go for the Plan of the Hour. With Paula coming over here at three o’clock, Kayla would have to baby-sit Carrie and little Stephie, taking them with her to practice volleyball at Danny’s. Jared had seemed more than willing to visit Paula…over here. The plan was worth celebrating with waffles for breakfast.

Andie talked me into letting her make waffles. She poured the batter with the finesse of an elephant. It oozed out the sides of the waffle iron, creating a cooked-on batter mess. Mega-waffles, that’s what they were, equal to twice the size of Mom’s. One and a half was all I could eat.

When the phone rang, I raced to get it, sticky fingers and all. The line was full of static, like it was a bad connection or…long distance.

“Hello?”

Silence.

“Hello?” I repeated.

“Is this Holly Meredith?” a male voice asked.

“Who’s calling?”

“Did your mother receive a letter from Japan this week?” the voice persisted, ignoring my question.

“Yes, but she’s busy now. May I take a message?” I asked. There was static on the line.

“Please tell her I miss her,” he said, the static growing louder.

The voice was muffled, yet familiar.

Then,
click
, he was gone.

I flew to the kitchen, licking the stickiness off my fingers.

“Andie, guess what!”

She spun around. “Who was that?”

“Japan just called, I mean,
someone
from Japan called. I think it was Mom’s secret admirer. Except there was something strange about his voice.”

“What about it?”

“It sounded familiar.”

“Really?” Andie asked excitedly. “Who?”

“I’m not sure,” I said, clearing the table. “Probably just my imagination, but wait’ll I tell Mom.” Then I froze in my tracks. “Hold everything. Is this perfect timing or what!”

“What are you talking about?” Andie asked, still stuffing her mouth.

“This is exactly what I need to help get Mr. Tate out of my life.”

Andie groaned. “Another plan? Is that what you’re dreaming up?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t need your help for
this
one. It’s perfect.”

Andie looked relieved. She cut another bite of waffle.

“Now…first things first,” I said. “Paula will be here at three. While she’s here, you sneak over to Danny’s. Remember to get a complete report of
everything.”

“Well, if I know your little sister, she’ll have Danny wrapped around her finger. He’ll be giving
her
volleyball pointers before the afternoon’s over.” Andie grinned.

“It’s perfect.” I could almost see little Carrie charming Danny. “She’s something else, but then, so is our cousin Stephanie.”

“How old is your oldest cousin?” Andie asked.

“Stan will be turning fifteen in September. When Uncle Jack gets settled and school starts, I’ll introduce you to all of them.”

It was obvious Andie liked the idea of meeting Stan, even though she and Billy Hill hung out a lot at youth group and school.

She carried her plate to the sink. “How are you going to entertain the well-heeled Miss Paula while you wait for Jared to show up today?”

“Play Scrabble.”

“Think you can beat her?” Andie rinsed the syrup off her plate.

“No problem,” I boasted.

“I hear she gets
A
’s in composition. Maybe you’ve met your match.” Andie tossed her hair with a giggle and headed for the bathroom.

“Fabulous,” I muttered, wishing it were Kayla I was playing instead of Paula. Beating Paula’s twin in a game of words would make my day. No, it would make my school year, which was starting in a little over three weeks from now. Making every day count between now and the day after Labor Day—the first day of school—was urgent. If Kayla flirted her way between Danny and me, well, I wasn’t sure if I could handle it. I hated the thought of anything—or anyone—hindering our friendship.

We spent the rest of the morning playing games and watching TV. At two-thirty, Andie left to catch the city bus to Danny’s neighborhood across town. I set out the Scrabble board, Webster’s Dictionary, and two glasses of root beer downstairs in the family room. Then I sang and danced around to Holy Voltage, my favorite Christian group, while I waited for Paula.

When the doorbell rang, I hurried to open it, expecting to see Paula. Instead, our mail carrier stood there with a package for me to sign for, accompanied by a stack of letters.

The package, it turned out, was from Sears. I set it aside for Mom and flipped through the envelopes, finding a letter from Daddy, one from Grandma Meredith, and one from my pen pal, Lucas Wadsworth Leigh.

I traced the LWL stamped inside the fancy blue seal on the back of the envelope. Why was he writing again before I answered his letter? I tore open the envelope to find out.

Dear Holly:

You may be surprised to receive this letter so soon after my most recent one. I’m writing about an idea I have for manuscript swapping. By that I mean, are you interested in reading and critiquing each other’s stories? If you like this idea, please send one of your stories or essays along with your next letter, and I’ll do the same.

I found it interesting that you have collected the entire mystery series for children by my aunt, Marty Leigh. Not many women are so sentimental as to save their childhood books. I like that. Perhaps I can arrange to have her autograph them for you the next time she’s in Colorado.

I’ll look forward to hearing from you. Happy writing!

Lucas W. Leigh

PS: Could you send a bibliography of your work, whether published or not?

I pulled on my hair, twisting it hard. Lucas actually thought I was a grown woman with a beloved collection of children’s books.
Probably he wouldn’t write to me if he knew how old I really am.
But I didn’t want to jeopardize my pen pal relationship with the nephew of one of my all-time favorite authors by revealing the truth now. I forced the guilt feelings away.

Checking my watch, I almost wished Paula wouldn’t be arriving in a minute. I’d much rather work on my list for Lucas, proving what a mature person I really was. Then I remembered the reason I’d invited Paula over in the first place, and held my breath. My clever plan
had
to work!

By the time the doorbell rang again, I was a wreck. Paula was late, and I worried Jared would show up at the same time, making her very suspicious.

Quickly, I headed for the door, ready to welcome Paula Miller inside. But the words stuck in my throat as I opened the door. There, on either side of Paula, stood my little sister, Carrie, and my cousin Stephanie!