Holly's Heart Collection One (41 page)
Across the aisle, Billy Hill was sitting with Andie and her family. She gloated about it when I caught her gaze. Danny was sandwiched in between his own parents, like it was the safest place to be with Kayla Miller sitting directly behind him. And Paula Miller was perched beside Jared Wilkins, who wore a satisfied grin.
After church, Danny motioned to me. I told Mom I’d meet her at the car.
“Don’t be long,” she said, turning to round up Carrie.
I hurried over to see Danny. Kayla waited in the side aisle, probably hoping to talk to him, too.
“Hey, Holly,” he said. “Your hair looks much better today.”
“Thanks,” I said, touching it.
“Will you be home this afternoon?” he asked.
“Sure.”
“Great. I’ll give you a call, and maybe we can go to the library to look for that handwriting book. Okay with you?”
My heart pounded. “Good idea,” I said brightly, hoping to discourage Kayla, who was still hanging around.
“What did your mom think of the pictures?” he asked.
“Pictures? Oh, those,” I said, remembering fast. “Haven’t had a chance to show them yet. But Mom really liked my hair up.”
His parents waved to him from the back of the church.
“I think my dad’s anxious for dinner,” he said. “I’ll call you around three o’clock.”
“Okay. Bye,” I said, waving triumphantly to Kayla, who spun away when she heard Danny say he planned to call me later.
On my way out, I noticed Mr. Tate. He nodded, and I smiled without speaking. Seeing him again made me realize how much better off we were without him hanging around.
Back at home, we savored Mom’s famous roast and onions, potatoes, and carrots dinner. She sang church songs while carrying serving dishes into the dining room.
Then, after stuffing ourselves, I spooned up the leftovers into plastic containers, thinking of Mom. She seemed much happier again. Back to normal. When Mr. Tate did his “helicopter-hover,” she seemed tense. Insecure Mr. Tate had a way of cluttering up the atmosphere.
Wiping the crumbs off the place mats, I struggled with the idea of Mom seeing him again this coming Tuesday night to work things out between them. I wondered how Mr. Tate would react to another letter from Mom’s secret admirer. Of course, I wouldn’t think of disobeying her
this
time, but as soon as my cousin Stephanie arrived tonight, I’d see about putting her up to something. Anything!
The doorbell rang and I ran to get it.
What was
this
? Through the screen door, I stared down at Zachary Tate. Then I noticed Mr. Tate parking his car in our driveway.
“Hi, Holly,” Zach said. “My dad wants to see your mom.”
“Oh,” I said. “Does
she
know about this?”
Mom strolled into the living room. “Open the door, please, Holly-Heart.” When she saw Zach, she bent down and held her arms wide.
He ran to her, snuggling against her. “Oh, I’ve missed my handsome boy,” she said.
Mr. Tate was all smiles as he landed his helicopter presence in our living room. “And we’ve missed you, too,” he said, gazing at Mom.
Zach looked up longingly at Mom. Man, it was disgusting. And just when I thought things were falling apart with these people. Guess absence does make strange things happen.
“Zach wants to stay here and play with Carrie. Okay with you, Holly?” Mr. Tate asked.
“Actually, I have plans this afternoon. I mean, I can’t baby-sit for you today.” I looked at Mom for moral support.
“We wouldn’t have to be gone long,” Mr. Tate said to Mom. “Wouldn’t you like to go for coffee somewhere, Susan?”
“Perhaps for an hour or so.” She turned to me. “It won’t be baby-sitting for you, not if Zach and Carrie play together. Maybe they could ride bikes while you read or whatever. Isn’t Zach’s bike still out in the garage?”
The helicopter blades hummed loudly as Mr. Tate landed on Mom’s suggestion. “Splendid idea. Yes, by all means, go outdoors with the children, Holly. Get them in shape for roughing it in the mountains.” At that he winked at Mom.
I breathed deeply and then said again, “I’m sorry, Mr. Tate, I have plans to go to the library. You should call ahead if you want me to watch Zach. You’ll have to take him and Carrie along with you if you want to go to coffee.” It felt good finally standing up to Mr. Michael Tate.
Mom looked at me, surprised.
Surprised? Wait a minute, I thought she’d be furious!
Encouraged, I dug my heels in for the fight.
Mr. Tate revved his motor and nearly lifted off the floor with his hovering. “I’m not asking you, Holly, I’m
telling
you. Zachary will stay here with you and Carrie. Now, do as your mother said and get the bikes out of the garage.”
I hurried to my mother’s side. “Mom,” I said, “do I have to change my library plans with Danny?”
She looked at Mr. Tate. “I’m really sorry about this, Mike. Holly does have some plans with a friend of hers. And I think she’s right, you should call ahead. As for today, I believe I’ll be staying home with my daughters.”
Now it was Mr. Tate’s turn to look shocked. “Don’t let Holly run your life, Susan,” he retorted. “If she were my daughter I’d—”
“Well, she’s
not
your daughter, Mike. Not now or ever. And if you don’t mind, I have some important business to take care of.” Hastily, she showed the bewildered-looking man to the front door.
Zachary started to cry.
Oh great,
I thought. Just when Mom was doing so well and telling it like it is, Zach—the real focus of her affection—was going to get emotional and spoil everything!
“Come here, darling,” Mom said, reaching for him. She knelt on the floor and cuddled him. “You’re okay. That’s right,” she said, stroking his hair, rocking back and forth.
“As you know, Zachary is easily upset,” Mr. Tate said accusingly. “He’ll be fine when we’re back home. Come along, Zachary.”
“I want to stay here,” the boy whined, clinging to Mom. “I want Susan to be my mommy.”
Talk about manipulation. Here was a seven-year-old pro.
“I know, I know,” said Mom in hushed tones. “We’ll have to see about that later.”
“I’ll call you, Susan,” Mr. Tate said, leading Zach out the door.
“No, I’ll call
you,
” Mom said with determination.
I wanted to cheer as the Tates backed out of the driveway. Inside, a strong feeling told me Mom and Mr. Tate were through. Finished!
SEALED WITH A KISS
Deliberately, Mom turned and marched into the kitchen. I wanted to cheer her actions, but I bit my tongue.
At exactly three o’clock the phone rang. It was Danny.
“Hi, Holly-Heart,” he said.
I laughed softly. “Did you ask my mom if you could call me that?”
“Is she there?” he asked seriously.
“Danny, how can you be so gullible? Of course you don’t have to ask her permission.”
“I was just joking,” he said, but I wondered if he was saying that to cover up. “I called the library about the handwriting book. It’s on reserve in your name. We can pick it up today if you’d like.”
“Perfect. Now all I have to do is find Mom’s letters so we can compare the handwriting.” I walked downstairs with the phone, hoping for some privacy. Carrie was reading on the sofa, so I ducked into the bathroom. “My mom doesn’t know anything about what we’re up to,” I said, lowering my voice. “We have to keep this mystery-solving stuff a secret, okay?”
“That’s cool,” he said. “But will you be in trouble if she finds out?”
“You know what? I think she’d really like to know who’s sending the anonymous letters. And, get this, the last one was signed, ‘With sweet thoughts of you.’ Isn’t that romantic?” I almost forgot I was talking to a boy!
“Wouldn’t it be even more romantic if she knew who was writing to her?” he said.
“That’s what I’m hoping to figure out. With your help, of course.”
Danny was quiet for a moment, then he said, “Holly, are you hoping your mom’s secret admirer might qualify for a stepdad?”
“Not exactly. But if Mom’s going to have a boyfriend, er,
man
friend, it would be nice if he’s someone
I
like, too. And so far, the mystery letter writer beats the competition to pieces.”
“Even better than that nice man with the sick boy?”
“Well, between you and me, Mr. Tate’s not so nice. And his son isn’t so sick anymore. It’s too bad about Zach, though. He would have been a nice stepson for Mom.”
“Really?” He seemed surprised.
“Yeah, Mom got attached to him. It all started last spring when she signed up to teach Zach’s Sunday school class, then found out he had cancer. This summer he’s been around here a lot. Besides, Mom has a soft place in her heart for kids. If she and Daddy had stayed married, there’d probably be a bunch of us by now.”
“It’s hard for me to imagine brothers and sisters running around everywhere,” he said. “Being the only child isn’t that bad.”
I could tell he wasn’t ready for sweet talk on the phone. And that was fine with me. After all, for two members of the opposite sex, Danny and I were nearly as close as best friends could be—minus the boy-girl stuff.
There was a click, signaling another call.
“Uh, Danny, can you hold a sec?”
“No problem.”
I answered the incoming call. “Hello?”
“This must be one of my favorite nieces,” said a deep voice.
“Uncle Jack, hi!” I said, excited to hear from him.
“Has Stephanie arrived there yet?” he asked.
“She’s coming tonight for supper. You could probably still catch her at the Millers’ house.”
“Thanks.”
“When are
you
coming back to Dressel Hills?” I asked.
“Next week sometime. The boys and I are doing some sightseeing here in Seattle today before my business meetings start up again.”
“Wow, it’ll be cool having you and my cousins living so close to us.”
“Cool, indeed,” he said, chuckling. “See you soon, Holly, dear.”
I switched back to the other line. “Danny, are you still there?”
“Uh-huh.” He seemed distracted. “I’m making loops.”
“You’re what?”
“Perfecting my handwriting. Trying to imitate my mother’s flawless penmanship.”
I filled him in on the other phone call. “That was my uncle Jack calling long distance.”
“Isn’t he the husband of your favorite aunt? The one who died last year?” asked Danny.
“You remembered?” I was sincerely impressed.
“Of course,” Danny said softly. “And I was sorry to hear about it.”
“You know, I still miss Aunt Marla. Next to Mom she was the sweetest person I’ve ever known. She used to wear her hair up sometimes, too,” I said. “Oh, tell your mother I really like how she fixed my hair.”
“Well, it wasn’t
my
favorite,” he said. “But come over any time.
My mom likes girls, probably because she doesn’t have any.”
“Maybe she’ll have a daughter-in-law someday,” I said.
That topic must’ve made him nervous. He changed the subject instantly. “Can you meet me at the library in thirty minutes?”
“Sure, I’ll be there.”
“Good-bye, Holly-Heart.” The way he said my nickname sent a tingle down my spine.
“Bye,” I said.
Carrie was still curled up on the sofa, reading. I darted past her, heading upstairs. On the living room couch, Mom lay sound asleep. I crept over to snoop at a piece of paper lying on her lap.
It was a copy of the contract on the mountain property. Leaning closer, I scanned some of the first paragraphs. Wow, it looked like she
was
getting out of the deal with Mr. Tate. She’d marked out words and initialed everything. More than ever I hoped their short-lived romance was over.
Turning toward the kitchen, I went in search of Mom’s secretadmirer letters. The last I’d seen them, they were in the kitchen on the desk. I poked through the bills, separating them from a pile of coupons. I looked under the phone book. No letters.
The next most logical place to look was probably Mom’s bedroom. Logical. Wait—was I beginning to think like Danny?
Tiptoeing upstairs to her bedroom, I sneaked across the floor. I spied something colorful sticking out of her Bible on the lamp table beside her bed—the foreign stamps on the envelopes.
“This is not really stealing, Lord,” I said as I whisked the letters away to my room. “I’m doing this with Mom’s best interest in mind, but I’m sure you already know that, right?”
Curling my legs under me, I snuggled against Bearie-O on my window seat. I’d almost forgotten to thank the Lord for answering my prayer about Mr. Tate and Mom.
Impulsively, I hopped off the seat and rushed to open the bottom dresser drawer. Reaching for my secret prayer list, I found the page with my number-one most urgent request:
Please keep Mom and Mr. Tate from ending up together.
I added the date of the answered prayer:
Sunday, August 22
.
ONLY GOD COULD DO THIS!
I wrote in giant letters.
SEALED WITH A KISS
The public library was nearly empty when I arrived. Danny—punctual as always—waved to me from a table near the reference section.