Holly's Heart Collection One (44 page)

That
wasn’t
funny. “Don’t you dare breathe a word of this to her or to—”

“I know, I know…to precious Danny,” she said.

“Promise?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“Andie! I won’t introduce you to my cousin,” I bribed her.

“Hmm. Sure wouldn’t want to miss out on meeting Stan,” Andie said, scratching her head. “All right, worry-bean, you win.”

I smiled. “Here’s the plan. Can you get your hands on some mascara and eyeliner?”

“Mom’s got tons of it,” she said.

“Perfect. Make sure you get it over here by ten o’clock on Labor Day morning.”

“Why so early? That’s the last day to sleep in before school starts.”

“C’mon, Andie, cooperate with me. You have all next week to sleep in.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, getting up to leave. “See you in church tomorrow.” She turned around and giggled at me. “Can’t believe you got yourself into such a mess, Holly. This takes the cake.”

“Get outta here,” I said, tossing a heart-shaped pillow at her.

She caught the pillow and threw it back. “What I wouldn’t give to tell Danny Myers about all this.”

I leaped off the bed. “Andie, you promised!”

“Oh yeah, almost forgot.”

I opened my bottom dresser drawer and ripped a page out of my journal. “Here,” I said, shoving the paper under her nose. “Write your name.”

“What for?” Her eyes were wide.

“Just do it.”

She scribbled
Andrea Martinez
with a pen from my dresser.

“Thanks,” I called after her as she dashed down the stairs.

“Happy analyzing,” she yelled back.

I stared at the paper. Not a single
A
in her name was closed at the top!

I froze. If the handwriting book was correct, Andie’s open
A
’s meant she could
not
keep a secret. Not at all.

Uncle Jack showed up after lunch to pick up Stephie. His handsome face looked tan from his time in Hawaii, and his wavy brown hair had blond streaks from the sun.

“Daddy!” Stephanie called to him, running to the door.

“Hi, shortie,” he said, gathering her up for a big bear hug. He leaned over and wrapped his arm around Carrie, too. Then he spotted me, hanging back close to the stairs. “Whatcha hiding over there for, Holly?”

He came over and gave me a big squeeze. How good he smelled—fresh, like summer wind.

“Take a look at this young lady,” he said. “Boys must be calling 207 Downhill Court day and night.”

I brushed my hair away from my shoulder. “Thanks,” I said, blushing, as always.

Carrie jumped on his back, pulling the collar of his shirt. He grabbed her and swung her around. She squealed. “Where are you taking Mommy?”

Uncle Jack lowered his voice mysteriously. “It’s a very special secret surprise.”

“I wanna come, too,” Carrie said.

“Me too. Me too,” Stephie squealed.

“Well,” Uncle Jack said, pulling his pretend beard, “if we take you along, what about Holly?”

“And Stan and Phil and Mark,” shouted Carrie.

By now the girls had wrestled Uncle Jack to the floor. Mom appeared from the kitchen just as Stephie sat on his back. Carrie messed up his hair, giggling hysterically. It was good to see
hair
again.

Mom smiled, wiping her hands on a towel.

“Hello, Susan,” Uncle Jack said, sitting up and pulling Stephie onto his lap while Carrie hung on his neck.

“Hi,” Mom said, almost shyly. “Looks like you’ve met our welcoming committee.”

“And some welcome it was,” he said, tickling Carrie and Stephie again.

“We’re going on a date with you, Mommy,” Carrie announced, trying to pull Uncle Jack’s Reeboks off.

“There’s room for everyone,” Uncle Jack said, looking at Mom. “But only if it’s okay with my date.” There was an irresistible twinkle in his voice.

“Sounds like fun,” Mom said, laughing.

Uncle Jack jumped off the floor, bringing the girls up with him. “Okay, then, we’ll see you ladies at five-thirty.”

“Give us a hint where we’re going,” Carrie begged.

“Only one,” he said, pulling a piece of straw out of his shirt pocket and slipping it into his mouth. “What political office does a horse run for?” he asked, with the straw dangling off his lips.

“What’s ‘political’?” Carrie asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” Uncle Jack said, poking her ribs.

I stood close to Mom. “What political office
does
a horse run for?” I asked.

“Mare,” Uncle Jack said, straight-faced.

For some reason, the joke struck me funny. I laughed till the tears came to my eyes.

“I don’t get it. What’s the hint?” asked Carrie.

“The joke’s the clue,” Uncle Jack said, kissing her forehead. “Think about it.”

“Don’t worry, Carrie.
I
don’t get it, either,” Stephie said, heading toward the door with her dad. Mom and I followed behind them.

“Jump in the van,” Uncle Jack told Stephie, taking the straw out of his mouth and shoving it into his blue jeans.

Carrie hurried off to see our boy cousins while Mom and I stood on the porch, waving to them in the van. Stan sat smugly in the front passenger seat, trying to look cool. Phil and Mark hung halfway out the windows.

Mom quietly thanked Uncle Jack for the roses.

“My pleasure,” he said, giving her a peck on the cheek, the way he used to when all of us visited Uncle Jack and Aunt Marla back east.

He kissed me, too. “Wear your rattiest jeans tonight,” he said with a wink.

Carrie raced back to the porch as the sleek gray van pulled out of the driveway and disappeared down our street.

I turned to Mom. “Where do
you
think we’re going?”

“Think about it,” she said, playing Uncle Jack’s game.

“You
know,
don’t you?” I said, glad to see the stress gone from her eyes.

“It’ll be a date to remember,” she said.

I ran upstairs to add important info to my journal, starting with Lucas and ending with Uncle Jack.

Soon it was time to get ready for the “family” date. It felt weird and good at the same time. Then I remembered it was just last week that
Danny
had suggested Mom and Carrie and I come to his house for dinner sometime. Like that would ever happen.

Carrie ran past my room shouting, “Look, there are horses in our street!”

I gave my hair a final brushing and flew down the steps to see.

A hay wagon, pulled by two horses, waited like Cinderella’s pumpkin coach. Stan, Phil, and Mark sat in the back, chewing long pieces of straw. Uncle Jack jumped down off the wagon, heading for the house.

“Mom!” I called upstairs. “You’re never gonna believe this.”

“Believe what?” She appeared at the head of the stairs, a sweater draped over her shoulders.

I stared at her. “Mom, you look so young tonight.”

“Why, thank you, Holly-Heart. I
feel
young,” she said, fluffing her hair in the mirror just as the doorbell rang.

Funny,
I thought.
Mom and I should trade places on Labor Day when Lucas Leigh comes to town.

Mom went to the door and opened it. There stood Uncle Jack, grinning. “Are m’ ladies ready?” he asked, tipping his straw hat.

“Certainly,” Mom replied, taking his arm. They walked down the sidewalk, very dignified.

Carrie, my cousins, and I burst into loud giggles.
What a change from Mr. Tate,
I thought as I clambered aboard the wagon.
Thank you, Lord!

SEALED WITH A KISS

Chapter 18

Exactly one week later Uncle Jack took all of us out on a “date” again. Guess we made a good impression the first time. Anyway, it was fun having so many relatives around—even if it meant squeezing all of us into a single raft on the wild Arkansas River.

That night I wrote in my journal about riding the rapids with Uncle Jack and our cousins. No one fell overboard this time, but we
did
get soaked. Best of all, I couldn’t remember seeing Mom laugh so much.

Counting the hours till I met Lucas face-to-face took most of my energy, as well as my thoughts. Andie and I did a practice run on my makeup and hair after church on Sunday. It was amazing the difference a little—
a lot
—of makeup could make. To complete the look, I found the perfect tailored suit at a secondhand shop.

But on the day of Lucas’s visit, Andie showed up ten minutes late. She had me totally freaked by the time she arrived.

“Hey, it’s Labor Day,” she said. “What do you expect? My mom had me hand washing and waxing the floors.”

“Right,” I said. “Somehow I can’t picture it. But nice try anyway.”

“Hold still,” she insisted, carefully outlining my eyes with dark liner.

At last, I was ready.

“Now what?” Andie stepped back, admiring her handiwork.

“Let’s role-play till it’s time for me to leave,” I said.

“Huh?” Andie stared wide-eyed at me.

“You be Lucas, and I’ll be me.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Not really. It helps to plan what I’ll say.”

“You mean you don’t know?” Andie said.

“I have a plan.”

“Oh great,” she muttered. “Another plan.”

The phone rang. “For you, Holly,” Mom called to me.

I whispered to Andie, “Check to see if my mom’s downstairs.”

She crept out into the hallway and peered down the staircase. “All clear.”

I dashed to the hall phone, keeping my face toward the wall. “Hello?”

“Hi, Holly.” It was Danny.

“Oh, hi,” I said softly, hoping Mom would stay downstairs.

“I’ve missed you,” he said.

“You have?” I said, wondering why he hadn’t called for two whole weeks.

“Yeah,” he said. “I know it’s been a long time since we researched the handwriting book at the library, but…”

“Look, Danny,” I said, checking my watch, “I’m really sorry, but I can’t talk now. I’m kinda in a hurry. Can we talk later?”

“Please listen. I’ll make it short.”

“Okay.”

“I’ve been thinking,” he said. “About us, er…you and me, you know.”

“Uh-huh?” I heard footsteps on the stairs. My heart pounded. No way could I let Mom see me this way.

“Holly,” Danny said, taking a deep breath. “Would you consider being my girlfriend?”

I saw the top of Mom’s head out of the corner of my eye. She was coming upstairs fast.

“Uh, sorry, Danny, I’ll have to talk to you later. Bye!” I left the phone dangling as I dashed to my bedroom and slammed the door. Hiding in the closet, I told Andie, “If Mom wants me, I’m unavailable.”

“Are you crazy?” she said through the crack in the closet door.

“What’s going on?”

Just then…
knock, knock.

“Holly, come hang up this phone, please,” Mom said.

I heard Andie open my bedroom door. “I’ll do it,” she said, closing the door safely behind her.

Inside the dark closet, I suddenly felt disloyal to Danny in my globbed-on getup, preparing for a lunch with Lucas Leigh. All summer I’d waited for this moment—for Danny to ask this question—and now I couldn’t even give him an answer! All because of the game I was playing with Lucas. And with myself.

Once Andie was absolutely sure Mom was out of sight, I stuffed all my Leigh mysteries in an overnight case and sneaked down the stairs and out the back door.