Holly's Heart Collection Two (16 page)

Andie plopped onto my four-poster bed as I closed the bedroom door behind me. “It’s supposed to be the storm of the decade. And it’s going to hit here tomorrow morning—before dawn.”

“Perfect!” I said, getting excited now. “Just think how much fun it’ll be getting out of school for a couple of days.”

She nodded. “We haven’t had off in ages.”

I sat cross-legged on my window seat across from her. “Wanna spend the night?”

She lit up at my suggestion. “I’ll call my mom and check.”

I handed her the portable phone. “Want me to walk with you to pick up your clothes? Stan will be home soon.”

Suddenly her eyes were ready to pop. “Uh, that’s okay,” she said, looking way too serious. “I’ll catch the bus.” Her words, and the way her face drooped, gave her away.

I gasped. “Is everything okay with you and Stan?”

“I can’t talk about it.”

“Aw, Andie,” I pleaded. “You can tell me.”

She stared at me. “You know, everything was absolutely incredible between Stan and me until your uncle started talking about moving to Denver.”

I sighed. “Stan ended your friendship because of that?”

“Yesterday.” She looked away.

“How rotten,” I whispered. “Why couldn’t you guys write or—hey, Stan could drive back up here to see you on weekends, when you’re old enough to start dating.”

She rolled over on my bed and propped herself up on one elbow. “Get over it.”

I glared at her. “Hey, I just wanna help.”

She sighed. “If you think a long-distance friendship with a boy can work at our age, you must be brain-dead.” She punched in the numbers on the phone. Then she stopped suddenly, looking up at me. “I can’t sleep over here tonight.”

I understood perfectly. “Yeah, because it would be weird hanging around with Stan in the house,” I sympathized with her. “Especially if we got snowed in tomorrow.”

She pulled on a dark curl, sitting up. “He says we’ll still be friends, but…”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “It’s never the same.” I was thinking of Danny Myers. We’d been really good friends, too, before he’d asked me to be his girlfriend. Then, after I decided not to spend so much time with him, things were totally different, even though we still considered ourselves friends.

I stretched my long legs, yawning. “I’m worried that’ll happen with Jared and me.”

“Well, you have no choice, do you? Not if you move away,”

Andie insisted. “Besides, it’s time Jared wakes up.”

I studied her. “What’re you saying?”

She let herself slide off the bed and onto the floor. “He acts like he owns you or something. You better check it out before you set up something long-distance. Maybe he thinks you and he, are, well…”

“What?” I demanded.

“Maybe Jared thinks he’s going to marry you someday!”

“So, what’s wrong with planning ahead?” I said, giggling, yet I was aghast.

Andie’s one eyebrow shot up and her mouth gaped open. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Well, we haven’t discussed it, if that’s what you mean, but I
do
think I care a lot about him.”

It was Andie’s turn to gasp. “Hey, Stan and I were humming right along before he found out you guys were probably moving. But I never thought I cared
that
much for him.”

“Mom says it’s not something you always know right away,” I said, still torn between hanging on to Jared and saying good-bye to our friendship.

Knock-knock.

We jumped. Someone was out in the hall! I hoped whoever it was hadn’t listened in on our conversation.

I raced to the door. “Oh, hi.” It was Stan. Frantically, I motioned for Andie to hide.

“Dad’s calling a family meeting in a half hour,” Stan said, looking quite serious. Then he leaned forward and asked quietly, “Is Andie here? Thought I heard her voice.”

“Were you listening?” I asked, horrified.

“Not really,” he said. By the mellow, sad sort of look on his face, I knew he was telling the truth. “I just wanted to talk to her before she leaves.”

“Hold on a sec,” I said, closing the door. I went to the closet and found Andie hiding there. “Hear that? Stan wants to talk to you. Maybe it’s true love after all.”

“In your wildest dreams,” she muttered, pushing my clothes back and emerging from the closet.

I put my ear against the door, eavesdropping as they talked in the hall. Stan said something about accompanying Andie home. And, in a flash, she agreed to it.

Oh, sure, Andie could say all she wanted against the boy-girl thing, but when it came right down to it, she liked Stan as much as I liked Jared.

GOOD-BYE, DRESSEL HILLS

Chapter 6

When Stan returned from taking Andie home, Mom rang her dinner bell. It was a dainty white bell, a wedding gift from a friend at the law firm where she used to work.

“Family meeting,” Uncle Jack called to us.

The sound of kids scurrying from one end of the house to the other reminded me of an old
Brady Bunch
rerun. But their “blended family” seemed to run much better than ours. After all, Mike Brady had never threatened to move
his
family to another city.

My stomach twisted in knots as I trudged into the living room and sat down. I glanced nervously at Uncle Jack. For the first time since his and Mom’s wedding, I wished he had never fallen in love with my mother. Our cozy all-girl household had been just fine before he came along.

Phil and Mark came marching up from the family room, scowling. Had to abandon their computer games, no doubt. Carrie and Stephie carried American Girl doll cutouts into the living room. Stan sprawled onto the sofa. He folded his arms on his chest as a dimwitted smile played across his face. I couldn’t help wondering: Had the trip to Andie’s changed things between them?

The younger kids horsed around while we waited for Mom to show up. Where was she, anyway? I groaned inside. Uncle Jack balanced a Bible and a family devotional on his knee. He seemed a bit nervous, too.

Finally, when I thought I’d burst with the build-up of suspense, Mom appeared. Stan moved his legs and sat up, making room for her on the sofa.

“Well,” Uncle Jack started, “are all of us present now?”

We nodded.

He leaned back in his chair, looking at each of us as he spoke. “This has been a whirlwind week for your mother and me. As you all know, Patterson Consulting is simply bursting its seams.” He paused, smiling at Mom across the room.

“So we’re
moving
?” I snarled.

“Holly!” Mom said. “Please be polite about this.”

“Tell your husband that,” I shot back.

Mom gasped. Uncle Jack leaned forward, trying to smile cheerfully. “We need to work together on this, Holly. I know how you feel, dear.”

Dear?

“Don’t call me your sweet names,” I shouted.

Over in the corner, Carrie almost lost it. Her eyes bugged out, and she put a hand over her mouth in shock. She’d never seen me freak out at an adult like this.

“Can we talk about this privately?” Uncle Jack said quietly.

I was burning inside, but from the look on Mom’s face, I knew if I opened my mouth one more time, I’d be sorry later.
Very
sorry! So I put my head down, refusing to look at my horrible uncle-turned-stepfather.

Uncle Jack continued as if nothing had happened, telling us a few more details about the business expansion. Then he prayed. “Dear Lord, we ask for your help with our plans. We seek your direction and ask for a clear-cut decision tomorrow night. Be with the children if there is to be a move, I pray. Comfort Holly, especially, as she struggles with the idea of moving. I ask these things in your name. Amen.”

What right did he have mentioning my name in our family prayer? It made me angrier than ever.

“Now,” he said, turning the pages of the Bible. “I want to read chapter thirteen of the book of Numbers, where Moses sends spies out to Canaan to check out the land. My trips to Denver are a lot like spying, you know.”

“Really, Daddy?” Stephie said. “Are we spies?”

Mom and Uncle Jack laughed. I slumped in my chair, sulking. “Denver is a big place to spy on,” Phil joked.

Mark started in with his alien face repertoire.

Uncle Jack snapped his fingers. “Let’s have your encore later, son,” he stated flatly. That meant to cool it. No questions asked.

Uncle Jack read about Caleb and Joshua and their investigation of the Promised Land. I imagined the eight of us eating wild honey, one of the foods the spies had found. Ick! It made me despise Denver more than ever.

The next morning I awakened to the sound of the wind’s voice, low in my ear. It moaned and whistled in the eaves and through the aspen trees in our backyard. Glancing at my clock, I realized it was very early. There was still plenty of time to lie awake, leisurely stretching, cuddling with Goofey.

Then I remembered—snow! I leaped from the cozy warmth of my bed and flung wide the curtains at my window seat to check. I stared down at the ground. Two inches, max.

Disappointed, I dragged back to bed.
So much for the storm of the decade,
I thought as I snuggled against Goofey’s warm fur. A blizzard, made-to-order, would have been nice. Really fabulous. All of us home together, snowbound. Maybe Uncle Jack’s important phone call would come early, before tonight. And I could celebrate if the answer was no. I shuddered to think about it being the other way around, so I quickly shoved that thought away.

Mom had us bundle up to go to school. Even though it had stopped snowing, the forecast was for severe wind and sub-zero temps.

Stephie, Carrie, Mark, and Phil clumped off to the elementary school two blocks away, clad in snow boots and heavy jackets. The girls wore their new earmuffs and mittens to match; the boys had on their new ski hats.

I hurried down the street to the mailbox and pushed my letter to Sean Hamilton inside. Then I waited for the bus with Stan. I was dying to ask him about Andie, but decided to wait. Andie would be more than delighted to fill me in at school.

Not only could I see my breath as we waited, but it sort of hung in midair, turning to tiny ice crystals when I exhaled.

“Well,” Stan said, his nose cherry red, “tonight’s the night.”

“Yeah.” I turned my back against the wind. “I’d give anything if we didn’t have to move.”

“Maybe we’ll return to Dressel Hills someday,” he offered. He was only trying to make me feel better.

“I hope we don’t have to leave at all.”

“That’s not too realistic by the sound of things,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, Dad’s not trying to mess up things here with you and Mom and Carrie.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” I whispered. I glanced at my watch. “The bus is late.”

“Five minutes,” he said.

Five seconds in this blustery cold and fierce wind was way too long.

“What time is the phone call expected tonight?” I asked.

“Seven-thirty.” He turned toward me, shielding me from the wind blasts.

I wrinkled my runny nose, numb from the cold, trying my best not to sniffle. “I want to be right there when the decision comes.”

“Well, don’t hold your breath,” he said.

I nodded, not wanting to open my mouth to speak again. My lips felt funny—like they were numb and nearly nonexistent.

“Here comes the bus,” Stan said.

We huddled together, eager for the warmth of the bus.

As usual, Andie met me at my locker. “News flash,” she announced.

I grinned at her. “Okay, okay, let me guess. You’re Stan’s girlfriend again.”

“How’d you know?” She eyed me curiously. “Stan?”

“Not a word,” I said, struggling with still-frozen fingers to work my combination.

“So…what was your first clue?” Persistent. One of the many grand qualities I would miss about Andie. Depending on what was decided by phone tonight, of course.

I sighed dramatically. “His smile was different. Sort of, you know, sappy.”

“Huh?”

“You heard me.” And she had, because she began to giggle, quite pleased with herself as she turned to gather her books and notebooks for the first two classes.

“Careful about long-distance relationships,” I teased, feeding her basically the same line she’d dished out to me yesterday.