Holly's Heart Collection Two (33 page)
“Wait a minute,” Andie said. “Try to remember everything he said on Saturday.”
What was she getting at?
Andie took a deep breath. “Here’s the deal. If there’s the slightest chance that Mr. Barnett was thinking about Miss Hess, or some other older woman, you’ve simply misread him. But if he was actually talking about you and him, well…that’s what we’ve gotta find out.”
“And as soon as possible,” I said. “Or else Miss Hess could move in on him.”
“You might have another problem,” Paula said. “What if he
is
interested in you, and he’s not a Christian. What then?”
“Yeah,” Andie said. “You know the verse in the Bible about not being yoked together with unbelievers. Besides, your mom won’t let you date till you’re fifteen anyway. He’d have to wait a whole year.”
“More than that, since he’s already in college,” I said, wishing I could ignore that fact.
“Plus he’s our student teacher right now. There’s no way he could go out with a student.” Paula sighed.
“Do you think he’ll wait for you if it turns out he’s…well, you know, interested in you?” Andie asked.
“Why not?” I said. “The way I see it, he’d have a chance to finish his degree and get settled into a good teaching position, maybe even here in Dressel Hills.”
Kayla giggled. “Looks like you’ve got it all worked out…in your head.”
“Wait a minute,” Andie said, looking serious. “When’s your article coming out?”
Kayla gasped. “You mean she interviewed Mr. Barnett for the school paper?”
Andie nodded slowly. “You betcha. This girl doesn’t waste time. When’s it coming out?” she repeated.
I said, “Next week, I think.”
“That’s good,” said Andie excitedly. “Because when it’s out, here’s what you do. You take your copy to Mr. Barnett and ask him to sign it. You know, get his autograph, since he’ll be leaving at the end of the school year.”
I groaned. “What’ll
that
do?”
“Hold on a minute,” Andie said as Paula and Kayla looked on, wide-eyed. “It’ll give you a chance to talk with him again. We’ll even guard the choir room doors, won’t we, girls?”
The Miller twins nodded in sync.
“Sounds ridiculous,” I said, thinking I was in way over my head.
Andie got huffy suddenly. “Well, Holly, if you don’t like that, you could always try the direct approach. Just blurt it out—ask him what he meant by all that age stuff.”
“Now,
there’s
a thought,” I whispered sarcastically. But I had a better plan. One I wasn’t going to reveal. Not in a zillion years.
When Downhill Court came up, I prepared to exit through the back door of the bus. I could see that Andie was over the worst. She was talking a mile a minute to the Miller twins. That’s how she was. Mad one minute, best friends the next.
“See ya,” I called to them.
“Call me,” Paula said.
“Me too,” Andie said.
“See you tomorrow.” I stepped off the bus and headed across the street, intercepting the mail truck. I waited for the mail carrier to sort our mail, noticing Daddy’s handwriting on one of the envelopes. Feeling guilty about not responding to his good news earlier, I hurried into the house with the mail.
Uncle Jack and the younger boys were doing math at the dining room table. Uncle Jack looked up as I came in. “Late practice?” he asked.
“It’ll be this way from now till opening night.” I handed the mail to him but kept the letter addressed to me from California.
He spotted the envelope in my hand. “I hear your dad recently became a Christian.”
“Uh-huh.”
“That’s terrific,” he said, running his fingers through the top of his hair. “I’ve been praying for him since before I married his sister twenty years ago.”
“Wow,” Phil said. “That’s a long time.”
“You’re not joking,” Mark piped up. “I prayed for a boy at school, you know, back in Pennsylvania, and he just got worse.”
“But you didn’t give up, did you?” Phil asked soberly.
“Not really, but I got tired of being bullied. I prayed the Lord would make him move away or turn him into a Christian.” Mark bit the eraser on his pencil.
“What happened?” I asked.
“God didn’t answer either of my prayers, but He did do something else.”
Uncle Jack grinned like he knew the answer.
“God moved us out here.” Mark blinked his eyes, smiling.
“Our Lord works in mysterious ways,” Uncle Jack said. “Right, kiddo?” He looked at me. And somehow I felt he understood my struggle about my father becoming a Christian.
“People are mysterious, too, sometimes,” I muttered, heading for the stairs. What I really meant to say was: Why did Daddy’s decision for Christ upset me so much? It was wrong for me to hang on to something that had happened five years ago.
In my room, I sat on my window seat, letting Goofey curl up beside me. Slowly, almost fearfully, I opened the letter from sunny California.
STRAIGHT-A TEACHER
Daddy’s letter was a rundown of church-related activities. He was even attending a businessmen’s prayer breakfast every Saturday. He didn’t comment about the fact that I hadn’t answered his last letter, but he’d heard about our school musical and that I had been chosen to play Maria. The news of the musical had come from Grandma Meredith, his mother, who still kept in close contact with Mom. In fact, Mom talked on the phone with her several times a month. She and Grandpa had always said we were still their family in spite of the divorce. And now even more so, since Mom had married their former son-in-law, Uncle Jack.
I held the letter in my hands, letting the late afternoon sun beat on it. Tears filled my eyes as I remembered the years of my prayers for Daddy. The man who’d abandoned us. God had forgiven him; so should I. But when I prayed, I could only say, “Thank you, Lord, for answering my prayers about Daddy.” The forgiving part would have to come later. If at all.
Picking up Goofey, I gave him a hug. “It’s time to invite someone very special to come see
The Sound of Music,
junior-high style,” I told my cat.
Goofey began licking his paws, giving himself a bath on the sun-dappled window seat. I went to my desk, pulled out some plain stationery, and began writing.
When I finished, I read the letter. “Daddy probably won’t come, you know,” I said over my shoulder to Goofey, who was now sound asleep. “He’s too busy with his work. That’s how it’s always been. But at least he knows I want him to come.”
I added a P. S. to the letter:
I’m up to my eyelids in scripts and rehearsals. That’s why I haven’t written.
I walked out to the mailbox to mail my letter, wishing with all my heart he’d arrange his schedule and come see the performance. But knowing Daddy, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
By fourth period the next morning, Andie had heard some strange rumors about Jared and me. “Everyone’s talking about the romantic scene in the play,” she said. “I’ve heard that Jared plans to kiss you for real.”
“Just let him try,” I said, boiling mad.
Andie giggled. “C’mon, Holly, it’s not like you haven’t thought about what it would be like.”
“That was then, this is now.” I was thinking about the months he and I had spent so much time together
“Maybe today’s the day to talk to Mr. Barnett about what he wants you guys to do.” She lowered her voice to a whisper as we walked into the choir room with a bunch of other kids. “Maybe he’ll say to just fake the kiss. Watch his face when he tells you.”
“How come?”
“Think about it, Holly,” Andie insisted. “It’ll give you some insight, you know, into how he might feel about you.”
“Oh,” I said. Once again, Andie was on top of things.
After class, Andie nudged me. “Don’t forget to watch his face, especially his eyes. You can tell how someone feels by their eyes.”
“Okay, okay.” I waited till the choir room was empty. Andie left just before I approached Mr. Barnett’s desk.
“Ah, it’s you, Maria herself,” he greeted me warmly.
“I’ve been thinking,” I began. “That scene outside, beside the gazebo, uh, where Captain von Trapp proposes to Maria, what should Jared and I do there?”
He looked down, twiddling his pen. “That’s a good question.” He leaned back in his chair, looking me straight in the eye. “How do you feel about it?”
Not fair! I wanted
him
to tell
me.
Mr. Barnett stood up. “You know, Holly, you could talk it over with the leading man.”
“But what do
you
think we should do?” There, the ball was back in his court.
“Well, to tell you the truth, my feeling is to leave out the kiss and just fake it. Most of the audience won’t be able to tell the difference. Okay with you?”
I was relieved. Could he see it in my eyes?
“Thanks, Mr. Barnett, I’ll tell Jared what you said.” I turned to leave.
“Oh, Holly, before you leave, I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”
“Yes?” I was hyperventilating for sure. What was he going to say?
“It’s about your church,” he said. “I was impressed with the kids from your youth group last Saturday.”
“Thanks,” I said, not sure how to respond.
“I’ve been looking for a good church. Maybe I’ll visit yours sometime. Do you go to the early or late service?”
“Usually the early,” I said, barely able to get the words out.
“Good.” He smiled warmly. “I’ll see you there.”
I scurried out of the choir room and off to lunch, my heart in my throat. Wait’ll Andie heard
this
!
Backstage that afternoon, things were crowded. I found Jared ready to go with script in hand. It was the day to rehearse the romantic scene.
“We have to talk,” I said, pointing him to a quiet corner near the makeshift dressing rooms.
He looked worried. “Everything okay?”
“I talked to Mr. Barnett today about this scene.”
“Yeah?” He seemed concerned.
“He wants us to leave off the kiss.” I said it firmly, without hesitation.
He looked a little disappointed. “Whatever you want to do is fine.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. I honestly thought he’d fight for the kiss.
Later, during the actual scene, Jared seemed distant. No, guarded. Like he didn’t want to offend me or something.
Mr. Barnett stopped us. “Jared, you’re going through the motions. Think about this moment,” he said. “You’re declaring your love to Maria.” He glanced at me. “The captain’s been a lonely man since his wife died years ago, and all these children…think of trying to raise seven kids by yourself. Now, can you warm up to this pretty Maria of yours a little more?”
Mr. Barnett stepped back while Jared said his lines again.
“Still not enough feeling,” Mr. Barnett interrupted. He pulled Jared off to the side. “Look, have you ever been in love?”
“I think so,” Jared said, glancing at me.
“Well, terrific,” Mr. Barnett said, clapping his hands. “Can you transfer those feelings to Holly here, er, Maria? Isn’t she lovely? Don’t you want to let her know how much she means to you? She’s going to be your wife, for pete’s sake!”
That did it. Jared warmed up, all right. Too much. I could see the emotion practically oozing from his eyes.
Finally Mr. Barnett was delighted with our performance. He called it quits earlier than usual, probably because he had that date scheduled with Miss Hess.
I fooled around backstage, making sure everyone was gone before I made my move. Then I snuck into the props room to set the wheels of my perfect plan in motion. First, I found Andie’s Mother Abbess habit, complete with robe and wimple. Then I located some pillows to fill me out a bit. I shivered with excitement as I slipped into the habit and looked at myself in the mirror. Fabulous! No one would ever know it was me.
With another quick glance at the mirror, I was off to the Soda Straw to spy on Mr. Barnett and Miss Hess.
STRAIGHT-A TEACHER
I couldn’t remember ever having seen Catholic nuns in the Dressel Hills area, but I guess there is always a first time. Solemnly, deliberately, I made my way out the backstage door, hoping to bypass teachers and other students. Most everyone had gone home for the day, so I didn’t see a single soul as I took short, reverent steps to the Soda Straw.