Holly's Heart Collection Two (30 page)

“It’s not like you, Holly.”

“You’re wrong. I
am
serious,” I said. “Much more than you know.”

Andie cocked her head, studying me. “This is about something else. Mr. Barnett, right?”

Hearing his name took my breath away. “I think he’s a wonderful teacher,” I said softly.

Andie raised her hands to the sky. “Not another crush, and on an older guy, no less! Didn’t you learn anything from your fiasco with that pen pal, Lucas Leigh?”

“This is different,” I answered. “I didn’t have these feelings for him.”

Andie put her hands behind her head. “Well, I’ve got all night.” She leaned back. “So…Mr. Barnett, huh?”

“He’s pretty fabulous,” I said defensively.

“Of course you’d think so—you’re the teacher’s pet!” She wasn’t taking me seriously.

I turned my head and looked at the front yard, gray in the fading light of dusk. Cunningly, I steered the conversation away from Mr. Barnett by telling her about Daddy’s conversion.

“That’s so great, Holly. It’s what you’ve been living for all these years,” she said. “What about his wife?”

“He didn’t mention her in the letter, so I don’t know.”

Andie leaned forward, her eyes boring a hole in me.

“You’re not so thrilled about this. How come?”

“Are you kidding?” I said, hoping Andie would drop it, now that she knew. After the way she acted about Mr. Barnett, I wasn’t eager to tell her anything else personal.

Mom stepped out on the porch with a glass candle holder and matches. “It’s getting dark,” she said. “Thought this might be more fun than a porch light.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I watched her light the candle and set it on the white wicker table beside the chaise.

“Is anyone using the phone now?” Andie asked her.

Mom glanced through the screen door. “I believe it’s free, but you’d better grab it quick.”

Andie excused herself and went inside. When she came back, Stan was with her. “We’re going for ice cream, wanna come?” she asked.

“Not tonight,” I said, getting up. “I have tons of lines to memorize.

“Did you sign up for the car wash next weekend?” she asked as they hurried down the steps. “We could use some more help.”

“Sure, I’ll help,” I said.

“See you at church Sunday,” Andie called to me before getting into the family van.

“Okay, see ya,” I said, hugging my diary tightly.

On Saturday, I took a break from learning lines and rode my bike downtown. Paula and Kayla were out jogging around the courthouse grounds.

“Holly, hey!” called Paula when she saw me. Her hair was pulled up in a loose updo. Kayla waved as she matched her pace with Paula’s. Their long legs moved in identical motion, glazed with sweat.

I pedaled hard to catch up with them, then coasted, free and easy, careful not to crowd them or throw off their rhythm.

“Looks like you guys are serious about this,” I said as we made another lap around the courthouse.

“It’s Miss Tucker’s idea,” Kayla said. “She’s desperate for runners this season.”

We circled the grounds again. Aspen leaves rippled, robins sang in chorus, and the Miller twins panted, out of breath.

At last we slowed our pace, coming to a stop. I dropped the kickstand down on my bike and sat on the courthouse lawn. Paula jogged in place, puffing spurts of air, slowly lowering her pulse rate. Kayla swung her arms wide around her, back and forth, running in place, creating a human windmill.

I pulled
The Sound of Music
script out of my backpack. “Some-times I wonder why I ever wanted to be Maria,” I complained, watching the twins do their stretches. “I didn’t realize how much work it would be.”

“You should join the track team if you think sitting around memorizing lines is tough,” Kayla said.

“Track’s not for me,” I confessed. “But I can’t wait to read through act two on Monday.” I pulled on a blade of grass.

“Anxious to see Mr. Barnett?” Paula teased.

I bit on the end of my hair. “What do you mean?”

“That you have a thing for him,” she said, flashing her perfect pearly whites.

Kayla perked up. “Is it true?”

“Where’d you hear such a thing?” I asked.

Paula’s eyes widened. “I can’t imagine Andie making up something like this.”

A cold shiver swept over me. “Andie told you that?”
Some friend!

Embarrassed at our conversation, Kayla looked away, digging into her shorts for a ponytail band.

I stood up, brushing the grass off my shorts. “Look, I don’t know what kind of info Andie’s feeding you, but what I told her was I think Mr. Barnett’s a wonderful teacher. That’s it.”

“Okay, okay,” Paula said. “It’s no big deal then, is it?”

No big deal when you’ve just discovered your best friend can’t be trusted? How could Andie do this to me?

STRAIGHT-A TEACHER

Chapter 9

I ignored Andie as much as possible the next few days. Every single minute I had my head buried in my script. Besides that, after-school rehearsals and the article featuring Mr. Barnett kept me super busy. Because of a slight lull in homework assignments, I managed to turn
The Lift
story in well before the deadline.

My feelings for Mr. Barnett continued to grow. Not only had I included his name on my prayer list, he was showing up in my dreams, too.

Car wash day, Saturday, April 23, dawned sunny and hot, so I wore my jean shorts. By helping to raise money, I was doing my part for Danny and the quiz team. No way could I be Danny’s partner and still be true to my feelings for Mr. Barnett.

Danny showed up first thing, before any of the others. “Need some help?” he asked as I searched in Pastor Rob’s pickup for an extension cord.

“I’m sure it’s around here somewhere,” I said, hoping I wouldn’t be stuck with Danny all day. Not surprisingly, he didn’t take the hint, and scurried around searching for it anyway. Finally he located the longest cord the church owned.

“Good, we’re in business,” he said.

Then Jared showed up. Now it was the three of us. Working as a team, we washed cars and vacuumed their interiors. By midmorning I was wiped out. “Can you cover for me?” I asked the guys.

“Glad to,” Danny said, wiping the perspiration from his forehead.

“Take your time,” Jared called to me.

I chuckled at their childish attempts to impress me—something I couldn’t imagine Andrew Barnett doing in a zillion years. Digging into my shorts for some cash, I headed to the nearest pop machine. I poked the appropriate selection and waited for the machine to do its thing. Nothing happened. Gently, I tapped on the selection button again.

“Kick it.”

I turned to see Andie. “Where’d you come from?”

“My dad just dropped me off,” she said. “Still mad at me?”

“ ’Course not.” I pushed the coin return. Coins clattered down and I picked them up to try again. “But I still can’t believe you told Paula about our private conversation.” I glanced around, hoping no one was listening. “It was supposed to be confidential.”

“What, that you think you-know-who’s wonderful? I thought you meant it was like some little crush. I mean, it’s nothing like the real thing, is it?”

My face felt hot. “Well, no. I’m not in love, if that’s what you mean.” The defensive words slipped out, even though they felt an awful lot like a lie. “It was a private matter, Andie, and I expected you to act grown-up enough to keep it to yourself. I mean, hey, if I can’t trust you, who can I trust?”

Andie grabbed my arm. “Look, I’m sorry. Paula’s the only one I told, honest.”

Could I believe that?

“It’s the truth, you can ask anyone here,” she said with a straight face.

“Why, you!”

Just then my pop can came rumbling down.

“Saved by a Pepsi,” she said, laughing.

I couldn’t help myself, I laughed with her. It dispelled the anger I’d bottled up inside me all week.

As I drank the soda, two more customers drove in. “Guess we’d better get busy,” I said, spotting a baby-blue Thunderbird.

“Wow, would you look at that,” Andie said, staring at the 1957 classic Thunderbird sports car. We stood there watching as Danny and Jared ran over to inspect the beautiful old car.

“Perfect, maybe now I can work in peace, without Danny breathing down my neck,” I muttered. I tilted my head back and took a long, slow drink of the ice-cold soda.

“Only if you’re lucky,” Andie snickered and ran over to check out the T-Bird.

Still sipping my soda, I straddled the log bench. That’s when the door on the car opened. Out stepped Mr. Barnett!

I swallowed my pop too fast and the fizz went up my nose. Coughing, I ran inside the gas station to the ladies’ room. I yanked on the toilet paper and blew my nose. Before I left, I checked my hair. It was no use. Embarrassed and nervous, I headed back outside.

“Holly,” called Danny, motioning to me. “Can you vac this one out?”

“Sure,” I said, hurrying over to the T-Bird.

Mr. Barnett was under the hood, showing Jared and Billy the engine. Danny, conscientious as always, began soaping up the car with his giant sponge.

I pressed the button on the vacuum canister and began to clean the inside of Mr. Barnett’s glorious old car. The two-seater had been refurbished, by the looks of things. Nothing
this
ancient could still be in such good shape. Pieces of lint and pebbles of dirt had found their way onto the floor of the driver’s side. Other than that, the interior was immaculate.

I balanced my pop can in one hand and gave the passenger’s side a going-over even though it looked spotless. It was obvious no one had sat there recently.
Must mean he doesn’t have a girlfriend,
I reasoned.

I could hear Mr. Barnett talking about the V-8 engine and how it could get up and go on the road. It struck me as special—taking time to introduce the guys to the mechanics of a fifties sports car.

Peeking through the crack in the hood, I could see Mr. Barnett’s face. Gentle, sweet. I leaned against the dash, sighing. Not wanting him to see me, I pretended to put my pop on the dash as an excuse for being so close to the windshield.

That’s when it happened. I accidentally pressed the button for the glove compartment, and it flew open.

“Oh no,” I whispered, fumbling to pick up its contents, hoping Mr. Barnett wouldn’t choose this moment to close the hood. As long as it was up, with him under it, showing off the engine, I was safe.

Hurriedly, I stuffed a note pad and pen, several maps of Colorado, and an address book back into the roomy compartment. I checked under the seat to make sure I’d found everything. Two snapshots had strayed from sight, and I reached to rescue them. Pulling them out of hiding, I stole a quick look.

Mr. Barnett and a beautiful woman posed on an arched bridge over a small stream. Willow trees draped their branches around the smiling couple. I swallowed hard as I shuffled the second photo on top. The people looked the same, but this time Mr. Barnett had his arms around the slender woman, hugging her playfully.

Ka-whack!
The hood came down. Startled, I jumped, dropping the pictures. Mr. Barnett was coming around the driver’s side. He’d catch me snooping for sure.

Without thinking, I slammed the glove compartment and bent the pictures just enough to let the vacuum hose suck up the evidence.

“Holly!” Mr. Barnett called over the noise of the vacuum. “I had no idea you were in here.” He leaned on the window, smiling warmly.

Forcing a smile, I punched the Off button on the vacuum, thinking only of the swallowed-up pictures, deep inside the cavernous cleaner. “I like your car,” my boring words came out. It’s hard to be eloquent when you’re frantic with worry, not to mention having to deal with the pain of coming face-to-face with your competition.

Snapshot or not.

“Who’s collecting the bucks for the wash job?” Mr. Barnett asked, admiring the work Danny had done.

“You can give the money to me,” Danny said. “I’ll see that it gets into the Bible quiz fund.”

Mr. Barnett came around to my side of the car, where I was securing the vacuum cleaner attachments, preparing for the next job. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled a ten-dollar bill from his billfold. I couldn’t help noticing the face of the woman in the front of his billfold, safely snuggled in the little wallet window. The
same
woman.