Kiss and Tell

A Family Affair

Forget Me Not

The Blossom Sisters

Balancing Act

Tuesday's Child

Betrayal

Southern Comfort

To Taste the Wine

Sins of the Flesh

Sins of Omission

Return to Sender

Mr. and Miss Anonymous

Up Close and Personal

Fool Me Once

Picture Perfect

About Face

The Future Scrolls

Kentucky Sunrise

Kentucky Heat

Kentucky Rich

Plain Jane

Charming Lily

What You Wish For

The Guest List

Listen to Your Heart

Celebration

Yesterday

Finders Keepers

Annie's Rainbow

Sara's Song

Vegas Sunrise

Vegas Heat

Vegas Rich

Whitefire

Wish List

Dear Emily

Christmas at Timberwoods

 

The Sisterhood Novels

Blindsided

Gotcha!

Home Free

Déjà Vu

Cross Roads

Game Over

Deadly Deals

Vanishing Act

Razor Sharp

Under the Radar

Final Justice

Collateral Damage

Fast Track

Hokus Pokus

Hide and Seek

Free Fall

Lethal Justice

Sweet Revenge

The Jury

Vendetta

Payback

Weekend Warriors

 

The Godmothers Series

Classified

Breaking News

Deadline

Late Edition

Exclusive

The Scoop

 

eBook Exclusives

Serendipity

Captive Innocence

Captive Embraces

Captive Passions

Captive Secrets

Captive Splendors

Cinders to Satin

For All Their Lives

Fancy Dancer

Texas Heat

Texas Rich

Texas Fury

Texas Sunrise

 

Anthologies

Secret Santa

A Winter Wonderland

I'll Be Home for Christmas

Making Spirits Bright

Holiday Magic

Snow Angels

Silver Bells

Comfort and Joy

Sugar and Spice

Let It Snow

A Gift of Joy

Five Golden Rings

Deck the Halls

Jingle All the Way

 

Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

ZEBRA BOOKS KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

I
t was a beautiful day. The sky was blue, the clouds like marshmallows. Not that he'd ever had a marshmallow or seen one in real life, but Billy Bailey knew what they looked like because he'd seen pictures of them. But then again, most days in August looked like today. It wasn't too hot, just perfect, he thought when he sat down on the bench under the monster apple tree that was as old as the orphanage where he'd spent the first seventeen years of his life.

Billy looked up the hill at the huge building made from gray stone. The windows glistened in the summer sunshine. He could hear all the children screaming and laughing, and knew that one of the teachers was spraying the little ones with water. He was too big now to participate in that. As he sat there, he kept his eyes on the vast expanse of lawn, waiting for his two best friends, Marie and Sally, to come running down the hill. He'd already found the perfect red apple for Marie and shined it till he could almost see his reflection in the glorious red skin. The one he had for Sally was red, too, but not as perfect. His heart kicked up a bit when he saw the two girls appear at the top of the hill, then, holding hands, skipping their way down to the old slatted bench where he was waiting for them, apples in hand.

The secret he was holding close was almost more than he could bear. He knew today was the day he had to tell Marie and Sally what it was. He knew they would cry, and he'd come prepared with a length of toilet paper in his pocket. He might even cry himself, he wasn't sure. Big boys of seventeen didn't cry. At least that's what the nuns had told him. Girls, it seemed, were allowed to cry any old time and over nothing. If they saw a mouse, they could cry, or if a bug crawled up the wall, they could both cry and scream. Then it would be up to him or one of the older boys to catch the mouse and eliminate the bug.

Just six more days, and he wouldn't be catching any more mice or squashing bugs. In six days, he would turn eighteen. Time to leave the only home he'd ever known. He was beyond excited, almost giddy with the thought of being on his own for the first time in his life. But he was sad, too, that he would have to leave Marie and Sally behind. Marie was only fifteen and Sally was thirteen. Something clutched at his heart at the thought. He wasn't sure what love was—the nuns didn't talk much about that—but he had feelings for the tiny girl with the golden curls. He liked Sally a lot, but the feeling was different. Way different.

And then they were both standing right in front of him. Marie smiled that beautiful, winsome smile of hers and held her hand out for the apple in his. Sally stood to the side, somehow knowing this was some kind of special ritual between Billy and Marie. She knew she'd get an apple, she always did, but hers wouldn't be as red or as shiny or as perfect as Marie's, but that was okay. It tasted just as good. Marie was special to Billy.

Billy was pacing now and he looked, Sally thought, worried. She asked him what was wrong.

Marie stopped eating the shiny red apple and looked up at Billy. Her voice was soft and gentle when she said, “You look like you have a secret, Billy. Remember, we promised each other we'd always share whatever was on our minds. Do you want to talk about it?”

Billy nodded. “I'm leaving next week. I'm not going to wait around for them”—he jerked his head in the direction of the big gray building—“to decide what to do with me. When things have settled down and we have enough to live on, I'm going to the big city.” The girls knew that the big city Billy was referring to was New York City. Everyone they knew in Syracuse, in or out of the orphanage, meant New York when they referred to the city. Not Rochester, not Buffalo. The Big Apple.

“Manhattan? Not one of the other boroughs?” Marie asked in a shaky voice. They had learned all about the geography of New York City in their social studies classes.

Billy nodded. “Do you want to come with me? I'll take care of you.” In his heart, he knew that was the part that had been bothering him, asking Marie to go with him. He hadn't planned on asking her, but the words just popped out of his mouth.

Marie thought about what he had said. She looked down at the half-eaten apple in her hand, then she looked at Sally, who had also stopped eating her apple. “Do you mean like run away from here? I'm not allowed to leave until I'm eighteen. And I can't leave Sally behind. Can she come, too?”

Billy thought about it. At first he said that taking a thirteen-year-old would be a problem, but after a while, when Marie did not give in, he agreed.

“What will we do, where will we live? I think I'd be scared.” Tears pooled in Marie's eyes. She wasn't sure she wanted to stay here if Billy left. Billy had been her and Sally's protector for as long as she could remember. Life wouldn't be the same without him.

“I'll take care of you and Sally. I'll be eighteen. That means I'll be considered a man. I have a plan.”

“Tell me what the plan is, Billy,” Marie said in her soft, gentle voice, which, to Sally's ears, sounded excited.

“Someday, I am going to be so rich, everyone in the whole world will want to be my friend. I'll build you the finest house, and you'll have servants to do everything for you. You can sit in a chair that has gold arms and do needlepoint like Sister Alice does on Saturday afternoon. I'll buy you fancy dresses and diamonds. We'll have a big car and someone to drive us around. Sally, too,” he added as an afterthought. “Sally will always be our little sister.”

Marie looked down at her scuffed shoes. “We would have to get married first.”

Billy's face turned beet red.

“You know what happens to people who live in sin. You go straight to hell, and I don't want to go to hell. Neither does Sally.”

“I know all that, but you are too young to get married. We would have to wait till you turn eighteen. That will give me three years to make money and turn that money into a fortune. I can do that, Marie. I know I can. That's why I want to go to the city. Because,” he said, his eyes wide, “
that's where Wall Street is.
I'm going to make money first. Then I'm going to invest that money and make us all rich. Not just rich, filthy rich. I'll find someone to teach us how to act when we get rich, so people won't laugh at us orphans. What do you think, Marie?” His voice was so intense, so anxious, Marie wanted to reach out to grab his hand, but she didn't. She wasn't sure what she should say, so she nodded, her blond curls bouncing all over her head. Sally nodded, too, and took a big bite out of her apple.

Finally, Marie spoke. “Sometimes you think too much about money, Billy. What if it doesn't work out? Then what will we do?”

“Life is all about money, Marie. Think about it. The three of us do not have any money. In fact, the three of us have never held any money in our hands. I want to know what that feels like. I want to have so much money that I can burn it if I want to. I want to be someone. I don't want to be an orphan. I want people to want to know me, to want to shake my hand, to look at me with respect. I know I can do it.”

“Sister Julie said you have to earn respect,” Sally said.

“Yes, she does say that, and I will earn that respect by making lots and lots of money. I'll buy you hair ribbons every color of the rainbow. Will you respect me if I do that, Sally?”

“Sure.”

Marie laughed. “Will we be able to get holes in our ears so we can put diamonds in them?”

“And rubies and sapphires, too.” Billy laughed out loud. “So, do we have a deal, girls?”

Both girls nodded in agreement.

“This will be the biggest adventure of our lives,” Billy said, smacking his hands together.

“Tell us what we have to do, Billy?” Marie said.

“Nothing, actually, except to get your things together. Each of you take one sack, and that's it. We'll have to travel light. Don't talk about this, we need to keep it a secret. I'll take care of everything. We're leaving the day before my birthday. That's six days away. I know it's going to be hard to keep a secret that long, but you have to do it, okay?”

Both girls nodded again. They knew how to keep a secret.

Ever practical at the age of thirteen, Sally asked if they were going to need money.

“Of course we're going to need money. I'm going to steal it from the office. Oh, don't look so shocked. We will pay it back and add a little extra to show our good intentions. I've been watching for months now, and I know how to get the money. Every Thursday, Sister Helen goes to the bank and brings money back and puts it in her desk drawer so that on Friday she can pay the workers, the milkman, the bread man, and the man who mows the grass and does all that outside stuff. The envelope is always filled to the brim with money. I'm going to take the whole envelope the night before we leave, after everyone is in bed. Sister Helen never pays anyone till four o'clock, so if we get up, eat breakfast, then leave, we will have almost a seven-hour head start.”

“Will you make a confession about stealing the money?” Sally asked.

“First chance I get,” Billy said airily.
Like that is really going to happen
, he said to himself. He smiled at the girls. “Who wants another apple? I see two really red ones up high. See them?” he said, pointing to a branch in the middle of the tree.

Billy climbed the tree, agile as a monkey. He tossed down two apples. The girls caught them, shined them on their cotton dresses, made from flour sacks, and bit into them.

Billy eyed the girls from his perch high in the tree. The first thing he was going to buy for Marie was a pretty dress with colored flowers on it and a hair ribbon to match. He'd buy one for Sally, too, maybe with some ribbons or lace on it.

There was no doubt in Billy Bailey's mind that he was going to be one of the richest men in the world. Sooner rather than later.

All he had to do now was wait six days before he embarked on the biggest adventure of his life.