The Secret Book Club (14 page)

Nikki tried not to eat too much pizza at Olivia's party. It was hard to turn down perfectly good free pizza, but she knew that when she got home, she and her mother and Mae were going to have a good-bye dinner for Tobias.

As Nikki bicycled along the lane leading to her house, she tried to imagine evenings — months and years of them stretching away before her — without Tobias close by. She had told her brother not to worry, that she and Mae and her mother would be fine. This was the twenty-first century, for lord's sake, and women didn't need men to take care of them. They could take care of themselves. But when Nikki thought, really thought, about long, dark hours with no Tobias in the next room, an uneasy feeling crept over her. She
shook it off now as she rode along. Tobias was ready to leave — he deserved this opportunity — and she did not want to be responsible for his changing his mind.

“Hi, everyone! I'm home!” Nikki called.

“We're in the kitchen,” her mother replied.

Nikki entered the kitchen to find the table set with the floral cloth they had used the previous Christmas and a vase of wildflowers (picked by Mae, she suspected) flanked by red candles.

“Mom, the table looks beautiful,” said Nikki.

“Thanks, honey. How was the party?”

“It was great. Look what I made for Tobias.” Nikki held out the basket she had carefully ridden home on her bicycle. “Everyone got to make one. Whatever kind they wanted.”

“That was awfully nice of the Walters.”

“They knew how important the party was to Olivia.”

Mrs. Sherman removed a pot of spaghetti from the stove, set it down on a dish towel, and considered her daughter. “Would you like to have a party sometime, honey? You've never had one, not even a birthday party.”

“That's okay, Mom. Really. I don't need a party.”

“But we could afford one now.”

And, thought Nikki, Dad isn't around anymore to frighten off the guests. “I know, but it's not important
to me in the same way it was to Olivia. It's kind of hard to explain. Maybe Mae should have a birthday party, though, when she turns eight.”

“Who's having a party?” Tobias, grinning, staggered down the stairs carrying two suitcases and a pillow.

“Nobody yet,” replied Nikki.

“I am!” cried Mae. She ran through the front door, Paw-Paw at her heels. “I heard you guys through the window. You said I could have a party!”

“When you turn eight,” said her mother.

“Goody. Tobias, look at the table. It's as fancy as Christmas. Remember when we set the table with the angels and the candles and the bowl of pinecones? 'Course, we don't have angels or pinecones now, but —”

“Mae,” said Mrs. Sherman, “try to calm down a little, please.”

“The table looks great,” said Tobias. He set his things by the front door.

“I can't believe you're actually leaving tomorrow,” said Nikki.

“Me, neither,” replied Tobias. “But I am.”

Upstairs in his room, Nikki knew, was a stack of papers and letters related to Tobias's freshman year at Leavitt College. Maps, too. All on his own, Tobias had made the arrangements for arriving at school, including getting directions for driving himself there. Nikki had seen plenty of television shows about students
going off to college for the first time, and in all of them, the parents and their kid loaded up the family station wagon (packed so tightly that the driver couldn't see out the back window) and drove to the college together. Once there, the parents talked with other parents and met professors and maybe even the president of the college, saw their son or daughter safely settled into a dorm room (having introduced themselves to the roommates and
their
parents), and made sure their kid had a checking account set up with a nice sum of money in it, before finally saying good-bye.

But the next morning, Tobias would drive off to Leavitt College by himself. Mrs. Sherman needed to put in half a day at work, and in any case, she had no idea about colleges and professors and dorms and roommates. Tobias said he would be fine, and Nikki believed him. But she could not imagine being in his shoes and sincerely hoped that when the time came for her to leave for college, her mother would drive her there no matter what.

“Everybody ready for dinner?” asked Mrs. Sherman.

“Yes,” chorused Nikki and Mae.

“I have a few more loads,” said Tobias, “but I'll take them out to the car after dinner.”

“How come you're taking them out now?” asked Mae. “You aren't leaving until tomorrow. Are you?” she added suspiciously.

“I want to get an early start in the morning.”

“Tobias? I don't want you to —”

Nikki grabbed her sister by the elbow. “Get your plate, Mae. Mom made spaghetti.”

Mae reached for her plate.

When the Shermans were seated around their kitchen table, Tobias said, “Wow. My last dinner here.”

“But not your last dinner here forever,” his mother pointed out. “You'll be back for holidays and vacations.”

“And maybe in between,” said Tobias. “Leavitt isn't all that far away. I can come home on weekends sometimes.” He paused. “If you need me.”

“We'll be just fine.”

“We'll be great,” said Nikki.

She had taken exactly one forkful of spaghetti (and was just thinking that perhaps it had been a teensy bit too big) when she heard the sound of tires on the Shermans' unpaved drive.

Mrs. Sherman, Tobias, Nikki, and Mae put down their forks and looked at one another.

“Are we expecting anyone?” asked Tobias.

“I don't think so,” said his mother.

Nikki was struck with two thoughts then — two thoughts of great import — and also managed to marvel at how one's brain could generate more than one thought in the same second. Her first thought was: What if it's
Dad
who's driving up our lane right now?
Her second thought was: What would Mom and Mae and I do if Dad came back while Tobias was away?

Brain racing, stomach dropping, Nikki leaped to her feet and ran to the window. She let out an enormous sigh. “It's Mrs. DuVane,” she said.

“My goodness,” exclaimed Mrs. Sherman. “I didn't expect — oh, lord, right in the middle of dinner …”

The Shermans left the table and opened the front door.

From out of her expensive car, which was scrubbed shiny and clean, slid Mrs. DuVane, a large box in her hands. “Hello!” she called. “I'm sorry to come over unannounced, but I wanted to be sure to see Tobias.”

“Mommy, Mrs. DuVane has a big present with her. And it's for
Tobias
,” said Mae enviously.

Mrs. Sherman patted her daughter's back, then greeted their visitor.

“Oh, you're having dinner,” said Mrs. DuVane as she stepped inside. “Well, I won't stay but a minute. It's just that I realized Tobias was going to take off tomorrow and, well, Tobias, I wanted you to have this before you left.” She held out the box, which was wrapped in yellow paper and tied with blue ribbon.

“Leavitt's school colors,” said Tobias appreciatively as he accepted the package.

“Open it, open it!” cried Mae. She began to jump up and down, then said, “Can
I
open it?”

Tobias smiled and handed the present to Mae. She ripped off the paper, then stared at the box inside. “What is it?” she asked.

Tobias stared. “It's a laptop computer.”

“Every student needs his own laptop these days,” said Mrs. DuVane.

“Wow. I was going to get a secondhand one next week,” said Tobias, “but this … this is great. Thank you. I can't believe it.”

“You're very welcome. You deserve it. I know that choosing to go to college wasn't easy, and I'm proud of you.” Mrs. DuVane looked at the plates of spaghetti on the table, the flickering candles. “I don't want to interrupt your dinner any longer,” she said. “I'll be on my way. Stay in touch, Tobias, okay?”

“Now I can send you e-mails,” replied Tobias.

Mrs. DuVane held out her hand, but Tobias ignored it and gave her a hug. “I really —”

Mrs. DuVane put her hand on the doorknob. “Not necessary to say anything,” she told him. “Good luck!”

And then she was gone.

 

Later that evening, Nikki took her basket from its hiding place behind the couch. She climbed the stairs to the second floor, stood in Tobias's doorway — and drew in a sharp breath. “Tobias! Your room is almost bare.” She looked at the naked bookshelves, the
stripped walls, the nightstand empty of everything except an alarm clock.

“Well …” he said.

Nikki swallowed a lump in her throat and held out the basket. “This is for you,” she said. “It's, um, a goodbye basket. I know it's silly …”

Tobias set the basket on his bed. “No, it's great,” he said, looking through the items Nikki had selected. “Yellow and blue soap. Very cool. Chocolates. Did Olivia's mother make these?”

Nikki nodded. “And in that,” she said, indicating a small plastic picture frame, “you can put a photo of
moi
.”

Tobias laughed. But then his smile faded and he said, “You know what I thought when we heard Mrs. DuVane coming up our drive? I mean, before we knew it was Mrs. DuVane?”

“I think so. The same thing I thought — that it was Dad. Which would have been very ironic.”

“And scary. Nikki, when I'm gone, you and Mom and Mae are going to be —”

“I know,” Nikki interrupted him. “We're going to be all alone out here. But we'll be fine. Really. Mom is … Mom. A grown-up. And I'm almost a grown-up.”

“That's true.”

“Look, we pay our bills now, so the phone always works and, I don't know. Anyway, you can't take care of us forever.”

Tobias looked out his window and said nothing.

The next morning he was up early, and by the time Nikki awoke, Tobias's car was loaded, he had eaten breakfast, and he was ready to go.

“So soon?” asked Nikki. She was standing on the front porch in her nightgown, yawning, a sleepy Mae at her side.

“Classes start on Tuesday and I have a lot to do before then.”

Mrs. Sherman emerged from the house, dressed for work, a mug of coffee in her hand. She smiled at Tobias. “The first one in this family to go to college,” she said. “I'm awfully proud of you.”

Tobias hugged his mother and Nikki and swung Mae into the air. “Remember, Mae is in charge while I'm gone,” he said. “So Mom, Nikki, be sure to do what she says.”

Mae laughed. “I'll write you letters. And you write back, Tobias, but not in cursive, okay? I can't read cursive yet.”

“Promise.”

Tobias walked to his car but hesitated before climbing into the driver's seat.

Nikki ran to him and gave him a little shove. “Go,” she said. “It's time for you to go.”

And with that, Tobias slid behind the wheel, pulled the door shut, started the engine, and nosed the car around until it pointed down the Shermans' lane.

“Good-bye!” called Nikki and Mae and their mother.

Tobias honked his horn once.

Nikki watched her brother until all she could see was a small cloud of dust where the lane met the county road.

“I wonder how it feels to have an actual
day
named for you,” said Ruby. “I'll bet it's better than having a constellation or a sandwich named for you. Today people will go around saying ‘Happy Nelson Day!' just like people say ‘Happy Halloween!' or ‘Happy Thanksgiving!'” She paused and looked at Min and Flora, who were walking on either side of her down Aiken Avenue. “Do you want to know a secret?” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I kind of wish there was a Ruby Day.”

Flora began to laugh, then stopped herself. “I guess it would be exciting to have your very own day.”

“The only sad thing,” Ruby went on, “is that today is almost the last day of summer vacation.”

“It
is
the last day for me,” said Flora. “Tomorrow
Nikki and Olivia and I go to the central school for orientation.”

“Remember the
first
day of vacation?” said Ruby.

“Yup,” replied Flora. “The phoebe babies hadn't hatched yet. And now they're grown and gone.”

“The diner hadn't burned down,” said Ruby. “And I hadn't met Hilary Nelson.”

“Your book club hadn't started,” said Min.

“I wasn't a Turbo Tapper,” said Ruby.

“It seemed like the summer was going to go on and on forever,” added Flora, “and then it went by in a blur.”

“Vacations always do that,” Ruby said, and sighed.

“But you still have one more day,” Min started to say.

“Two for me,” interrupted Ruby.

“Okay, one or two,” Min amended. “So you might as well enjoy Nelson Day.”

They had turned onto Dodds Lane by then and reached the corner of Main Street. “Hey!” exclaimed Ruby. “Look!”

Strung across Main Street was an enormous red banner with black letters reading
CAMDEN FALLS CELEBRATES NELSON DAY!

“That is SO cool,” said Ruby, and Flora knew full well that her sister was imagining a sign that read
CAMDEN FALLS CELEBRATES RUBY DAY!

“Wow, just look at everything,” said Flora, her gaze sweeping up and down the street. “It's kind of like the three hundred and fiftieth birthday celebration.”

“Oh, it is,” agreed Ruby. “The street is closed off again. Look, there are the sidewalk sales.” Ruby felt in her pocket for her change purse. She had saved sixteen dollars to spend on Nelson Day. “Is Needle and Thread going to have a sidewalk sale?”

“Of course,” said Min. “Nearly every store is.”

“I hope the Nelsons get lots and lots of money,” said Ruby.

“Hey,” said Flora, “you can get your face painted, Ruby.”

“And there's Bud. I'm going to have a hot dog for lunch.”

“You girls can spend as much time at the street fair as you want,” said Min. “Just check in with me at the store once an hour, okay?” Ruby and Flora nodded. “Are Olivia and Nikki going to meet you?”

“At eleven,” said Flora.

Ruby and Flora spent half an hour wandering along the west side of Main Street.

“I think I might need some new things for school,” said Flora.

“Clothes?” asked Ruby. “Talk to Min. You might find something on sale today. And Min would appreciate it if you saved her some money.”

“Actually, I was thinking about, you know, jewelry and hair clips and stuff like that.”

“Oh. You need to accessorize,” said Ruby. “Min might not pay for those things.”

“I know. Come on. Let's look at Bubble Gum's sale. Olivia and Nikki can help me make decisions later.”

“What about me? I'm …” Ruby hesitated, “pretty accessorable.”

Flora smiled. “I know you are.”

“How much money do you have?”

“Almost twenty-five dollars.”

“Sweet.”

Outside Bubble Gum, Ruby and Flora examined the trays and trays of plastic jewelry, hair scrunchies, sunglasses, and barrettes.

“Hey, look!” said Ruby. “Pink cell phone cases. And they glitter.”

“For your nonexistent cell phone,” replied Flora.

“I'm going to buy these,” said Ruby, holding out a pair of tie-dyed socks with peace symbols embroidered on the ankles.

“Very Woodstock,” said Flora.

“And I'm going to get this necklace with the beaded peace symbol on it. Hey! I can buy the socks
and
the necklace for six dollars. That's a bargain.”

“Hi, you guys!”

Ruby looked up to find Nikki and Olivia making
their way through the crowd that was forming on Main Street. “Hi!” she cried. “We're shopping for school stuff.”

“Oh, good,” said Olivia. “I need notebooks and pens. Let's see what's on sale at the art supply store.”

“And I promised Mae I'd get her new markers,” said Nikki.

Ruby, Flora, Olivia, and Nikki spent the next hour going from store to store, looking at jeans and jewelry, notebooks and necklaces.

“Isn't it funny,” said Ruby, “how much more fun it is to shop outside than inside? Just like it's more fun to eat outside than inside?”

At the end of the hour, Flora said, “We have to check in with Min now. We might as well leave our bags at Needle and Thread.”

“And then let's get something to eat,” said Ruby.

Their purchases safely stowed behind the counter at Needle and Thread, Olivia said, “I know what we should get — ice cream.”

“Now?” said Nikki. “We haven't even eaten lunch yet.”

“Who cares? Today is Nelson Day,” replied Ruby. “If today was Ruby Day, I would declare that people could
only
eat ice cream. All day long. Ice-cream cones and ice-cream sundaes and ice-cream sodas and —”

“Okay, we get it,” said Flora.

The girls bought Popsicles from the Good Humor
truck that was parked outside Verbeyst's Cleaners and walked along Main Street again, licking vanilla ice cream as it dripped in the morning sun. They saw the Morris kids getting their faces painted. “I'm a kitty cat!” Alyssa called to them. They waved to Mr. Pennington, who was talking to Sonny outside of Time and Again. They saw Aunt Allie sitting in the window of Frank's Beans with a cup of coffee. At last Flora said, “Let's see what's going on in the square.” So they crossed Main Street and threaded their way through the knots of shoppers.

In the town square, Ruby approached a kiosk. “Well, look at that,” she said, pointing to a sign featuring a cheerful red bar stool. “If we had enough money, we could buy a stool for the Marquis Diner and have it named after us. The stool, I mean. Darn. I don't have nearly enough for that. There isn't a Ruby anything yet. No stool or day or sandwich or constellation. Nothing.” She looked at Flora and her friends. “But one day there will be.”

“Well, anyway,” said Nikki, “buying stools for the diner is a really good idea. I wonder who thought that up. I'll bet tons of money will be raised for the Nelsons today, and that everything will turn out okay for them and they'll be able to stay in Camden Falls after all. Olivia, what's the matter?”

Olivia hadn't been paying attention to Ruby or Nikki. She was staring at a sign behind the kiosk. Ruby
now looked over her shoulder and saw a painting of a pink-and-green hot air balloon next to the words
BALLOON RIDES
:
FIFTY DOLLARS
. “Olivia?” she said.

Olivia shook her head. “Nothing. I just … wow. Fifty dollars.”

“Would you actually go up in one of those things?” asked Nikki.

“Well, wouldn't it be fun to see Camden Falls from way up high? You might float over your own house. You'd see Aiken Avenue. And Main Street! You'd look down and there would be the roofs of all the stores. And everyone would be tiny. And then you'd keep on floating, and you'd float out of town and out over the countryside. Now
that
would be a Saturday adventure.”

 

The rest of the afternoon passed in a slow but delicious fashion, and before Ruby knew it, the store owners on Main Street were bringing in their tables, and the shoppers began walking toward the town square. Ruby and her friends split up. Nikki met her mother and Mae, Olivia found her parents and her brothers as they were closing Sincerely Yours, and Ruby and Flora joined Min just as she and Gigi were locking the door of Needle and Thread.

“We'll have supper on the square,” said Min cheerfully. “Are you girls hungry or did you have a lot of snacks this afternoon?”

“Hungry,” said Ruby and Flora.

At the town square, anyone celebrating Nelson Day dropped five dollars in a large canister and was handed a coupon for a free hot dog or hamburger. Min, Ruby, and Flora, clutching their coupons, wandered the green and greeted their friends and neighbors while in the background the band from the high school played Gershwin tunes and jazz numbers and old rock-and-roll songs that made Min smile.

As dusk was beginning to fall and Ruby saw the flicker of the first fireflies, the band began to play a march. When it was over, a woman wearing a summer pantsuit climbed the steps to the grandstand and tapped on a microphone.

“That's the mayor!” Ruby exclaimed. “Mayor Howie.”

“Welcome, everyone,” said the mayor. “Thank you all for participating in Nelson Day. As you know, the profits from today's festivities will be donated to the fund in honor of the Nelson family to help them rebuild the Marquis Diner and their home. Over the next few days, the stores that participated in the sidewalk sale will calculate the sum of their donations. But I can tell you right now that the money from the sale of the stools today, from the collection canisters that were set out several weeks ago, and from this evening's donations here on the square total just over twelve thousand dollars.”

A cheer rose from the crowd, and Ruby put her fingers in her mouth and let out a whistle.

“And to present that check to the Nelsons,” the mayor continued, “I'd like to call to the grandstand Ruby Jane Northrop, who came up with the idea for Nelson Day.”

Ruby gasped. She looked at Min, and then she ran to the grandstand and clattered up the steps. Mayor Howie shook Ruby's hand and indicated a giant cardboard check made out to the Nelsons on which someone had written the words
TWELVE THOUSAND AND TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS
with a fat black marker. “Now,” said the mayor, “I'd like to ask the Nelsons to join us.”

While the Nelsons made their way to the grandstand, Ruby grinned at her audience and waved to various friends and relatives. “Ruby,” said Mayor Howie when the Nelsons had gathered, “would you do the honors, please?”

The giant check was handed to Ruby then, and she handed it to Mrs. Nelson. Mr. Nelson started to say something to the crowd but had to wait until the cheering and clapping stopped. Finally, he held up his hands, and when the square was quiet, he said, “My family and I moved here to escape the city and to settle into a smaller community. When the fire destroyed our diner, we thought we had lost that chance. Tonight,
thanks to all of you, we know we'll be able to finish rebuilding and stay here after all. We've been embraced by Camden Falls, and we want to thank you for your generosity, your support, and most important, for your friendship.”

The crowd began to applaud again, and Ruby beamed a movie-star smile as the Nelsons hugged one another and the fireflies twinkled and the moon rose over Main Street.