Spring Fling (16 page)

Mindy started feeding oranges into the juicer. “Don‟t look at me!” Carmela shook her head and started loading the dishwasher with the breakfast dishes that Mindy‟s parents had already used. They‟d left early that morning for another business meeting before anyone was up.

When Mindy returned to the dining room with Wanda‟s glass of juice, she found her sitting alone.

“Where are Lacey and Vivienne?”

Wanda took a sip of juice, not bothering to thank Mindy. “I sent them upstairs to change.”

“Why?”

“Did you see what they were wearing?”

Mindy had thought Vivienne and Lacey both looked nice. Vivienne had been wearing an orange one-piece swimsuit while Lacey had worn a pink two-piece bikini with a ruffled bottom.

“You should change, too,” Wanda said as she popped a fresh strawberry into her mouth.

Mindy was wearing a pair of cutoff jean shorts with a long-sleeve white cotton shirt tied above her belly button and her hair in two pigtails. She thought the look was very mod country girl.

“Uh, sure,” Mindy said as she collected the empty dishes on the table.

An eavesdropping Carmela was waiting for Mindy when she returned to the kitchen. “There‟s nothing wrong with what any of you are wearing. That Wanda knows you girls are competition. Heck, she‟s not even the prettiest. You are!” A panicked Mindy dropped the dishes she was carrying onto the counter and clamped a hand over Carmela‟s mouth, petrified of Wanda overhearing. “Shhh! Don‟t say that!”

Carmela pushed away Mindy‟s hand. “Why not? It‟s the truth.”

“Not in Wanda‟s world,” Mindy said before hurrying up the kitchen stairs that led to the second floor. “
She’s
the fairest one of all.”

“Hmmmph! If you ask me, she‟s more like the wicked witch!” When Danielle walked into the kitchen to get some breakfast, she found a plate of chicken bones on the table. There were also an empty bowl of potato salad, an empty bowl of baked beans, watermelon rinds, cherry pits, and the leftover crumbs of a chocolate cake.

Behind her, she could hear Lindsey and Ava approaching the kitchen.

“You really didn‟t have to do all that cooking,” Ava said. “Cooper and I could have bought some sandwiches.”

“I wanted to!” Lindsey said. “You know how much I love to cook. What else was I going to do last night? And I figured a picnic lunch would be fun. You could tell Cooper you made it yourself.”

“Why would I want to do that?”

“Guys love girls who can cook!”

Danielle rushed out of the kitchen, blocking the door. “I don‟t think you‟re going to want to go in there,” she said to Lindsey.

“Why not?”

“There‟s a little bit of a mess.”

“What kind of mess?” Lindsey‟s eyes widened. “Not like yesterday morning?”

“Not exactly…”

“Then exactly like what?”

Lindsey didn‟t wait for Danielle to answer. Instead, she barged into the kitchen.

And promptly shrieked.

“He ate everything I made for Ava‟s picnic! Everything! All the chicken I fried!

The potato salad! The cake I made from scratch!” She stared at the remains of the eaten fruit. “He ate a
whole
watermelon and a pound of cherries!” The back door opened and Howie walked in. “Did I leave my sunglasses here?”

“You! You!” Lindsey was so furious, she couldn‟t get the words out. She grabbed a pad of paper from the counter and scribbled on it. Then she ripped off a sheet and slammed it into Howie‟s chest.

“What‟s this?” he asked.

“What you owe us for the lunch you ate!” Lindsey ran over to the kitchen closet and pulled out a broom. She then lifted it over her head and charged toward Howie, who dropped the piece of paper and ran out the back door.

“Hey!” he yelped. “What‟s the big deal? Sharla had a flat tire this morning and I changed it for her. She wanted to pay me, but I told her she didn‟t have to. That I‟d help myself to something in her refrigerator. She was cool with it.”

“
Something!
Not
everything
!” Lindsey shouted from the back porch, shaking the broom at him as he ran back to his beach house.

“Don‟t worry about it, Linds,” Ava said when she walked back inside.

“I wanted your date with Cooper to be perfect.”

“It‟s not a date.”

“Fine, it‟s not a date,” Lindsey grumbled as she put the broom back in the closet.

“How about you, Danielle? Any non-date dates today?”

“Ethan and I are going to the beach.”

“What happened to Rory?” Ava asked.

Danielle shrugged. “Rory didn‟t ask me out.”

“It‟s getting kind of overcast outside,” Lindsey remarked as she tossed the plate of chicken bones into the garbage can. “Lots of dark clouds.”

“If we don‟t go to the beach, we‟ll figure something out,” Danielle said. “I‟m not worried.”

Ethan was worried. It looked like it was going to rain at any second and he didn‟t have a backup plan for his day with Danielle.

And then there was the bet.

It was still on.

Last night he‟d gotten home before Cooper. He‟d tried staying awake so he could talk to him about calling off the bet, but he‟d fallen asleep. And then when he‟d woken up this morning, Cooper was already out of the house. So he‟d have to wait until later in the day to talk with him.

Ethan hopped into the Mercedes and drove to Danielle‟s house, honking the horn.

Seconds later, she emerged from inside and raced to the curb.

“Hi!” she exclaimed.

Just the sound of her voice made him smile. “Hi!”

“It doesn‟t look like it‟s going to be a beach day,” she said as she buckled her seat belt.

“Hopefully, it‟ll get sunny.”

As Ethan drove, Danielle fiddled with the radio. They were waiting at a red light when Danielle held up a hand.

“Uh-oh. I think I just felt a drop of rain.”

Ethan stared at the sky. Then he looked back down at the windshield, where three fat raindrops had splattered.

“We‟d better put the top on,” Danielle suggested.

Ethan pushed the button for the top of the Mercedes, but it wouldn‟t move.

“That‟s strange,” he said, pressing the button again and waiting for the usual humming sound as it rose.

“Is it broken?” she asked.

“It worked fine yesterday.”

As they waited for the top to unfurl, it started to rain.

Lightly at first.

But then the rain started coming down harder.

And harder.

Ethan and Danielle were getting soaked.

“It‟s not working,” he said in a panic.

“What are we going to do?” Danielle asked as sheets of rain kept falling.

It was raining so heavily that Ethan could hardly see. He pulled the car over to the side of the road, under a row of trees, and pointed to an abandoned fruit stand. “Why don‟t we wait in there?”

Ethan parked the car and they jumped out, hurrying to the fruit stand, which smelled like rotting peaches. They found an empty box and used it to sit on, listening to the sound of falling rain. As they waited for the rain to end, Danielle reached into her tote bag, pulled out a towel, and wiped off her face. Then she handed the towel to Ethan. “Here, you could use this.”

“Thanks.” He dried his face. “Well, looks like I‟ve given you another great date.” Danielle giggled. “The weather‟s not your fault.”

“I feel like it is.”

I feel like I’m jinxed! All I want is for our dates to be perfect. Instead, they’re
imperfect!

Danielle stared at the sky. “It has to stop eventually.”

“And then what? The beach is going to be all wet. We‟re not going to be able to sit anywhere.”

“Look!” Danielle pointed to the road. “A car‟s headed this way.” An emerald green Mustang pulled over and the passenger window slid down as the driver leaned across the seat. “Need a lift?” he asked.

“Rory!” Danielle exclaimed.

Ethan groaned. Rory?! Great. Rory coming to the rescue. Just what he didn‟t need.

“The top of Ethan‟s car won‟t go up,” Danielle explained.

“That‟s too bad.”

He didn‟t sound like it was too bad, Ethan noted. It sounded like,
Well, what do you
expect when you hang out with a loser?

“And then it started to rain and it was coming down so hard, Ethan couldn‟t see the road. So he pulled over and we ran in here.”

“I‟d give you both a ride, but the trunk and backseat are filled with cases of soda and groceries. Friends and I are having a party tonight. I can only fit one person in the passenger seat.”

Ethan knew which person that seat was meant for. And it wasn‟t him.

“I‟m sure Ethan wouldn‟t mind my giving you a ride,” Rory continued.

And let you drive off with Danielle? I don’t think so!

“I could sit on Ethan‟s lap,” Danielle suggested before Ethan could say anything.

“That way you could drive the two of us.”

Ethan knew there was
no way
Rory would go for that.

And he was right.

Rory instantly shot the idea down.

“It‟s against the law. Plus, I saw some cops on the side of the road as I was driving by. I don‟t want to risk getting a ticket.”

Yeah, like he was
really
worried about being pulled over by a cop. He just wanted Danielle all to himself. As much as Ethan
didn’t
want that to happen, he really didn‟t have much of a choice.

“Go with Rory,” Ethan said. “I‟ll wait out the rain.”

Ethan expected Danielle to leave. Why not? What girl in her right mind would want to be waiting out a rainstorm in a smelly, dilapidated fruit stand?

But she surprised him.

“I can‟t leave Ethan.”

“Ethan‟s a big boy,” Rory said. “I‟m sure he can take care of himself. Right, Ethan?”

“Go,” Ethan urged. “I‟ll be fine.

Danielle stubbornly shook her head. “I‟m not leaving you.” Rory shrugged. “Then there‟s nothing I can do. I can only fit one more person.

Hopefully, you won‟t be here all day. I‟d love to stick around and chat, but I‟ve gotta get this stuff home. See you around.”

Ethan watched as the passenger window slid back up and Rory drove away. He couldn‟t believe how easily Rory had given up. Didn‟t he think Danielle was worth fighting for?

“Well, what should we do next?” Danielle asked.

Ethan caught sight of a sign across the road and pointed to it. “There‟s an indoor flea market up ahead. Want to check it out?”

“Why not? It‟s better than staying here.”

It took Ethan and Danielle five minutes to race down the road to the indoor flea market. Once they got inside, they dried themselves off again and began exploring. The flea market was huge, with three floors.

“Where do you want to start?” Ethan asked.

“First floor, then second and third. Okay with you?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

They went from stall to stall, checking out all the different items for sale. There were booths that sold nothing but glassware. Others selling china and dishes. There were stalls with stacks of old magazines, books, and newspapers. Others that had old toys and appliances, such as blenders and transistor radios. Another stall was filled with vintage clothing, while another had handmade jewelry.

“Are you having a good time?” Danielle asked after they had explored the first floor and were walking up the stairs to the second.

“Sure,” Ethan said. “Why wouldn‟t I?”

“You‟ve probably never bought anything used before.”

“I love going to flea markets,” Ethan said. “It‟s like going on a treasure hunt, only you don‟t have a map so you don‟t know what you‟re going to discover. My parents recently bought a dining room set and refinished it.”

“Why would your parents need to buy old furniture?” Danielle asked, sounding perplexed. “Why wouldn‟t they buy it new?”

Ethan instantly realized his mistake. With “his” credit cards and the fancy restaurant he‟d taken Danielle to yesterday, as well as staying at a beach house that “came with” a Mercedes convertible, she probably thought he was rich. And why wouldn‟t she? Cooper
was
rich. And he was pretending to be him.

“My parents are into antiques and they go to high-end flea markets,” Ethan explained. “I guess you could call them auctions and not flea markets. There‟s a difference.”

Danielle gave Ethan a strange look, but she didn‟t question what he told her. “If you say so.”

Ethan nodded, glad that Danielle believed him but hating having to lie.

“You‟re all wet!” Ava exclaimed as Cooper hurried inside.

“In case you didn‟t notice, it‟s a downpour out there.” Ava poked him in the chest. “Ha! Ha! Very funny. I know it‟s raining.” She handed him a towel. “Why didn‟t you use an umbrella?”

Cooper started drying himself off. “The house doesn‟t have one.”

“That house of yours doesn‟t have a lot of things. No umbrellas. No food.” Cooper groaned. “Did Howie strike again?”

“Big-time. The picnic lunch that Lindsey made for us is now in Howie‟s stomach.”

“What‟d she make?”

“Fried chicken, potato salad, and a chocolate cake.”

“Those are all my favorites.”

“Talk to Howie.”

Cooper held out a shopping bag. “Maybe this will make up for it.” Ava peeked into the bag. “What is it?”

“I thought it would be fun to make tacos for lunch. I went to the supermarket and bought all the fixings.”

“Yum! Tacos are my favorite.”

“Where is everyone?” Cooper asked as he handed the towel back to Ava. He followed after her to the laundry room, where she tossed the towel into the dryer.

“Danielle‟s with Ethan, and Lindsey went to the mall with Crystal and Jade,” Ava said as she transferred a pile of wet clothing from the washer into the dryer and added a sheet of Bounce. “Sharla‟s out for the day.”