by Holly Webb
Katie reached out and plucked the offending card, in a pretty silvery envelope, from Annabel’s hand, and handed it to her mother. “S is for Sue, Bel. It’s a card for Mum.”
Then she walked out of the kitchen.
Annabel stared after her, then looked back at the card, which her mother was holding as though she thought it might bite her. “It’s for you?” She sounded incredulous.
Mrs Ryan gave her a rather small smile. “It is possible you know, Bel.”
“Aren’t you going to open it?” Becky asked, staring at the card.
“Later,” said Mrs Ryan, firmly. Which clearly meant, When you aren’t here.
Annabel and Becky exchanged indignant glances. Katie obviously knew more about this than they did – she’d been holding out on them!
“I think we’ll go and open these upstairs,” said Annabel, equally firmly. “C’mon, Becky.”
As they headed for the stairs, Becky looked back through the kitchen door, to see Mum sit down at the table, and stare at the card as though she still couldn’t quite believe it was there…
Annabel dashed into the triplets’ bedroom. “Katie! What’s going on? Who’s sent Mum a Valentine’s Day card?”
“Not sure,” muttered Katie, who was lying on her bed with a football magazine in front of her. She was still somehow hoping that this was all a big misunderstanding, and she wanted to put off admitting the truth for as long as possible. The magazine might as well have been upside down for all the use she was getting out of it, but she’d known that Annabel and Becky were bound to follow her upstairs, and she wanted some camouflage.
For once, Annabel wasn’t that interested in her own love life. She dumped the pile of cards on the table, and stood in front of Katie, arms folded and looking grim.
“You knew about this,” she stated accusingly.
“Didn’t really,” Katie muttered again, still gazing at a feature on David Beckham.
Annabel huffed, and snatched the magazine from under her sister’s nose. “Stop messing about! You do know what’s going on, or you wouldn’t have sulked out of the kitchen like that – so talk. Who’s the card from?”
Katie sighed. Hiding her head in the sand – like she’d been trying to for a fortnight – just wasn’t going to work. She had to face up to what was going on. She propped her chin on her hands, and looked up at her sisters for the first time. “I think it might – might, Bel – be from Mr Cooper.”
Annabel looked blank. “Who’s he?”
Becky gasped in horror as she realized the significance of the name, and Annabel wheeled round on her. “Who is he? Come on, one of you, tell me!”
Katie smiled at her, grimly enjoying passing on the bad news. “Mr Cooper – Jeff Cooper – Max Cooper’s dad.” Then she watched Annabel’s expression change from intense curiosity to complete horror.
“No!”
“Oh yes.” Katie nodded, still with the grim smile.
“Why on earth would he send Mum a Valentine’s card? They don’t even know each other – except that she phoned him up to have a go about Max!” Annabel sounded disbelieving.
Katie shrugged. “They met at football practice.”
“And anyway, how do you know about all this? And why haven’t you told us?” Annabel had recovered from the shock and was back on the attack.
Katie sat up crossly. “When was I supposed to tell you? When you were murmuring sweet nothings to Josh, maybe? When you were both decorating the hall for that party? When Becky and David were shopping for fluffy toy animals? Or when you were all discussing the best outfits for the party, the right make-up for the party, the proper shoes to wear for the party… I haven’t been able to get a word in edgeways for weeks! I was worrying about you and Josh, trying to work out who was sending me those notes, and stressing about Mum, and I couldn’t talk to you two about any of it.”
“You could!” protested Becky, looking hurt.
Katie sighed. “Well, it didn’t feel like I could. I talked to Megan instead. It was her that first pointed out Mum and Mr Cooper anyway, she spotted them chatting at that football masterclass we had.”
“I can’t believe this,” muttered Annabel. “Mum and Max’s dad. It’s a nightmare. No wonder you’ve been grumpy for the last couple of weeks—”
“Thanks!” Katie snapped.
“Well, you have, but I’m saying you had an excuse! I thought you were just being sulky because of me and Becky having boyfriends when you didn’t.”
Surprisingly, it was Becky who reacted to this, as Katie was too cross to get her answer out at once. “Bel! That’s so unfair! Katie’s just said that she couldn’t talk to us about all the stuff that was going on because we were so wrapped up in boys and everything. You’d be grumpy, trying to deal with things like that on your own! I’m really sorry, Katie.”
Annabel sighed exasperatedly and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Then she shrugged, flopped down next to Katie on the bed and gave her a hug. “Oh, OK, I’m sorry too. You still should have told us about Max’s dad though!” she added. “I can’t believe you didn’t!”
“I just wasn’t sure,” Katie explained. “And I didn’t want to believe it, either. If I’d told you two it would have been like a real thing, do you see what I mean? Now we all know, I can’t tell myself I’m imagining it any more.”
“What are we going to do?” asked Becky, curling up next to them on the bed.
“I don’t think we can do anything,” said Katie. “If they’re going to go out then they’re going to go out. They can’t make us be nice to Max, though,” she added viciously.
The other two nodded firmly. No way. But then Becky thought of something. “Does he know, do you think?”
“I reckon he might.” Katie nodded. “He was giving me this really odd look yesterday; he seemed totally miserable.”
“Maybe he is,” Becky wondered.
Annabel raised her eyebrows, and Becky shrugged. “Well, it’s even worse for him, isn’t it? I mean, we’ve still got Dad, even if he’s in Egypt. But it’s just Max and his dad, so sharing him with somebody must be really scary.”
Katie nodded thoughtfully. That was true.
“Plus there’s three of us and one of him,” Annabel added, with an evil grin. “We’re going too far with this, you know. I mean, nothing might happen – it’s just a card, and we’re not certain it’s from him.”
“Suppose so,” agreed Katie, and Becky nodded.
“We should try asking Mum – you never know, she might just tell us who the card was from. It could be from anybody!” she said hopefully.
“And talking of cards.” Annabel got up to grab the pile on the table. “We’ve got to work out who all these are from!”
Chapter Ten
Katie wasn’t worried by the fact that she’d got two Valentine’s cards. One was from Robin, obviously – she recognized the writing. The other one had strange Egyptian stamps on and was from Dad – he always sent cards to the triplets as he said they were his favourite girls. Katie reckoned he liked to have any excuse to send them something! He’d put some spending money in too, and Katie decided she definitely wanted to use it to buy stuff for the party that night. Becky’s three cards were from Dad, David – and David. He’d tried to disguise his handwriting on the second one, but it was obviously him! Becky tried not to make too much of it, even though she was delighted – the other two weren’t really in the mood, and neither was she when she remembered the card in the silver envelope. They’d tried asking Mum who it was from, but she’d just smiled and said that Valentine’s cards were secret.
Annabel had been hoping to do something with Josh that day, although he’d never actually done more than say vaguely that they ought to meet up, so she was free to go shopping. Becky had promised to meet David, but she called him and arranged to get together a bit later so the triplets coul
d all three go into town together. So much had happened over the last few days, and Becky and Annabel had suddenly realized that they’d been neglecting Katie, and each other. They needed some sister-time.
The triplets squashed on to one seat on the bus, giggling, and Annabel started to plan where they were going.
“Can we pop into GirlStuff? Saima said they had some brilliant new hair slides and things when she went in last weekend.”
This was very much a question that expected a yes answer – Annabel didn’t even wait for it, she just started to rootle through her purse (with difficulty, as she had no elbow room whatsoever) to see how much she could afford to spend on hair slides. Her spending money from Dad had already gone to pay back a loan from Mum for the last time she’d been shopping. “Saima reckoned the nicest ones were about three pounds. Becky, can I borrow—”
“Nope,” said Katie firmly.
“I was asking Becky!”
“And I was saying that there’s no point asking Becky, ’cause no, you can’t go to GirlStuff. We’ve got serious shopping to do, there’s no time for you dithering about over hair clips.”
Annabel sighed dramatically. “So where are we going then?”
“That new party shop in the high street, the really cool-looking one.”
Annabel brightened up. The shop did look cool, and she’d been wanting to go in for ages. “Excellent. Do you know what you’re going to get?”
“No – I’m not sure, just some stuff to decorate the living room. I want it to look really special, but nothing to do with Valentine’s Day. That’s as far as I’ve got.”
Annabel looked thoughtful. She loved parties, and decorating was one of the best bits. “Difficult one.”
“What are we going to do tonight, Katie?” Becky asked.
Katie gave her a mysterious look. “Just you wait and see. Megan and I have plans,” she said smugly.
The other two tried begging, but Katie wouldn’t be drawn. The only thing she would tell them was that Mum was going to let them order pizza for everyone for dinner.
“Cool.” Annabel licked her lips. “I’m starving already, breakfast got a bit sidetracked.”
Katie made a face. “I still don’t want to believe it. But I can’t think of anyone else who’d send Mum a card. I wish she’d tell us.”
Becky shrugged. “Maybe she’s not sure what’s going on either.”
“You could be right.” Annabel nodded seriously. “I mean, if Mum was actually going to go out on a date we’d have to know, wouldn’t we?”
They bounced off the bus and headed for Celebration, the new party shop. Katie sighed at the window display, which was very pink and covered in hearts, but Annabel dragged her inside.
“Wow,” Annabel breathed, gazing round. The shop had been very cleverly designed to have lots of little nooks and crannies that could be decorated with a theme – she was looking at an indoor fountain, with a life-size mermaid trailing her fingers in the water.
“We don’t want a mermaid, Bel,” said Katie, grinning. “And we certainly couldn’t afford it if we did,” she added, grimacing at the discreet little card next to the mermaid model. She was a bit worried that they might not be able to afford anything in here.
“Oooh, Katie, come over here!” Becky had wandered over to the far side of the shop.
Katie towed Annabel with her, and found Becky inspecting a display of candles. “Look!” Becky read the sign above the display. “Opening offer – all candles half-price! And they’ve got some gorgeous ones.” She picked up a candle shaped like a flower. “It smells of roses too!”
Katie looked thoughtful. Candles? She hadn’t considered that. But yes, they’d fit into her plan very well. Not too girly – provided she didn’t go for the pink, rose-shaped ones, anyway – but very cool and party-ish. She hugged Becky. “Well spotted! These are fab.” Katie invested in lots of little black and silver floating candles – Mum had a really nice big glass bowl that they’d look great in. Becky bought a couple of the rose-shaped candles as well, for their bedroom, and lent Annabel the money to buy a big purple pillar candle studded with sparkly glass jewels, as she’d clearly fallen in love with it.
Saima, Fran and Megan were arriving at six, but Katie was ready long before that. She’d banished Becky and Annabel and tidied up the living room, borrowing cushions from everywhere in the house to arrange in big comfy piles, finding her favourite CDs, and putting Mum’s glass bowl on the coffee table filled with the gorgeous candles. She’d light them just before the others came in so they got the full effect.
She looked round, pleased, but not quite satisfied. She hadn’t got a really exciting plan for what they were going to do tonight, except eat pizza and watch videos, and she felt the party definitely needed something more – something that really made it an anti-Valentine’s party, rather than just any old sleepover. She sat down on the sofa to think, and felt something scrunch under one of the cushions. She ferreted around and dragged out a piece of paper with a drawing on – obviously something that Bel had abandoned. Katie peered at the face on the paper – ugh, Josh! She screwed it up and flung it expertly at the bin. As the ball of paper plopped satisfyingly in, the idea she’d been looking for came to her, and she dashed off to find some balloons – she knew they had some in a cupboard somewhere – and various useful bits. The others were going to love this!
She shut herself back in the front room for another half an hour, and then she went upstairs and popped in on Mum, who was working on the computer in the loft. She’d promised to stay out of the way for the evening: unless they really needed her she’d be upstairs.
“Got everything organized?” Mum grinned at her.
“Think so. The money for the pizza’s on the kitchen counter, isn’t it?”
“Mmmm – have fun.”
Katie put her arms round Mum’s shoulders and gave her a hug, then turned to go – but not before she’d caught sight of the screen. Mum was reading her emails, and there was one from Jeff Cooper.
So that pretty much answered that then.
Katie decided that now definitely wasn’t the time to ask Mum for details – she shouldn’t have seen the email, even though she hadn’t looked on purpose – and she didn’t want to spoil the party by knowing icky details about Mum and their worst enemy’s dad. That could wait until tomorrow. She was definitely going to tell Becky and Annabel though – she’d had enough of secrets. Anyway, it was nearly six – she dashed off to root out Becky and Bel.
“You have to come down and wait in the kitchen, OK!” she said bossily.
“OK, OK!” Annabel did her best to sound huffy, but it was difficult. An evening with their best mates, plus pizza and general lounging about, sounded really cool, and she found that she didn’t even mind that she wasn’t on a romantic date – much.
She and Becky reported to the kitchen as instructed to be met by a gorgeous smell, the kind of chocolatey smell that they could almost see wafting its way out of the kitchen door and round the hall.
“Wow! What are you making?” Becky sniffed rapturously.
“I invented it. I’m calling it Really Chocolatey Hot Chocolate, and you’re going to need it.” Katie carefully poured out three mugs of the gloopy brown stuff, and dolloped on marshmallows. When Annabel and Becky were suitably armed against what she was about to tell them – they were mmm-ing happily – she took a deep mouthful herself, let it warm her all the way down, and then broke the news. “OK. Mum’s got an email from Max’s dad, so I reckon it must have been him that sent the card.”
Annabel nearly dropped her mug of chocolate. “No! Are you sure?”
“Well, I couldn’t exactly ask to read it, could I? But there was definitely one from him. Looks like we’re just going to have to face it. But we’re not going to let it spoil tonight, OK?”
The other two nodded firmly, and buried their fa
ces in their mugs again. That was the kind of news they really needed chocolate for…
The triplets were still sitting round the table sipping chocolate when the doorbell rang. Saima, Megan and Fran had managed to coincide on the doorstep, and Katie got them to pile up their rucksacks and sleeping bags in the hall. “And hurry up, OK, because there’s chocolate!”
The smell had wafted out to the hall, and Saima, Fran and Megan took no time at all to appear in the kitchen looking starved. Katie grabbed three more mugs. “Can you lot serve up the chocolate – don’t forget to give me some – I’ve just got to go and do the finishing touches in the living room.”
She nipped in to light the candles, and then yelled, “Right, you can come in now!” She stood back proudly as they trooped in – she’d turned the lights off, and the big bowl of candles was filling the room with a soft glow.
“It looks great, Katie!” Annabel sounded slightly surprised – she wasn’t used to Katie doing this kind of thing.
“It does, doesn’t it? Anyway, grab a cushion, all of you, and get comfy.” Katie whisked some big bowls of tortilla chips and toffee popcorn from where they’d been hidden behind the sofa, then turned on the DVD player.
“Cool!” Saima squeaked. “What are we watching?”
Katie grinned. “This is my party, so we’re watching my favourite film – Bend It Like Beckham. Megan lent it to me.”
Megan grinned, but then noticed that the other four were looking slightly less enthusiastic. “Honestly, it’s a fab film – you don’t have to know much about football, and it’s really funny.”
Katie settled back on the sofa, budging Megan and Becky over so she could squash in between, and pressed play on the remote. The opening sequence of the film started, and she sighed happily, and grabbed a big handful of popcorn from the bowl on Megan’s lap.
“That was excellent!” Annabel said, sounding quite surprised at herself, as she grabbed the remote to eject the DVD two hours later.