I should go, I sent before I could say something really stupid. I need to study a bit more for tomorrow morning’s exam and then I have the Santa Hop after.
Good luck, he texted.
Will I see you before you go? I typed and held my breath, worried that he didn’t want to see me again even one last time before he returned home.
Of course, he sent.
Oh, by the way. I found Brooklyn’s passport.
There was a long pause before he sent back, Where?
In a box in her underwear drawer. How did she get on a plane without it?
She keeps photocopies on her. I’ll come get that now so I can courier it to her. Meet me downstairs?
I glanced at the clock. It was already past my bedtime, but I was willing to miss out on a little sleep if it meant seeing Rob.
~ ♥ ~
I finger-combed my hair and threw a Rosewood hoodie over my pajamas before I jogged down the stairs to meet Rob. I felt like I should have put more effort into my appearance, but didn’t have the time. Anyway, when I got to the bottom of the stairs and saw him beaming up at me, I knew it didn’t matter.
“You are so adorable in those pajamas, I can hardly stand it,” he said, giving me a very approving once-over that made my insides roll around.
I handed him the passport, at a loss for words, though I was grinning like an idiot.
He opened the passport.
“Lucky girl; not a bad picture. Though I don’t think I knew her middle name was Sylvie. Brooklyn Sylvie Prescott; sounds so sophisticated.”
Rob smirked. “Until you know her.”
I smacked his arm. “Be nice. She’s your sister.”
His expression softened. “I know. She’s a good sister.”
“She’s a good person,” I corrected.
He glanced over his shoulder toward the lounge. “Got a minute?”
For you, always, I didn’t say, but nodded.
His grin widened and we walked side by side down the hall. It didn’t take a mind-reader to know what he wanted.
One for the road.
Santa Hop
If there is anything guaranteed to break your heart and put it back together again, filling it with bittersweet joy, it’s visiting a pediatric cancer ward.
I don’t know why I’d been worried about seeing Dave, since all my attention was taken up by meeting with the kids, hearing their stories and giving them the gifts we had brought. I mean, if anything, having Dave there just made the whole thing more awesome since he’d brought his guitar and we caroled from room to room, visiting the kids who were too ill to join the party in the big lounge.
We left behind a ton of gifts and hugs and although by the time we left the hospital, I felt like I’d been through the emotional ringer (not to mention the stress over writing an exam that morning), I knew we’d done good work and brought joy to a lot of sick kids. The dean was happy, too, and had taken lots of pictures that would go into the alumni newsletter to show former Rosewood students what the current batch of kids was up to. Of course she’d use the experience to help solicit more donations, but in the end, it was all for the good of the school and so the community could see how we gave back. And getting more donations meant we could keep doing great things like this, so although I got tired of holding endless smiles for the camera, I knew it was for the greater good.
But when we left the hospital, we weren’t done. We had added the youth center and shelter to our itinerary after I’d read an article in the local paper last year saying that many of the kids who used the center for their food bank and other programs were homeless and had no families to turn to over Christmas. Many of them had nothing and if it wasn’t for the center, they wouldn’t even get a hot meal over the holidays.
For these kids, though, we weren’t bringing toys and books, but gift cards for clothing stores because the director of the center had told me many of the kids owned little other than the one set of clothes they had on their backs. Some didn’t even have coats.
Also, Rosewood had supplied me with money to send enough non-perishables to fill up the shelves at the center’s food bank and Dave told me Westwood had done the same.
But determined that the kids should have more than just necessities, I’d bought forty iPods, too. The director had been overwhelmed by our offer to include the center at all, but I couldn’t bear the thought of these kids not having anything special just for them at Christmas.
So Chelly, Dave and I piled back into the dean’s car, our Santa hats a little rumpled after all the hugging at the hospital, and drove the short distance to the center. Desperate for something to fill the silence, I asked the dean about her plans for Christmas and though I’d been sure she would be on campus over the holidays, it turned out she was going away. She was very vague about where to and even when Chelly asked her straight out, she’d said she hadn’t made any concrete plans yet.
Chelly kicked my seat at that, but I couldn’t begin to guess why. Okay, I could probably guess that Chelly was thinking the dean was planning some sort of cougar vacation hookup, but whatever.
It meant I wasn’t even going to get an invitation to the dean’s holiday pity party. I was officially without any plans at all.
“So who’s going to be left on campus over the holidays? Besides me, I mean,” I asked.
The dean glanced over. “You’re not going home?”
She shouldn’t have been surprised about this—we had to fill out a form if we weren’t leaving campus for holidays. “No. My parents are on a world cruise.”
“Grandparents?”
I shook my head. “The one set I have lives in a retirement home in Florida. No visitors.” Thank God. I didn’t mention that if I really wanted to, I could get them to smuggle me in and sleep on their couch, but although they were the sweetest people in the world, I knew after twenty four hours with them I’d be ready to bite my arm off to get away.
“I don’t think there are any other students staying this year. Although I didn’t realize you were staying, so I might not have that right. I’ll check when we get back, but it looks like you might be on your own with just a skeleton staff.”
“Like spending the winter at the Overlook Hotel,” I muttered.
The dean glanced over for a second before she pulled into a parking spot behind the center. “The Shining?”
I nodded. “I had the pleasure of watching it recently.”
The dean grimaced. “Not one of my favorites.”
“Yeah, mine neither. I use the term ‘pleasure’ very loosely.”
She put the car into park and we all got out, Dave grabbing the big bag full of iPods instead of his guitar. Chelly looped her arm through mine as we approached the door. “This is fun,” she said. “I’m so glad I came with you. Being Santa feels really good.”
“Doesn’t it?” I said. “It’s like my drug, giving back.”
She nodded and grabbed the door, pulling it open as Dave and the dean caught up to us. My heart was full as we walked into the center, anxious to give out the gift cards and iPods, knowing we were doing our part to help kids and make their holidays a little bit nicer.
We headed down the hall, following the signs to the dining room where they had set up for their Christmas party. The director had invited us to be a part of it, but it felt a bit weird, so we were probably going to just drop off our goodies and leave them to their party. Still, I was excited and my insides were vibrating as we turned into the dining room decorated from floor to ceiling with streamers, Christmas lights and even a big tree in the corner. I scanned the many faces in the room for what I assumed would be a middle aged woman in business casual clothes so I could introduce us to the director, but before I found her, my heart pretty much stopped beating in my chest when my eyes fell on the face of the last person I expected to see here.
Danny Kearns.
I Did Not See That Coming
You have got to be kidding me, I thought as our eyes connected across the roo
m. His narrowed and mine widened as I realized he probably thought I was stalking him. Again.
Which was ridiculous because—same as at the blood donor clinic—I never could have known he was here. Which led to me wondering if he lived here in the shelter. He looked clean in a pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt that showed off his tattooed arms as he stood with them crossed. He looked like a statue standing there with his clean-shaven square jaw and carved features. I could imagine sculptors would use him as a model for their work, though I doubted any artist could do his perfection justice.
I took this all in quickly as his eyes practically burned holes into me. I had a sudden and overwhelming urge to run, but of course, it was too late; he’d seen me. And anyway, I was no coward. I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders as I dragged my eyes away from his, continuing my search for the director as though seeing him hadn’t affected me. But as a smiling woman in chinos and a crisp button-down shirt approached us with purpose, I realized the director had found us.
Thank God. I exhaled in relief.
“Hi,” she said once she got to us, her arm outstretched toward the dean. “I’m Marjorie Quinn, you must be Dean Haywood.”
The dean took Marjorie’s hand and as she shook it, made introductions all around. When she got to me, Marjorie grasped my hand and held it firmly between both of hers, her eyes already shiny with tears.
“It is so great to meet you in person, Emmie. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done. We got in the shipment of groceries yesterday and I...I don’t know how to thank you enough.” She looked at the dean and said, “I hope you know what a gem you have here. I...” her face started to crumple with emotion. Luckily Chelly had stuffed a bunch of tissues in her pocket back at the hospital. She handed the woman a few and pressed one into my hand before I even realized I needed one.
The dean nodded. “Brooklyn Prescott was supposed to be here too, but she had a family emergency. Still, we are so very proud of Emmeline,” she said, beaming down at me. “She is a wonderful example of what we want all our Rosewood girls to exemplify.”
As an afterthought, she glanced at Chelly and quickly added, “And our Seychelles, too. She has been very involved this year as well. And she’s the star of our production of Romeo and Juliet.”
Marjorie turned to Chelly. “Really? I was Juliet back in high school, too. And you, a redheaded Juliet. How lovely.”
Chelly smiled and said, “Actually, our Juliet will be more of a blond, but it is so much fun, I can’t even tell you. I hope you come to the production.”
“I’ll make sure we put aside a block of tickets for you and the kids,” the dean said.
“That would be wonderful,” Marjorie said. Then, as the women exchanged a bit of small talk about the shelter, Chelly seemed to notice Danny all of a sudden. I knew the second she did, because I received a sharp elbow to my side and when she was suddenly overcome by a terrible coughing fit, I distinctly heard, “Hot felon, eight o’clock!”
Horrified, I whacked her on the back really hard so as to dislodge the crazy from her throat. “You okay?” I asked innocently as I delivered a final wallop that I truly hoped served as a warning to shut her mouth.
Seeming to have missed our entire exchange, or at least its significance, Dave stepped forward with the iPods, holding his outstretched arms up toward Marjorie. “Should I put these under your tree?”
Marjorie looked from him to me and then back at the bags, obviously a bit confused, which made sense, since I hadn’t told her what I was doing. “Uh,” I said, feeling suddenly a bit shy. “I bought some iPods.”
Marjorie’s eyes widened. “You did what?”
I shrugged. “We still have the gift cards for the clothing stores, but I wanted the kids to have something...fun. Each box has an iTunes gift card tucked inside, too.”
I felt eyes on me and glanced up to see Danny standing there. Really close. Close enough to hear what I’d said. He was still staring at me, but it was different now, like he was just confused, not homicidal.
Marjorie stepped forward and pulled me into a bear hug, mashing her face into the side of my head, but I could still hear when she said, “Oh God bless you, Emmie. I can’t believe you did this.”
“I wanted to,” I said. “It’s the least I can do.”
She pulled back from the hug, holding my shoulders tight while she stared into my eyes. “It is so not the least you could do.” She let go of me to wipe at her eyes with the tissue, then seemed to notice Danny standing there. “Look, Danny. Emmie brought iPods for all the kids.”
He nodded at me and said, “That’s pretty amazing. Thank you.” He seemed to mean it, which made me feel marginally better about him standing there staring at me.
“You’re welcome,” I said, thinking it was pretty funny how this boy was now going to be on the receiving end of one of the iPods that I—the person he probably hated most in the world—had bought. “There are forty; I hope that’s enough.”
Fresh tears fell down Marjorie’s cheeks. “More than enough. Thank you so much. Oh wait, I’m sorry.” She turned to Danny. “Danny, this is Dean Haywood, Seychelles and Emmeline from The Rosewood School and Dave is from Westwood down the road.”
Danny nodded to the Dean, Dave and Chelly. Then his eyes rested disconcertingly on me. “Emmeline and I have met,” he said.
“Oh?” the dean said, looking between us, making me realize she didn’t know about the incident. Yet. Heat rose to my face as I prepared to do damage control.
Danny’s eyes didn’t waver from mine as he said, “Yes. She was at the blood donor clinic.” Then he swung his gaze to the dean and gave her a broad smile that seemed to make the cartilage in my knees melt. “I served her and Seychelles after they donated.”
The dean looked at me.
“He warned me off a stale jelly donut,” I said, lamely. But I had to say something and it was all that my brain made available at the moment because: that smile.
“Hey!” Chelly said, frowning. “I ate that stale jelly donut.”
“You didn’t complain,” I said.
“My senses were dulled from blood loss,” she retorted. But she was smiling.
Curious as to why Danny had covered for me, I glanced up at him to find him looking at me. I gave him a quick nod that meant thank you. He gave me one back that I’m sure meant you’re welcome. And maybe: truce.
All this happened really quickly though, and before I could be really sure, Marjorie laughed and put an arm around my shoulders and slid the other around Chelly’s. “You girls are funny. Such good girls, hm?” she said to the dean, but didn’t wait for an answer before she turned to Dave. “Yes, let’s put those under the tree. And please have some snacks,” she said, squeezing us before letting go and leading Dave over to the cheery Christmas tree.
Chelly looped her arm through mine and we turned toward the long buffet table laid out with many platters of fruit, colorful cookies and squares. I was happy for an excuse to get out from Danny’s gaze and was going to ask Chelly what she thought about all of that just now, but when the Dean said, “Danny, I’m so glad I ran into you,” both Chelly and I stopped in our tracks. We looked at each other before we silently agreed to stay where we were because there was no way we’d be able to eavesdrop from the other side of the room where the food was. We wordlessly turned toward each other and pretended to talk, muttering unintelligible stuff back and forth while we listened.
Danny mumbled something I couldn’t catch, but the dean carried on, “Brady and I are going to be off campus over the holidays, so I was thinking since you’re going to be doing that work for me anyway, you may as well stay in my cottage. Fiona will be happy to see you.”
Chelly inhaled loudly and mouthed, “Fiona?”
I shrugged.
“Okay,” Danny said.
“Great, why don’t you come over Saturday morning and you can get settled in before we leave.”
He said something else, but Chelly was alrea
dy dragging me away toward the food table, so I couldn’t hear.
“Hot felon will be on campus,” she said as though I hadn’t figured that out. Which I had. My heart had too, causing it to race in my chest. Which was stupid. My heart needed to chill.
“So?” I reached for a lemon square, trying to be casual. Like it didn’t mean anything.
“Hot. Felon. On. Campus,” Chelly whispered again, like I hadn’t heard or understood her the first time.
“Yeah, I heard you,” I said, biting into the square and perusing the table, mostly for something to focus on other than my friend or that hot fel...guy across the room talking to the dean.
“Emmie?”
I ignored her, knowing if I looked up at her, she was going to make a rude gesture or say something wildly inappropriate.
“Er...Emmie?”
“Leave me alone,” I said, focusing on a cookie, trying to determine if it was oatmeal raisin or oatmeal chocolate chip—sometimes it was really hard to tell.
“Emmie,” she barked.
I exhaled and grabbed the cookie, taking a bite. Crap: raisins. “Chelly, I don’t want to hear about the hot...” my sentence fizzled on my tongue as I lifted up my head and was standing face to face with Danny. Well, more like face to chest; he’s a really tall guy.
Of course now I realized Chelly had been trying to warn me. I chewed the rest of the cookie and swallowed before I gave Danny my best impression of an I’m-not-totally-embarrassed smile. “Hi,” I said.
“Can I talk to you for a second?”
I glanced at Chelly who was peeking around at me from behind him. She was making googly eyes at me, but I had no idea what they meant. Okay, well, I could guess, but...
I looked back up at Danny. “I didn’t know you’d be here. I’m not following you,” I said.
He nodded.
“So what do you want? To yell at me again?”
“Probably not,” he said, and I could have sworn I saw the tiniest glimmer of amusement in his eyes.
I exhaled and then my gaze was drawn over toward a group of noisy kids who were opening their gifts. “Fine. Did you get your iPod?”
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