“I like it, but let’s try the other ones, just to see.”
They tried a couple other combinations. Maddie liked all the dresses Mom had picked out for her, but the one Mom eventually chose was the one made of the softest fabric. It was also the most comfortable to wear. Maddie’s skirt flared out at her waist, and the floaty fabric made her feel like dancing. She stood with her sisters and studied their reflection.
“We don’t exactly match, but we kind of do,” she said.
“I like it,” Mia said. “But are you sure we shouldn’t wear something fancier?”
“I think you look beautiful,” Mom said.
“I agree!” Dad chimed, in, coming into Lulu’s room, his arms filled with boxes. Three shoeboxes, to be exact, and not just any shoeboxes, but boxes the size of cowboy boots. “I bought you a surprise, girls.”
“Ooooh!” The girls rushed over to open the boxes.
He winked at Maddie as she took out her pair of silver, sparkly cowboy boots. “You needed something special for your Opry debut.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Lulu barreled into Dad and threw her arms around him.
Mia and Maddie joined her in giving Dad a giant bear hug.
“Aren’t you going to try them on?” he asked.
The girls sat on the bed and wrestled their feet into the new boots. When they were on, the girls lined up to look in the mirror one last time.
“So, what do you think, Lulu?” Mom asked.
“If I can’t wear my bathing suit,” she said, giving a little spin-kick to try out her boots, “then this is perfect.”
Mia slipped her arm through Maddie’s. “This is going to be so much fun!”
“Your boots fit?” Dad asked, checking each of their toes. “I don’t want any sore feet tomorrow night.”
Fortunately, everyone’s boots fit.
“Okay, let’s get you out of those dresses,” Mom said. “We want to keep them nice and clean for tomorrow night.”
They changed back into their regular clothes, and Mom decided they should all have some quiet time before dinner. Maddie took out her colored pencils and sketchpad. Mia curled up with her book, and Lulu went into their parents’ room to read with Dad. Maddie tried to focus on her drawing, but her conversation with Mom kept rolling around in her mind.
God, help me to know what I can do for Ruby. And if there’s anything I can do for Annabeth and Emily, help me see that too.
Maddie leaned back against her pillows, looking over at the closet. Mom was right, they had so many dresses to choose from. All they had to do was look in their closets, and they could easily find something to wear for a concert at the Opry. It wouldn’t be that way for Ruby, not even close. Maddie wondered whether she had a closet at the shelter. Where did people keep their things? How many things would they even have? She looked around her room then, and imagined trying to pack everything important into one suitcase each. Miss Julia had said Henry’s family had to travel with just one suitcase each. It must have been similar for Ruby.
TWENTY-FOUR
Maddie tiptoed into Mia’s room, hoping a quiet conversation counted as quiet time. “Mia?”
“Hmm?” Mia said, still deep in her book. She’d started reading Anne of Green Gables a few days ago. Even though it had been so busy, she’d still managed to read almost half of the book already.
Maddie perched on Mia’s bed. “If you didn’t have . . . well, all the things we have here . . . like a closet full of dresses and toys and books and everything, what would you want?”
“I don’t know, I suppose I’d want all those things—dresses, clothes, toys, definitely books,” Mia said.
“But what if you didn’t have a lot of room? Like, if you had to keep everything in one suitcase, like Henry’s family?”
“I’m sure Henry’s family has more room than just one suitcase each, now, Maddie. Miss Julia said they moved into their own apartment.”
“Yeah.” Maddie played with the fabric of Mia’s comforter, rubbing it between her fingers. “But Ruby’s family doesn’t have their own apartment.”
“True.” Mia closed her book. “That’s why I want to find the guitar so much. If we can raise a lot of money for the shelter, maybe we can make a difference for families like Ruby’s.”
“But there aren’t any clues to help us find the guitar,” Maddie said. “And even if there were any clues, we have hardly any time to solve the mystery.”
“But we shouldn’t give up,” Mia said.
“No, so in the meantime, isn’t there something else we can do to help Ruby?”
“Like give her some of our things?” Mia asked. “Yes, I guess we could. But we can’t walk into the shelter with our arms full of bags or boxes just for her. We’d embarrass her. Plus, there are a lot of other people there who need help too, right?”
Maddie thought about how it might feel to have someone bring you a bag of things at a place like the shelter. One time, for Valentine’s Day, Emily had pressed brightly wrapped packages into Mia and Maddie’s hands at the end of the day. The gifts turned out to be silver charm bracelets. Even though Maddie loved hers, she felt strange wearing it to school the next day. She hadn’t given anything to Emily. It seemed that if someone gave you a gift, you should give them one in return, unless it was your birthday or something.
“It might embarrass her,” Maddie admitted. “But I don’t think it’s right to do nothing just because we’re not sure what to do.”
“Yeah,” Mia said. “Did you talk to Mom about it?”
“She said that sometimes the littlest thing helps,” Maddie said. “I’ll keep thinking about it. I’m sure there’s something we can do.”
“And think about the guitar too,” Mia said. “What haven’t we tried? I know there aren’t any footprints or clues to follow, but it feels wrong to only wait and hope someone will return the guitar, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Maddie said.
“Dinnertime, girls!” Mom called upstairs.
“Probably, we shouldn’t talk about the guitar at dinner,” Maddie said.
“Right,” Mia said. “But I’ll keep thinking.”
“Me too.”
The minute they finished dinner, Mia wanted to talk to Lulu and Maddie in her room. “Okay, I have an idea,” she said. “We haven’t talked to the people who work at the Opry, like Amanda. There are a lot of people who might have seen something suspicious.”
“Wouldn’t they have said something already?” Maddie flopped onto Mia’s bed, feeling wrung out. She was full of problems that had no solutions. Her head hurt from thinking all through dinner and coming up with nothing.
“Said something about what?” Lulu wanted to know.
“About seeing something suspicious at the Opry.” Maddie moved over to make room for Lulu on the bed.
“But what if the person didn’t realize that what they saw had anything to do with the guitar?” Mia said. “Sometimes what you see isn’t suspicious all by itself. But, combined with all the other suspicious things that are going on, a pattern shows up. You know, like Jackson? No one suspected him of letting animals out of their exhibits at the water park until we noticed him showing up in lots of places he shouldn’t have been.”
“So maybe three people saw a stranger, like that?” Lulu asked.
“Exactly,” Mia said.
“It can’t hurt to ask,” Maddie said.
Mia sat at her desk and took out paper and pencil. “I’ll draw a map of the Opry, so we can take notes tomorrow.”
“I’ll help!” Lulu bounced off the bed to look over Mia’s shoulder.
Maddie went back to her room, to her closet, and ran her hand across the many clothes hanging there. Somehow, there must be a way to give Ruby . . . something. Maybe not bags and bags of things, but something. Maybe their parents would let them go to the shelter tomorrow at lunch.
Maddie rushed back to Mia’s room. “Maybe she can come to the concert!”
“Who?�
� Lulu asked.
“We have the seats Mom saved for Annabeth and Emily, and they’re not coming. And Ruby loves music. She’d love the concert, wouldn’t she?”
“Why aren’t Annabeth and Emily coming?” Lulu asked.
“They’re just not,” Mia said, and Maddie felt another pang of sadness. Still, if Ruby and one of her family members could come instead, that would be something.
“We could go to Third Street tomorrow and give her something—something small—and invite her to the concert!” Maddie said. “We could tell her we need a friend in the audience, because we do. At least I do.”
“It’s a good idea,” Mia said. “What kind of small thing would we give her? Something warm, like a coat?”
“That could work. Or mittens or a hat or something. It’s going to keep getting colder,” Maddie said.
“I wouldn’t want a coat,” Lulu said. “I’d want something to play with, like a doll.”
“I’d want . . .” Maddie scanned the room, thinking. That’s when she saw Mia’s silver charm bracelet, the one Emily had given her, sitting on the top of her dresser. A friend, Maddie thought. But how do you give someone your friendship? Especially someone like Ruby, who she might not ever see again? The thing about Emily’s bracelet was that whenever Maddie wore hers, she felt connected to her friend. Even now, when they were far apart in so many ways, the bracelet felt like a promise. We’re connected. We’re friends, even when things are difficult.
“What would you want?” Lulu asked.
Instead of answering, Maddie hurried into her room. She brought back her jewelry box and sat on Mia’s floor. She sorted through the necklaces and bracelets until she found what she was looking for. A necklace with a delicate silver heart, angled to the side. She cradled the necklace in her hand.
“You can’t give her that!” Lulu said. “Mom and Dad gave that to you. And it’s one of your favorites!”
“It’s special,” Maddie said. “That’s what I think I’d want. Something special. Something a friend would give to a friend.”
“Well . . .” Mia said, looking doubtful. “I’m not sure Mom and Dad will let you give your necklace away.”
“I think they’ll understand,” Maddie said.
“Girls, it’s bedtime,” Mom said, stopping by Mia’s room. “We want you well rested for tomorrow. Let’s go brush our teeth and wash our faces.”
Maddie decided to wait until breakfast to run her idea past Mom. She needed to think about it a little more.
TWENTY-FIVE
Cinnamon rolls!” Lulu shouted as she bounded down the stairs.
Maddie laughed as she and Mia followed. When they weren’t traveling, sometimes they had cinnamon rolls for breakfast as a special treat. Today was extra special, because not only were they at home, but tonight was the night of the Opry benefit.
“Plus bacon,” Dad said. “You need your protein to make it a balanced meal.”
Mom just shook her head and smiled.
“I know we’re supposed to go to school today,” Maddie said, sitting at the table.
“I hear a but coming,” Dad said.
“Well, Mia and I thought that since Annabeth and Emily don’t want to come tonight, maybe we should invite Ruby and a guest. Like her mom or someone.” Maddie took a cinnamon roll, which was still warm from the oven, and breathed deeply. Cinnamon, warm sugar, a whiff of vanilla. “Mmmm.”
“Pass the plate!” Lulu said.
“Me first,” Mia said, which was technically fair because she was between Maddie and Lulu.
“Hmph.” Lulu tapped her fingers on her plate while she waited.
“Relax, Lulu.” Mia passed the plate. “There’s plenty to go around.”
“How many can I have?” Lulu asked.
Mom raised an eyebrow. “Let’s start with one.”
“We could go to the shelter today and invite her,” Maddie said.
“And Maddie wants to give Ruby her heart necklace,” Lulu added. “The one you gave her last year for Christmas.”
“That’s very sweet, honey,” Mom said. “But are you sure? You love that necklace.”
“I want to give her something special,” Maddie said. “If I gave her a dress I didn’t like anymore or something, that wouldn’t be a real gift. Plus, she could wear the necklace and remember that she has friends.”
“I love that idea, Maddie,” Mom said.
“And I want to give her a coat and gloves,” Mia said.
“And I’m giving her a doll!” Lulu said.
“All wonderful gifts,” Dad said.
“So what do you say?” Maddie wanted to know. “Can we give her Annabeth and Emily’s tickets?”
“Are you sure the girls don’t want to come?” Mom asked. “I should call their moms and make sure before we give them away.”
“Maybe they changed their minds,” Mia said, exchanging a look with Maddie. “But I doubt it.”
“I’m sure things will work out between you girls,” Mom said. “It’s hard, sometimes, when a friend has an opportunity you wish you could have. But jealous feelings don’t last forever.”
“I wish jealous feelings went away faster,” Maddie said. “I really want Annabeth and Emily to come tonight. But if Ruby can come instead, that makes it a little better. At least I’ll have one friend in the audience.”
“You’ll have lots of friends in the audience,” Mom said. “Ms. Carpenter, for one, and lots of our family friends. But I understand what you mean. You want someone who’s there especially for you.”
“So can we go to the shelter today?” Maddie asked. “Please, Mom?”
“I didn’t want you to miss another day of school,” Mom said. “But a low-key day is important, so maybe it will be better this way. I’ll call Ms. Carpenter and talk with her about schoolwork, and also check in with Annabeth and Emily’s moms, just in case.”
The girls finished their cinnamon rolls and bacon and went upstairs to collect their gifts for Ruby. Soon, Mom came upstairs and peeked her head into Maddie’s room.
“Come with me to Mia’s room, okay?”
Maddie latched the heart necklace around her own neck for the last time and followed Mom. A knot tightened in her stomach . . . Was something wrong? Mom went first to Lulu’s room and explained she needed a few minutes to talk with Maddie and Mia alone.
“Without me?” Lulu wailed.
“I promise we’re not leaving you out,” Mom said. “And after we’ve talked, you and I can pack your bag for tonight together. Maybe we can find something sparkly for you to wear in your hair.”
“Okay,” Lulu mumbled, clearly not sold on the plan.
“Let’s sit.” Mom motioned to the bed once they were alone in Mia’s room with the door closed.
Maddie pulled a pillow into her lap when she sat down, hugging it to her chest.
“Are we in trouble?” Mia asked, echoing Maddie’s thoughts.
“No,” Mom said. “I just spoke to Annabeth and Emily’s moms. They each said almost the same thing—the girls are upset, and they’ve both insisted they don’t want to go to the concert.”
“It’s not fair.” Mia punched her pillow. “We didn’t do anything wrong, Mom, I promise we didn’t.”
Mom nodded. “I understand you didn’t mean to hurt your friends. But most of the time when feelings are hurt, it’s not a one-sided problem.”
“It started when we showed them our dance,” Maddie said. “I don’t think we should have suggested a dance-off.”
“But they started it, by making a dance that didn’t leave room for us,” Mia said.
“What happened after the dance-off?” Mom asked.
“We didn’t even have it, because Ms. Carpenter couldn’t judge it that day at recess. So, we showed them our dance, and then they went off and practiced their own dance. Without us,” Mia said.
“We told them about the concert,” Maddie said. “Which didn’t help. I mean, they knew about the benefit and were planning to come with
us. When we told them we might be singing instead of just watching from the audience, Annabeth wasn’t happy.”
“Shouldn’t they be happy for us?” Mia asked. “They’re our best friends.”
“I can see you’re upset,” Mom said. “And I understand why the situation doesn’t feel fair to you. I wonder if you can put yourself in their shoes, though. Especially Annabeth’s shoes. You know how much she loves to sing and perform. She would love to be the one up there on the stage performing. It may not be possible for her to cheer you on right now, since you’re having an opportunity to do something she’d like to do so much.”
“So what are we supposed to do?” Maddie asked. “I don’t want them to be mad at us forever.”
“How did you leave things?” Mom asked.
“They said they wanted space until after the concert,” Mia said.
“Maybe you give them space, then,” Mom said. “And look for a way to invite them to be part of your lives too. Maybe not for the benefit, but I’m sure something else will come up. When they see you reaching out and not holding on to your anger, it will be easier for them to let go of theirs.”
“It’s not fair,” Maddie said. “Since we didn’t do anything wrong.”
“No,” Mom said. “But if you look at it from their point of view, the situation isn’t all that fair, either. Watching your best friends do something as exciting as singing at the Opry—leaving you behind a little bit—is difficult. When something comes between friends like this, one side or the other has to reach out to close the gap. If you wait for them to do it, you might be waiting a long time.”
“I don’t want that,” Maddie said.
“No, I don’t want that for you either,” Mom said. “When the concert is over, I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to reconnect.”
“So, is it okay for us to invite Ruby to the show instead?” Maddie asked.
“Yes,” Mom said. “And I love that we can find something good in this hard situation. Now, why don’t you two finish getting ready? We’ll go straight to the theater from the shelter. Miss Julia will bring your bags, so make sure you pack up everything you want for tonight.”
Miracle in Music City Page 9