Karen's Mistake

by Ann M. Martin

  I ran to the window and watched them drive away.

  Then I finished my snack and went upstairs to do my homework. My mind wandered a few times. I wondered what stores Nannie and Mr. English were shopping in. Then it was back to math. And spelling.

  I stopped to have dinner, then returned to my homework. It seemed like forever before I heard a car pulling into the driveway. I ran to my window and watched Nannie get out. I wanted to see if she was smiling. That would tell me if she had had a good time.

  She was smiling, and that was not all. She and Mr. English were holding hands as they walked to our front door.

  I could see this first date would not be the last.

  I ran downstairs.

  “Thank you again,” I heard Nannie say when the door opened. “I had a lovely time.”

  I was not the only one who had come downstairs. My whole family was there. Everyone seemed so happy for Nannie. I could not understand it. Didn’t they know what might happen?

  I followed Kristy to her room.

  “Kristy, I want to know why you are not upset. Nannie just had her first date with Mr. English. If she keeps having a good time, she might hardly be here at all!” I said.

  “Did you see how happy she was?” asked Kristy. “I hope she goes out more. We can take care of ourselves.”

  I talked to Sam and Charlie next. They thought the same thing.

  Elizabeth seemed the happiest of all. Maybe she was just pretending. I found her sitting in the den with Daddy.

  “I am worried about Nannie. She went out with Mr. English, but she hardly knows him,” I said.

  “I have been hearing about him from my friend Alice for years. I know he is a very nice man,” Elizabeth replied.

  “But what if Nannie goes out with him all the time? What will happen to us?” I asked.

  Daddy put his arm around me.

  “You worry too much sometimes,” he said. “Mr. English is a nice man. Nannie had a pleasant evening with him. That is all.”

  For now, I thought. For now.

  What Kind of New Year Is This?

  On Tuesday evening Nannie went out again. Thank goodness she did not go out with Mr. English. She went to a community meeting.

  “You are going out a lot lately,” I said.

  “It is good to keep busy,” said Nannie.

  I did not tell her I did not want her to keep too busy.

  As I watched Nannie walk down the driveway to her car, I thought of the nights I might be without her. She would not be around to read, or talk, or watch TV with me. She would not be around to help out with Emily. That meant that Elizabeth and Daddy would be busier and would have less time for me.

  I was thinking of all this, trying my best to be brave, when I heard Daddy and Elizabeth taking about something very interesting. And a little scary.

  “David Michael’s and Kristy’s schools will be closed next month for a week,” said Elizabeth. “Do you think it would be a good time to take a trip to Florida?”

  “It sounds like a great idea to me,” said Daddy.

  It did not sound so great to me. In fact, it sounded awful! I did not like thinking of the five of them going off and leaving me.

  Andrew and I would be at the little house then, so we would not be able to go with them. And I did not think Sam and Charlie would go, because they had so much to do at home. But what about Nannie? Maybe she would go with them. After all, Mr. English would be back in Florida by then.

  I had been standing just outside the kitchen. Now I stepped inside.

  “Hi, how are you?” I said.

  I did not tell Daddy and Elizabeth I had been listening to their conversation. I hoped they would say something about it. Then I could tell them what I thought. But they did not.

  “Would you like to help us clean up? You can dry some bowls for us,” said Daddy.

  “I have homework,” I replied.

  I did not really think I had much homework left. But just because Nannie was out on the town did not mean I had to dry bowls. Kristy walked in then.

  “I will help,” she said.

  Then Sam and Charlie showed up. And David Michael. Soon everyone was helping to clean up. I was still standing there.

  “I thought you had homework to do,” said Daddy.

  “Maybe I have time to clean up and do my homework,” I said.

  “We do not want you to have to rush,” said Elizabeth. “You should go upstairs and get to work. Thank you anyway.”

  Boo. I was being sent upstairs to do homework I did not have. I was going to be left out all over again.

  But this time I did not really mind. I did not want to stay and help, because I was feeling sad and grumpy. Nannie was going out all the time. Daddy and Elizabeth were going to Florida. I was being left out all over the place.

  The new year was not starting out very well. I was mad at everybody and everything.

  Second Date

  Guess who went out again on Wednesday night. If you guessed Nannie and Mr. Brian English, you are right. This time they went to a movie and dinner.

  While they were out, I was upstairs trying to do my homework. (This time I really had some.) But all I could think about was Florida. I remembered what Nannie said about being in warm Florida instead of cold Connecticut in the winter.

  Then I started thinking about Nannie and her date. She was probably having a great time.

  I looked down at my homework and a spelling word caught my eye. The word was leave. I had to put the word in a sentence. That was easy. I wrote, Please do not leave!

  I had just finished writing the exclamation point when I heard a car pull into the driveway. I ran to the top of the stairs. A few seconds later I heard Nannie’s voice. “Would you like to come in for coffee?” she said.

  “Thank you for asking. But I promised Alice I would be home early,” Mr. English replied.

  I was glad to hear that. But then I heard something I was not so happy about.

  “We will have to talk more about Florida,” said Mr. English.

  “Yes,” said Nannie. “I really want — ”

  Suddenly I could not hear a word they were saying. Someone had turned the TV on in the den. The voices on the TV drowned out Nannie.

  “Andrew! You need to press the down arrow right here,” I heard Daddy say. “That will make the sound lower.”

  But the sound grew louder.

  “Try again,” said Daddy over the TV noise. “You must have pressed the up arrow.”

  A few seconds later I could hear Nannie’s voice again. She was at the end of a sentence, and all I heard were two words. The words were white dress.

  “Excellent,” said Mr. English. “Thank you again for a lovely evening. May I call you tomorrow?”

  “Of course,” said Nannie.

  I had to hold on to the railing so I would not fall down. When I was sure Brian was gone, I raced back to my room and threw myself on my bed. Of course Brian would call Nannie tomorrow. They would probably talk to each other every day now. I was surprised they were not talking every hour. Every minute!

  “Oh, Moosie! We are going to have to say good-bye to Nannie soon,” I said.

  I almost began to cry. Of course Nannie was going to Florida. Brian English was there. Half my family was going. There would be a white dress. And a white dress could mean only one thing.

  Nannie was going to get married in Florida, and I was not going to be there.

  Wedding Plans?

  At recess the next day, I called an emergency meeting with Hannie and Nancy on the playground. We needed to do some serious talking.

  “Do you think Nannie would really get married without inviting me?” I asked.

  I had gone over every detail with them, starting with how I foolishly brought Nannie and Mr. English together at the New Year’s Eve party.

  “Do not blame yourself. You said they had already met,” said Nancy.

  “But I introduced them again. And I told them to talk to each other,�
�� I said.

  “It probably would have happened anyway,” said Hannie. “Love is like that.”

  Nancy and I rolled our eyes in Hannie’s direction. We could tell a Nate Bellows conversation was coming. But Nancy had more to say about Nannie first.

  “In my opinion, you are jumping to conclusions,” she said. “You have no proof that Nannie is getting married.”

  “She does not need proof. When someone is in love, you can see it in their eyes,” said Hannie.

  “Her eyes look exactly like they always do,” I replied. “But I still think she is getting married.”

  “If they are getting married, I bet they will have a small, romantic wedding. That is what I want when I marry Nate Bellows,” said Hannie.

  “That is ridiculous!” said Nancy. “You do not even know Nate Bellows.”

  “Nannie only met Mr. English a few times, and look how fast things are happening,” said Hannie. “And anyway, I will be meeting Nate Bellows very soon.”

  “Oh, really? How are you going to do that?” asked Nancy.

  “You know I have been writing to him every day. And I have a stack of letters from him,” said Hannie.

  “The one answer we saw was a form letter,” I said.

  “It was not. And neither is this invitation to his next appearance. He is going to be at Washington Mall,” said Hannie.

  Nancy and I looked at the so-called invitation. It was nothing personal. It was a flier.

  “This notice was sent to everyone on his mailing list,” I said.

  “You are just jealous,” said Hannie. “But I understand. It will be hard when your grandmother and your best friend get married at almost the same time.”

  “Hannie, you are dreaming! You have to know you are not going to marry Nate Bellows. He is a superstar, and you do not even know him,” said Nancy. “You are also a little young to get married.”

  “Okay, I may have to wait a few years. But it will happen. I am going to meet him tomorrow at the performance he invited me to. Do you want to come?” asked Hannie.

  Nancy and I looked at each other. What could we do? Our friend needed us. She needed us to help her see the real and true story. So the next day the Three Musketeers would go to Washington Mall.

  Nannie’s Secret

  When I got home, Nannie had an excellent snack waiting for me. It was her homemade pizza crackers. (She puts cheese and tomato sauce on the crackers, then pops them in the oven. Yum!)

  After our snack Nannie and Andrew decided to play a game of Chutes and Ladders. I was glad Nannie was acting like her old self. She did not have one single plan to go out later.

  I did not feel like playing the game, but I kept them company so I could talk to Nannie. Maybe I would find out more about her wedding plans.

  “It is your turn, Andrew,” said Nannie.

  Andrew spun the spinner.

  “Hannie asked Nancy and me to go with her to see Nate Bellows at Washington Mall tomorrow,” I said. “She thinks she is going to marry him.”

  “I had crushes on stars when I was young too,” said Nannie.

  “Hannie is already planning her wedding,” I said.

  I was trying to keep Nannie on the subject. But she did not answer. She was watching Andrew move his piece around the board. I tried again.

  “Do you want to know what kind of wedding she is planning to have?” I asked.

  “I am sure it is something nice,” said Nannie.

  “Nannie, it is your turn,” said Andrew.

  Nannie spun the spinner. I could see she was not going to talk to me about any wedding plans. She was being very secretive. I went upstairs to my room.

  A little while later, I heard Nannie talking to Daddy. I heard him say the word limousine.

  That did it! Nannie did not want to tell me about her wedding, but I had my proof now. White dress. Limousine. You cannot fool me!

  Then Nannie called to me and said she needed help. I thought, finally she is going to tell me everything. She was going to invite me to be her flower girl, of course. (I have been a flower girl two times, so I know all about it.)

  I was wrong. Nannie did not say one word about her wedding. She just wanted me to set the table. While I was putting the napkins out, Andrew said to me, “I will do that. Napkins are my job, remember?”

  “No, I do not remember,” I replied. “Nannie asked me to set the table, so that is what I am doing.”

  “I want to put the napkins down.”

  “No,” I replied.

  “Yes.”

  “No.”

  Andrew tried to take one of the napkins, but I held on. It was paper, so it ripped in half.

  “Now look what you did!” I shouted.

  “Karen, please do not shout. Use your indoor voice,” said Nannie. “And it would be nice if you let Andrew help. He can put the napkins down, and you can do everything else.”

  I let Andrew put the napkins down. But I was not happy.

  Later, when Nannie was saying good night to me, she pointed out that my room was a mess.

  “It would be nice if you tried to be a bit neater,” said Nannie. “Maybe you can pick up part of the mess each day.”

  “All right, I will try,” I replied.

  Nannie left, and I suddenly had a new worry. I worried that Nannie was keeping her wedding and moving plans secret only from me. I was sure that everyone else in the house knew all about her plans. She was keeping them secret from me because she did not want me to be part of them. She did not want someone who talked in a loud voice and kept a messy room at her wedding.

  Love Connection

  The last thing I wanted to do on Friday afternoon was go to the Nate Bellows concert. I did not think his music was so great. And I knew the mall would be very crowded. (I do not like getting pushed around in crowds.) But I had promised Hannie I would go.

  “I am so excited! I am finally going to meet my true love,” Hannie said to Nancy and me.

  “And I am going to get my toes stepped on,” I said.

  “Please stay close to me, girls,” said Mr. Papadakis.

  Hannie’s father had left work early and was leading us through the huge crowd of fans at Washington Mall.

  “Keep going, Daddy. I want to be right up front,” said Hannie.

  “I am doing my best,” Mr. Papadakis replied.

  This was not a regular concert. Nate Bellows was on a promotional tour. He would sing a few of his most popular songs and then sign autographs. As we moved through the crowd, we listened to him sing “Love Connection.”

  Ooh, ooh!

  When I met you

  I just knew

  It was meant to be

  Just you and me.

  Ooh, ooh!

  I did not like the song much, but I could not help thinking of Nannie and Brian English. I wondered if they had known it was meant to be when they met.

  “Did you see? He looked right at me when he sang that song,” said Hannie.

  “He could have been looking at any one of us,” said Nancy. “And how could that song be about you? You have not met yet.”

  “We have met in our hearts and our letters,” said Hannie.

  She motioned for us to be quiet. He was introducing a brand-new song from his soon-to-be-released CD. It was called “Yes to Love.”

  Hey, sweet baby, I got your letter.

  Nothing else could make me feel better

  Than to hear from my sweet baby,

  Saying yes to me, not maybe

  Saying yes to love, to love, to love —

  Saying yes to loving me!

  I thought Hannie was going to faint.

  “Can you believe it? He is writing about our letters!” she said.

  I was glad Mr. Papadakis was standing off to the side. I did not think it would have made him happy to hear Hannie talking this way about someone she did not even know.

  Nate Bellows sang a couple more songs. Then his manager announced that he would sign autographs.


  Hannie raced to be first in line, and we followed. A couple of other fans got there before us, but Hannie’s turn came fast.

  “Hello, Nate,” she said. “I am Hannie Papadakis. I am so happy to finally meet you!”

  Nate Bellows did not even look up. He signed a flier and handed it to Hannie.

  “Nate? It is me, Hannie. I saved every one of your letters. I love the new song you wrote about us,” she said.

  “I am glad you liked the concert,” said Nate Bellows. “Be sure to buy the new CD. Next, please!”

  Nate Bellows had no idea who Hannie was. Nancy and I noticed that all he had written on the flier was his own name. He had not written “Dear Hannie.” He had not written a personal note.

  And the flier was the same “letter” she had received in the mail. Poor Hannie!

  Brokenhearted

  I put my hand on Hannie’s shoulder.

  “Come on, it is time to go home,” I said.

  Nancy and I did not wait to get Nate Bellows’s autograph. He had no idea who Hannie was, and he had not been very nice to her. Nancy and I could have said, “We told you so.” But neither one of us did. Our friend, Hannie, was sad. She even started to cry a little in the car.

  “Is everything all right back there?” asked Mr. Papadakis.

  Hannie could not keep her tears in any longer. She cried loudly and told her father about writing to Nate Bellows.

  “I thought he was writing back to me,” she said.

  “I am sorry your feelings are hurt,” said Mr. Papadakis. “Stars like Nate Bellows rarely have time to answer letters themselves. Usually they do not even get to see the letters. It is nothing personal. They are just too busy.”

  When we were back in Stoneybrook, Mr. Papadakis said Nancy and I could visit for awhile. Hannie marched straight to her room and we followed. She was not crying anymore. She was angry.

  “Good-bye forever, Nate Bellows!” she said.

  She tore his poster off the wall. Then she took out a shoe box filled with papers. They were all the “letters” she had received. Together we tore them up into little bits.