“No mistake. I called.”
“Oh.”
Georgia got up and walked toward our room.
I was halfway off the bench and ready to follow her when she called without looking back, “Don’t follow me.”
All my good feelings about Valerie eating lunch with me evaporated.
I forced myself to walk Miss Genevieve and my other dogs, because even when someone’s sister’s dreams were destroyed and you felt horrible about it, dogs still needed to do their business.
An Answer
WHEN GEORGIA TOLD MOM AND Dad over our dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches and sliced apples, Dad responded with a glob of food inside his cheek. “That means you’ll get to stay here at least another year!”
Mom and Georgia looked at him like he’d said the most awful thing ever, because he had.
“John?”
“What?” Dad swallowed and wiped his mouth on a napkin.
“This is all Georgia has ever wanted.”
My sister started crying again.
Dad put his hands to his head. “I’m sorry, baby. I just thought… it could make up for… some of the time I was… I’m… I… can’t say anything right. I’m sorry.”
Georgia cried louder.
Dad was up and out the door, half a sandwich and a pile of browning apple slices still on his plate.
Mom hugged Georgia, and they swayed back and forth. “Shh. He didn’t mean it.”
I wanted to hug them both.
I wanted someone to hug me.
It felt like my family was falling apart. How did that happen so quickly?
At lunchtime it seemed like the best day ever, but now…
I heard Miss Lola Lemon start and crunch across the gravel driveway, and my stomach plunged. I wanted to run out and beg him not to leave. But I wanted to stay with my sister and Mom, too.
My fingers automatically reached for the sides of my beret, and I tugged it more firmly on my head. Instead of it making me feel more secure, it felt heavy today. I wondered what it would feel like if I didn’t wear the beret all the time. I had thought it brought me closer to Dad, especially when he was away, but maybe the beret was a bit of bad luck, sitting right there on top of my head. Jenna Finch broke her toe because of it, and it sure didn’t help me keep my Paris Project money when Dad was heavy into gambling. And even though I wore it on the day of Dad’s plea bargain, it didn’t keep Dad out of jail. I was wearing it when Georgia found out she was wait-listed for Vermont, too. That dopey beret didn’t do one good thing for me.
Maybe tomorrow I wouldn’t wear it.
“Sweetheart,” Mom said, “people who are wait-listed get in all the time. You just need to be patient.”
“Mom, the only way for me to get in would mean other people declining their acceptances to Vermont. Who is going to decide not to go there?”
Mom continued to hold Georgia and rock her. “You’d be surprised, sweetheart. Kids could say no for all sorts of reasons. And that would open up a spot for you. Georgia, you definitely still have a chance to get in.”
“I don’t,” Georgia wailed. “They didn’t want me. After all my hard work. It didn’t matter.”
While Mom held Georgia and whispered soft words into her hair, I watched Miss Genevieve lying by the door and whimpering.
I wondered where Dad went.
Again.
* * *
That night Georgia fell asleep before I did.
I heard when Dad came home. And when he went into my parents’ bedroom.
“Where were you, John?”
“Out.”
“That’s not gonna cut it.”
Go, Mom!
Part of me was glad our walls were so thin I could hear everything. The other part of me didn’t want to hear any of this. If Dad was gambling again, I didn’t want to know. My heart couldn’t take it.
“I’m frustrated, Glory. I want to work but can’t get a job. I see how hard you’re working every day, and it’s killing me. Then I keep screwing things up around here. I didn’t mean to make Georgia feel bad.”
“John?”
“Hmm?”
“Where were you?”
A pause.
“I went to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting. It’s where I went the other night too. I promised myself I’d never put you and the girls through that again.”
“Oh, John.”
I heard Mom crying, but I could tell it was because she was happy.
I was too.
Maybe I’d be able to ask Declan for my Eiffel Tower tin back.
Thank you, Dad.
A Happy Surprise
ONE EVENING IN LATE MARCH I came home from hanging out at Valerie’s house in town. We listened to music and talked about school stuff, like how bad the lunchroom smelled that day because they were serving fish tacos. Blech! She even helped me look up French restaurants in Orlando on her laptop. We found one called Le Coq au Vin. It was très expensive, but a dish on their menu, Vegetable Strudel, looked so delicious I thought about spending some of my Paris Project money to take Declan, Todd, and Valerie there.
Spending time with Valerie made everything happening at home feel a little less awful; it also made me happy to know that one of Jenna’s friends would rather hang out with me than with Jenna and her cool friends.
Mom and Georgia were at the table when I walked in. They were both grinning like crazy.
“What’s going on?”
“You tell her,” Georgia said.
Mom waved her hand. “It’s your thing. You tell her.”
Miss Genevieve came up and sniffed my sneakers. “Somebody tell her!” I yelled.
Mom scooted over on the bench and patted the seat beside her.
I raised my eyebrows at Georgia. When she nodded, I sat next to Mom.
Georgia laid her hands flat on the table. “Okay. You know your Paris Project list?”
“Of course.”
“Well, Cleve, you’re going to be able to cross a whole bunch of things off.”
I felt a tingle of excitement, wondering if Georgia was going to treat for Le Coq au Vin. But I hadn’t told her about it, so that couldn’t be what she was talking about. I looked at Mom, hoping for a clue.
“I told your sister this was a bad idea,” Mom blurted, but she was still grinning.
Georgia shook her head. “It’s a great idea! The best idea I’ve ever had!”
“It’s shortsighted,” Mom said. “You’ve got to consider your future.”
But Georgia looked so happy—the first time she’d displayed even a glimmer of joy since she learned she was wait-listed at the University of Vermont.
“We’re going somewhere,” Georgia said in a sneaky, mysterious way.
“Where?!” I shouted. Besides going to Winter Beach or the very occasional visit to see Aunt Allison and Ellen, I’d never been outside Sassafras. I realized Mom had been to only two special places outside Sassafras herself. We have magnets from both places on our fridge—Cleveland, Ohio, where she took a funny picture posing with a giant guitar outside the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. (She and Dad went to Cleveland for my grandpop’s funeral.) They couldn’t afford to go into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, so they took a few pictures outside it. She and Dad also went to Atlanta, Georgia, on their honeymoon. They went to a Braves game, the Coca-Cola factory, and the aquarium. Mom said if she ever got a chance to go back, she’d want to visit the Center for Civil and Human Rights.
“Cleveland?” Georgia asked.
I couldn’t sit still any longer. “Please tell me already!” I wondered if we’d won the lottery or maybe Dad finally got a job and this was how we were celebrating.
Georgia opened her laptop and turned the screen around so I could see it.
The most beautiful hotel I’d ever seen, the Enchanté Boutique Hotel, stared back at me. It looked like it came out of a fairy tale. A line below the photo read: A French-style château where you will find a little bit of Paris in the heart of Silic
on Valley.
I turned the screen back toward my sister. I looked at Mom. Then at Georgia. They were both grinning like they’d just watched a thousand funny kitten and puppy videos online. My heart thundered. “What’s going on?”
Georgia pulled her shoulders back. “We’re going on a trip! I’m going to use the money I’d saved for Vermont for something good. Something important.”
I swallowed hard. “What?”
“You, me, and Mom are going to the Enchanté.”
“What about Dad?” It just popped out.
Mom put a hand on my shoulder. “We invited him, but he wants to stay here and keep looking for work. Your dad’s pretty amazing, you know.”
Georgia and I nodded.
“But he’s adamant. Dad wants us to go on this trip, thinks it’s a great idea. He knows I’ve always wanted to travel, you’ve always loved Paris, and your sister has worked so hard that she deserves this. So, it would be a girls’ trip. Just the three of us. I still don’t think it’s a wise move, but…”
Even though Mom sounded concerned, I could tell she was excited. All she had ever wanted was to do some traveling.
Georgia typed on her laptop, then pointed to the screen. “We’ll be spending four days and three nights at the hotel. While we’re there, we’ll be dining at a French restaurant and going to a museum to see the French impressionists. It’s all right in the same area.”
Both Mom and Georgia were staring at me now.
“A French restaurant and the French impressionists?”
Georgia nodded.
“That hotel. It’s so fancy.”
She nodded again.
Then I realized something. “Does this mean we’re going on a plane?!”
This time Mom nodded so hard her hair bounced all over the place. It looked like even her hair was happy.
I was so overwhelmed that I started blubbering.
Georgia hustled over and pushed in next to me. The three of us all mashed together on the bench seat—Georgia’s arms around my shoulders and Mom’s head leaning against mine.
“When?” I managed to say through my sobs.
“Last week in April.” Georgia squeezed me tighter. “The plane and hotel are all booked. Mom tried to talk me into taking us to Epcot instead, but I knew that would feel fake. Plus, how would we see the French impressionists at Epcot? Am I right, Cleveland?”
“Oui. Oui.” Although I thought Epcot could be really fun too. Jenna and her family went a couple of years ago, and she couldn’t stop talking about how much fun she had visiting the different countries.
“Your sister looked into actually going to Paris,” Mom said.
I sniffed. “You did?”
“Yup. I thought we could go over there and you could check out the school and all, but between the flights and passports and everything, it was just too expensive. This plan seemed like a good alternative.”
“This plan sounds amazing,” I said.
“Indeed.” Mom nodded.
“It’s going to be the best vacation ever!” Georgia screamed.
“Oh my…” I didn’t think I’d ever been happier… while crying.
Georgia put her hand out. “All for one!”
Mom put her hand on top of Georgia’s.
I put mine on top of Mom’s.
“And one for all,” Mom and I said at the same time.
It felt like Dad’s hand needed to be on our pile, and I really wished he were coming on this trip, but I also knew how important it was to him to find a job. He’d been totally focused on it since he came home from jail nearly two months ago. Plus, he was going to the Gamblers Anonymous meetings a couple of evenings a week, too. And while he could probably go to them anywhere, Dad talked about how much he liked the people he had met at the meetings near us.
I looked at the picture of the hotel again on Georgia’s computer. It was bathed in soft yellow light. I couldn’t wait to see what it looked like in person!
A shiver ran down my spine. A French hotel. A French restaurant. And French art at a museum. This was incredible! Incroyable!
I would have tugged on the sides of my beret, but I hadn’t been wearing it for four whole weeks now. I hadn’t felt the need to.
A Third Chair
OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS Mom tried to talk Georgia out of spending all her savings on this trip, but she didn’t try very hard. In fact, a week before we were supposed to go, on a Sunday—the day we used to devote to visiting Dad at the video visitation center—the three of us drove to Target in Winter Beach, and Georgia treated us all to new clothes.
I finally, finally got brand-new sneakers. They felt amazing. I hoped it took a long time before my toes poked holes through these.
Georgia and I pushed the red cart around the store together while Mom was in the greeting-card section, looking for a lovey-dovey card to sneak under Dad’s pillow right before we left on the trip. It was nice to be in a place where people didn’t give us the side-eye as we walked around the store, but even back home, people had seemed to stop judging us so much now that Dad was home. Things were getting better.
I nudged Georgia’s arm. “You must have saved up a lot of money to go to Vermont.”
She suddenly looked sad, and I felt horrible. “Yeah, Cleve. I did.”
“Are you sure you want to spend it on this?”
After a deep breath, Georgia nodded. “I am. I definitely am.”
“Okay then!”
She and I zoomed the red cart around Target, giggling and speaking French phrases to each other with exaggerated accents.
The people we passed looked at us like we were bonkers.
And I didn’t care—pas du tout!
* * *
As soon as we got back from Target, I went right over to Declan’s.
“You’re going to have the best time,” Dec said as we sat in the chairs outside his trailer. His dad had gotten rid of the old chairs and replaced them with comfortable new ones. But this time there were three chairs, not two.
“You will,” Todd said. “The only time we ever went on vacation was a cruise with my grandparents, and I threw up the entire time.”
Dec leaned over and punched Todd in the arm.
He rubbed his arm. “What? I did.”
“I hope I don’t throw up on the plane.” I was scared to fly.
“You won’t,” Dec said. “It’ll be the greatest thing ever. I wish we could go somewhere cool like that.”
“Yeah,” Todd said. “You’re so lucky, Cleveland.”
Lucky? I thought about how Dad spent seven months in jail. How Georgia didn’t get into her dream school, even though she’d worked really hard. I thought about how hard Mom had been working, how many houses she had to clean every week. How lonely I felt sitting by myself in the lunchroom… until Valerie finally broke away from Jenna’s group to sit with me. “At least now I’ll check off more items on my Paris Project list, and then maybe I’ll actually get to Paris.”
“If you do,” Dec said, “we might just have to go with you.” He put his hand over his heart. “Because we couldn’t survive without you, Scout.”
“Yeah, you’re stuck with us,” Todd said to me before he shot a grin in Dec’s direction.
“Hey,” Dec said. “I can walk your dog customers while you’re gone, if you need.”
I sat forward. “Oh my gosh! I forgot. That would be great, Dec. Thanks so much. I’ll let my customers know.”
“I can help too,” Todd said. “I love dogs.”
“Of course you do,” Dec said. “You also like rainbows and unicorns.”
“And babies,” I chimed in.
“And Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy,” Dec added.
Todd pushed him so hard Dec tumbled out of his chair. Then Todd laughed so hard he fell out of his own chair. They both lay on the ground, holding their stomachs from laughing so much.
When Dec ran into the trailer to use the bathroom, Todd cleared his throat. “Cleveland. I know
I should have said this a while ago, but…”
I tilted my head.
“I wanted you to know I’m real glad your dad is back home. That’s all.”
I felt Todd’s words seep into my heart. It had taken me some time to recognize that what happened wasn’t his fault, and he’d been a good friend to me. “Thanks, Todd.”
He nodded. We were both ready to move on.
Dec came out with strawberry ice pops.
I unwrapped mine and settled back in my chair, feeling the humid breeze, not quite believing I was having such a great time with Declan and Todd, but I was. They were such good friends.
I was lucky!
I also couldn’t believe I’d be flying clear across the country to stay at a fancy French hotel with my mom and my sister. (Jenna Finch never got to do something amazing like that.)
Magnifique!
And We’re Off!
DAD DROVE US TO THE gigantic Orlando airport in Miss Lola Lemon. He parked in front of our terminal, put on the hazard lights, and came around the car to help us with our suitcase. We decided to buy one suitcase for all our things because suitcases are expensive, plus you have to pay extra for them to fly on the plane with you.
“You ladies take care of each other. You’re my whole world. You know that?”
Mom touched the tip of Dad’s nose. “We’ll be fine, John. You be good while we’re gone.”
“Glory, you do not have to worry about me. Roscoe and I will be fine. And I promise I will have a job by the time you get home.”
“John.”
“I have a really good lead this time.”
“Okay,” she said, but I could tell Mom didn’t believe him. He’d been close before but never got the job.
We all hugged Dad extra hard.
He patted the top of my beret. I’d decided to wear it again for the trip, and I think that made him happy. I was also wearing the black leggings and red-and-white-striped top I got at Christmas. It seemed like the perfect outfit for our very French trip. “Love you, Dad.”
The Paris Project Page 14
