The Wondrous World of Violet Barnaby

by Jenny Lundquist

  That wasn’t even the biggest news of the night. Izzy fell and hit her head pretty hard—she had to go to the hospital to make sure she didn’t have a concussion. She’s okay, though. Her dad let Sophia, Daisy, and me spend the night at her house. We stayed up nearly all night, and the three of them listened while I talked for a long time about you and Dad and Melanie, and how sometimes it’s hard for me to understand why you couldn’t have been one of the lucky ones who survived cancer. But I guess that’s what good friends do: They listen to you and let you ask questions—even if they don’t have the answers. They let you say all the words inside you, the good ones and the ugly ones, and they’re still your friends afterward.

  I’ve decided that’s way better than keeping your words inside you all the time.

  Love always,

  Violet

  P.S. When they heard that I had missed out on decorating the Christmas tree at home, Izzy made us take all the ornaments off her family’s tree and we redecorated it. As I put the last ornament on, I could swear I heard you whisper, Merry Christmas.

  CHAPTER

  34

  SISTERS?

  “Pick a charm, any charm,” I said to Olivia.

  We were at Charming Trinkets, standing in front of the large display of bracelets and charms. Olivia had received her bracelet from Aunt Mildred yesterday. Then this morning, I’d told her we were going to the jewelry shop so I could buy her Christmas present: matching charms for the two of us to put on our bracelets.

  “Shouldn’t we pick them out together?” Olivia said. “There are so many of them.”

  “Okay . . . what about this?” I picked up a tiny dictionary charm.

  Olivia rolled her eyes. “You study too much; it’s kind of boring.” She found a schoolhouse charm. “What about this one?”

  Now I rolled my eyes. “You spend way too much time in school meetings. Totally boring,” I said.

  We smiled at each other, then Olivia said, “Oh, look at that one! That’s it!” She unhooked a red gummy-bear charm from the display rack, and held it up. “What do you think?”

  “That’s definitely the one,” I agreed.

  The charm had meaning for both of us because we were now spending a lot of time plotting to make sure Melanie and Dad—M&M, we both called them now, since it was so much easier than saying “Mom and Mitch” or “Dad and Melanie”—didn’t discover our secret candy stash. Melanie was using the fact that I was a vegetarian as an excuse to make everyone in the house eat as healthy as possible. It was so bad, I was considering telling her I was changing my eating habits. In the meantime, though, Olivia and I were pooling our spare change and stocking up on our favorites from Harrison’s Hardware: licorice and gummy bears.

  “Merry Christmas,” I said after I’d paid for the charms.

  “Should we wait until Christmas morning to put them on?” Olivia was staring longingly at the golden chain on her wrist; it was empty since she hadn’t had her first meeting with her friends yet.

  “No,” I said. “Let’s put them on now.”

  Olivia frowned. “I feel like we need to earn it, somehow. That’s how it works, right?”

  “Right.” I thought for a second. “Well . . . we’ve survived living together for nearly a month now. I’d say we’ve more than earned it.”

  Olivia grinned. “That is so true.”

  We each held the tiny gummy bears in the palms of our hands. “We have earned our charm,” I said solemnly, and we began hooking them onto our bracelets.

  “Why, what lovely bracelets,” said a lady who was browsing through the shop. “Are you two sisters?” she asked.

  Olivia and I stared at each other. Neither of us quite knew how to answer the question.

  “Well . . . ,” I began, just as Olivia said, “Um . . .”

  “I guess you could say we’re . . . friends, right?” Olivia looked at me.

  “Right,” I agreed quickly. “We’re friends.”

  “Friends”—It means “one who is attached to another by feelings of affection or esteem.” That sounded about right. I guess “friends” could work for today.

  But I could also imagine a day not too far away when “sisters” might work, too.

  CHAPTER

  35

  SECOND-CHANCE FAMILY

  “Violet, could you come into the kitchen, please?” Melanie called.

  “Be right there,” I called back, and hauled myself off the couch. It was the Wednesday before Christmas; winter break had already started, and I was hanging out in the living room, watching a movie with Joey and Olivia. In a couple hours, I was supposed to meet up with Izzy, Daisy, and Sophia at the Kaleidoscope Café to exchange our Secret Santa gifts.

  “What’s up?” I said when I entered the kitchen. Melanie was sitting at the table, and she gestured for me to sit next to her. “I need to talk to you,” she said.

  “Okay.” I slid into the chair beside her. Mentally, I reviewed everything that I’d said and done over the last few days, but I couldn’t come up with anything that would warrant a serious heart-to-heart. Remember to try, I repeated to myself. It was my new mantra.

  “Mantra”—it means “a statement or slogan repeated constantly,” and I’d been constantly trying to make a better effort this week: going out to breakfast with Melanie, Joey, and Olivia yesterday; finishing up one last round of Christmas shopping the day before; going ice-skating with them last night—it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

  Melanie pressed her fingertips together and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

  “You’re sorry?” I repeated, surprised. “For what?”

  She didn’t answer right away. She looked out the window, and said, “I don’t think I’ve handled our first month together the best way I could’ve. I don’t know if your dad told you any of this, but . . . things weren’t ever that good between my parents and me. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say the day I married Joey and Olivia’s dad, I thought I’d been rescued. Of course, it didn’t take me too long to realize I’d jumped out of one hard situation and right into another. But I’d longed so much for a family of my own that I was determined to make it work, and, for a while at least, it did work. Of course, it takes two people to make a marriage succeed. . .” She trailed off, then seemed to shake away bad memories. “When I met your dad, it was like all the hurt places inside me healed. Not completely. I don’t know if any one person can completely heal another; sometimes I think that’s solely the work of the Divine. But we were two broken pieces, and somehow our jagged edges fit right together. Anyway, I guess what I’m saying is: I’ve been so intent on doing things right this time around, on trying to make sure we had the perfect family Christmas, I didn’t stop to think that maybe you needed something different. Maybe you needed time with your friends. I’m sorry I haven’t seen how important your charm club is, or how much you’ve needed Daisy, Izzy, and Sophia, and—”

  She broke off when my phone pinged; it was a text from Austin:

  I have an epic surprise for you!

  “Go ahead and answer him,” Melanie said. When I looked up, I saw that she’d read the text. And she was smiling.

  Weird.

  What is it? I texted back quickly. I’m meeting Izzy, Daisy, and Sophia at the Kaleidoscope soon.

  That’s what YOU think!

  Whatever, Austin. I’m busy.

  To my surprise, Austin had still been texting me. Not nearly as much as before, and whatever crush we may have had on each other, it had definitely gone away. But I was okay with that; I guess when I thought back over the last month I just wanted someone to understand what it was like to have a Terrible Beautiful Ache inside you that you knew wouldn’t ever completely go away.

  But maybe Melanie, Olivia, and Joey, along with Dad, did understand that. I guess in a way, all five of us had been left behind by someone we loved. We were the lonely leftovers, and somehow we were going to have to figure out how to weave ourselves into a new patt
ern that had space enough for all of us.

  Maybe that’s what Melanie had been trying to do all this time, moving and shifting things around, trying to make space for the shape that our new family would take. Because we were a family, I realized. A second-chance family. Not the one you thought you’d have, but the one offered to you after some of the worst things in the world had happened to you.

  “I shouldn’t be long at the Kaleidoscope today,” I said. “Afterward, I can come home and the four of us can do something.” Sophia had talked about having the Charm Girls over for dinner tonight, but actually, the thought of hanging out with just Melanie, Olivia, and Joey seemed kind of fun. “Dad gets lonely, working so many hours in December,” I added. “Sometimes Mom and I would bring him dinner and we’d hang out in the shop with him.” It felt strange mentioning Mom to Melanie, mentioning my old life, but I knew it was part of weaving together a new pattern. “Anyway,” I said, “we could bring him dinner.”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Melanie said. She slid a furniture catalog toward me and pointed to a wooden table. “Your dad and I purchased this yesterday—it will be delivered tomorrow, just in time for Christmas.” The table was circular and rustic-looking. And best of all, it had five chairs.

  “There is always a place for you at my table, Violet,” Melanie said. “I’m sorry if I haven’t made that clear this last month. And if you and your friends and Aunt Mildred need a place for your Charm Girl meetings, there are five seats here—it’s exactly enough.”

  “You’re right,” I said, smiling. “It’s exactly enough.”

  “Mom! Violet!” Olivia yelled from the living room. “Come look out the front window!”

  “In a minute!” I yelled back.

  “Actually,” Melanie said. “I really think you should go look out the window.”

  She smiled mysteriously, her eyes twinkling, just as Austin sent me another text that read:

  We’re here!

  I raced to the living room just as the doorbell rang. I flung open the door; Izzy, Sophia, and Daisy stood on the front porch dressed in thick coats, hats, and gloves.

  “Surprise!” they yelled. Behind them, three long trucks packed with snow were parked in front of our house. Dad and Chief Malone were just exiting the first truck, while Grandpa Caulfield and Scooter McGee sat in the second truck. In front of the third truck, Mr. Jackson was handing Austin a shovel. As I watched, Grandma Bertie’s minivan pulled up behind the last truck. She, Aunt Mildred, Mrs. Ramos, and Izzy’s mom got out of the car and started passing out cups of coffee to everyone.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “The four of you are going to make snow angels,” Melanie said behind us. I turned, and she was smiling. “I believe, ‘make a snow angel’ was on your mother’s list? Earlier today everyone got the trucks and headed up the highway until they found some snow. They pulled over and started loading up. We’re going to turn our front yard into a winter wonderland!”

  Dad, Austin, Mrs. Ramos, Mr. Jackson, and both Izzy’s parents started shoveling snow from the trucks onto the yard. Joey went running from the house and promptly began building a snowman.

  My throat closed up tight at the thought that so many people had been working hard to help me accomplish the last thing on Mom’s list—and to do it in a completely crazy way. Word must have spread, and before you knew it people were lining up to help. Mom would have said that’s the good kind of gossip, and one of the best things about living in a small town.

  Olivia and I ran upstairs to get our snow things. Izzy poked her head into my room as I was tugging on my boots. “Hey—I just want you to know, Melanie put this whole thing together. She pulled me aside in class right before school let out and asked if there was anything she could do to help you check an item off your mom’s list.”

  “She did?” I said, and a funny feeling went through my chest.

  Izzy nodded seriously. “About gave me a heart attack—I thought I was in trouble again.”

  “In trouble, for what?” I asked.

  “Uh, nothing,” Izzy said quickly. “I mean, I didn’t do anything. Anyway, I told her how you hadn’t been able to make a snow angel. I figured she was just going to take you to the snow one day. But then she called my parents a couple days ago with this crazy idea. She said . . .” Izzy’s eyes grew tentative. “She said she thought maybe you’d want to make snow angels with Daisy, Sophia, and me.”

  “She was right,” I said, and smiled.

  Back downstairs, Melanie was in the kitchen, unpacking a bag of multicolored marshmallows, caramel sauce, peppermint sticks, and ribbon candy.

  “What’s all this for?” I asked.

  “It’s a make-your-own hot-chocolate bar,” she answered. “I’ll have it ready after you guys are finished.”

  “Thanks, Melanie,” I said, and I think she knew I meant for more than just the hot chocolates.

  While we waited for Dad and the others to finish shoveling, Izzy, Daisy, Sophia, and I headed to the living room to quickly exchange our Secret Santa gifts.

  “I want to go first!” Daisy said. She held out a sloppily wrapped package, yelled “Merry Christmas!” and handed it to . . . Sophia. “Surprise! I’m your Secret Santa!”

  Sophia definitely looked surprised. “I’m your Secret Santa, too,” she said, handing Daisy a box wrapped with pretty pale-pink paper. While they unwrapped their gifts, Izzy and I smiled at each other; that meant we had drawn each other’s names.

  Somehow it seemed fitting.

  “Oh, wow, Sophia, this is amazing.” Daisy lifted Sophia’s gift out of the box. It was a notepad that flipped open from the top. It was made out of brown leather and had Daisy’s name embossed in gold at the bottom.

  “Cool! Thanks, Sophia.”

  “You’re welcome. I thought you could use it to write down your notes for your news articles.”

  Sophia’s present was a necklace with a dandelion pendant. “It’s so you’ll think of us all back here in Dandelion Hollow while you’re spending Christmas in San Francisco,” Daisy said.

  “Okay, it’s our turn now!” Izzy said. She handed me a red bag. “Open it!” Inside was a new journal. A purple one. But on the inside, Izzy had cut out different words and pasted them here and there all over the pages. On the first page she’d pasted: “wondrous,” “Christmas,” and “friendship.” It must have taken her hours—and I know Izzy can’t stand to do crafts.

  “Where did you get all these words?” I asked.

  “I cut them all out of my dictionary,” Izzy said proudly. “Don’t look so shocked, Violet. Not everyone is married to theirs, the way you are. It looked to me like you were running out of pages to write your word lists on in your old journal, so I thought you could use a new one.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “I love it.”

  “No problem. I think you should start a new list: People I Like the Most—and my name should be at the top!”

  “Thanks, Izzy,” I said, and gave her my present: a big box wrapped in candy-cane paper.

  “Ooh, the biggest one is for me!” she squealed, and we all laughed.

  “I hope you like it,” I said as she tore into it. Once she opened the box, she became still. “Wow, Violet. This is amazing.”

  “What is it?” Daisy said, craning her neck to see. “The suspense is killing me.”

  Izzy lifted up a pair of sparkly camouflage combat boots—an exact match to the pink ones she loved so much, except these ones were purple. It had cost me every single dollar I’d saved of my allowance, and once Grandma Barnaby sent me her annual Christmas check, I was going to have to turn most of it over to Dad to pay him back, but I didn’t care. It was totally worth it to see the smile that spread across Izzy’s face.

  The front door opened then, and Dad called, “We’re finished! You can all come out now!”

  Everyone else was already standing on the porch when Izzy, Daisy, Sophia, and I made it outside. “Wow,” I said. “Thank you so
much. This is amazing.” It really did look like a winter wonderland. They’d brought back enough snow to blanket the entire front yard.

  “Before we get started,” Dad began, “someone here would like to make a special announcement.”

  “What’s going on?” I heard Sophia whisper to Izzy, who replied, “No idea.”

  But from the way all the adults were smiling mischievously, it was clear they knew exactly what was going on. Except for Aunt Mildred, who looked confused.

  Scooter stepped into the middle of the porch, where we’d all formed a circle. He took a deep breath, and right there in front of everyone, he turned to Aunt Mildred and slowly sank to one knee.

  “Mildred Arlene Percival!” he announced in a loud voice, “I’ve got a question for you.”

  Everyone was silent, except for Daisy, who said, “Who’s Mildred Arlene Percival?”

  “Duh,” Izzy answered, looking pointedly at Aunt Mildred.

  “Oh, right,” Daisy said quickly.

  “You told me you didn’t like the word ‘boyfriend,’ ” Scooter continued, and produced a small black box. “Well, what about the word ‘husband’? Do you like that one better?” He opened the box, revealing a diamond ring glittering against black velvet.

  “That’s the most moving thing I’ve ever heard,” Sophia whispered.

  Aunt Mildred looked pretty moved—although whether she was moved to kiss Scooter or throttle him, I couldn’t tell. She looked around at all the smiling faces—especially at the adults, none of whom seemed surprised at all. “How dare you—did you actually”—she sputtered—“Do you mean to tell me you already told all these people you were going to propose?”

  Scooter didn’t look even a bit ashamed. “I did indeed! I knew I had to get the blessing of all your people before I could take the liberty of asking for your hand in marriage. I’m here to tell you, I’ve gotten them. A million blessings—all I need is the biggest one of them all. Say yes, Milly. Please.”