Simply Mad (Girls of Wonder Lane Book 1)

by Christina Coryell

  “It’s been great talking to you, Maddie! I’ll see you the day before Thanksgiving!”

  “Bye,” I mutter, hanging up the phone.

  Unless I’m mistaken, I just offered to have Thanksgiving dinner at my house. I don’t know anything about cooking turkey. I’ve never even bought a turkey before in my life.

  Perhaps I could ask Hazel, but do I really want her to know I can’t cook? I guess I have to tell her about the change in plans, so I might as well bring it up in casual conversation. Oh, by the way, how do you usually cook your turkey? I want to make sure I do it in the best possible fashion, and you’re such a great cook, after all. No, don’t be modest, Hazel, you know it’s true. So you grab the bird from the frozen food section, and then what?

  I am so out of my league.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  We just made it to the homeless shelter to help with preparing Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, I did say we—my constant companion and “best friend” insisted on coming with me. At least I’ll be sure she actually does some work today, because there won’t be any loafing as a volunteer.

  Removing myself from her sight has become absolutely impossible. She has gone to every tennis lesson with me, and I’ve forced her to take the lessons once we get there. I’m not sure Max is crazy about the situation, but I’m not going to have her sitting there watching me. Besides, it actually helps to have a little distraction with Max, since I now know without a doubt that I was only ever that to him—a distraction.

  To be honest, I’m not even attracted to him anymore. I’m not sure what I saw in him in the first place, other than the obvious dashing pirate good looks.

  While Max couldn’t get away from me fast enough, Audrey believes she has to be by my side every waking hour of the day in order to properly plan her wedding. I’m running out of things to talk to her about—there is only so much planning a person can do, after all. At some point, you just have to step back and let the plans take shape.

  She wanted me to take her shoe shopping tomorrow. I had to inform her politely that it was Thanksgiving and I would not be leaving my home. I’m sure we’ll just postpone it until Friday, although I wish we could push it back until next week. We have already been shoe shopping three times, and Audrey can never find anything to suit her. She’s obsessed with flip flops, so I almost get the feeling that she’s looking for a dressy white pair, which I will absolutely refuse to allow. I cannot imagine what her parents would think if she showed up in that beautiful, expensive gown and wore flip flops underneath.

  “Doug!” I call, seeing the director of the shelter, a tall slender man with a full, dark beard. He looks to his left to check on one of the volunteers and then comes toward me.

  “Maddie, it’s nice to see you again. Have you brought help today?”

  “Yes, actually. This is Audrey.” I watch as Doug extends his hand to Audrey and she takes it firmly. “We came prepared to work,” I state, following him into the shelter. “Just tell us where you want us.”

  “Would you ladies prefer setup and layout, or food preparation?” he asks, pointing to two different areas of the busy room. I can’t help but notice my mother in the food preparation area, who is smiling and waving like a lunatic.

  “I think setup would probably be a safe bet,” I say. My cooking skills are definitely limited, and I’m fairly certain that Audrey has never cooked in her life.

  “You’ll just be over there, then, with Sue,” Doug replies, pointing to an older woman with short graying black hair. She is wearing an orange shirt bearing the name of the shelter, as is Doug.

  “Who is that waving at you?” Audrey whispers as we move towards Sue. I look over to see Mom still trying desperately to get my attention.

  “That’s my mom,” I say nonchalantly. “She wanted to volunteer today, too.”

  “That’s nice of her,” Audrey finishes just as we arrive at Sue’s station.

  “Uh-huh,” I mumble. It is nice—and I still want to know why she’s doing it.

  “Hi, ladies,” Sue greets us cheerfully. “You’re here to help, I hope?”

  “Absolutely!” I agree.

  “We certainly have a lot of new faces around here today. Did you two hear about this on the radio?”

  “Actually, no. We’re from Cooper Corporate Financial.”

  “Fantastic! It’s so nice what Cooper has done for us this year. We’ve never seen the kind of donations we have, and it’s all because of the advertising and promoting your company handled. We’ll actually have more food than we can use this year, which is something we’ve never faced before.”

  “That’s great news,” I state sincerely. “You should call anytime you do something like this. I’m sure the company would be happy to help again.”

  “You know, that’s what’s so strange about all this. Every year we call on the community to help, and Cooper is one of the companies that always turns us down. When we found out that they actually wanted to help this year, we were completely flabbergasted.”

  Why doesn’t that surprise me? Cooper would never bother himself with caring about this type of operation. If it hadn’t been for me exploring the opportunity, this never would have happened.

  “Well, enough jibber-jabber. What are your names, ladies?” Sue asks, sorting through some canned goods.

  “I’m Maddie, and this is Audrey.”

  “Maddie and Audrey,” she repeats. “Well, I’ve got signs put up to show what goes where, so just find a box over there and start unpacking.”

  Unpacking…that certainly sounds like something we can’t screw up.

  There are boxes upon boxes stacked against the wall, and several are open on the floor. The first box I pull open is full of cans of green beans. Glancing behind me, I see where Sue hung a sign that has green beans spelled out in large green letters, so our job seems simple enough.

  Audrey and I work diligently and unpack several boxes. I’m sure she’s never done this type of work before in her life. She never talks about having a job before coming to work for her dad, and that job is definitely not a job at all. While some people might call following me around all day a job, I don’t think it’s worthy of a paid position at the company. If her dad really wanted to do her a favor, he would make her earn a living. That could be the best possible scenario for Audrey, because she would have to work to get what she wanted, and she wouldn’t be running to dear old dad every few minutes. It might even give her a little self-esteem to know she could actually do something by herself.

  “You’ll be really busy tomorrow,” I remark to Sue as I stand beside her and sort through some corn.

  “Yes, it’s a busy day, but it’s worth it to see the looks on peoples’ faces when they get a hot meal for the holiday.”

  “How long have you been volunteering here?”

  “Let’s see…this will mark my fourteenth year, I believe.”

  “Wow,” I say admiringly. “That’s really remarkable.”

  “Well, like I said, it’s worth it,” Sue replies, looking a little embarrassed by my praise. “Do you have big Thanksgiving Day plans?”

  Boy, do I ever.

  “Yes, actually. Thanksgiving dinner will be at my house this year for the first time. I’m a little nervous.”

  “I remember the first Thanksgiving,” Sue says with a chuckle. “It does seem like quite an undertaking that initial time.”

  “And if you knew me, you would understand. I am definitely not the best cook.”

  Sue begins counting the cans in front of her and pauses for a moment, adding some numbers in her head. She then goes back to sorting and stacking.

  “Well, the hardest part is the turkey,” she finally continues. “Once you’ve got that under control, everything else falls in line. Do you think you have a pretty good grasp on that?”

  “I do, but only because I asked someone at work for directions.”

  Sue stops stacking and places a hand on her hip. “So you’re all set and ready with
your turkey for tomorrow, then?”

  “Actually, it’s cooking right now.”

  “Right now?” she asks, narrowing her eyes. “Are you having the dinner tonight?”

  “No, it’s tomorrow.”

  “And you’re already cooking the turkey? I’ve never heard of that before.”

  “I thought it was a little strange, too, but those are the directions the lady gave me. Thaw the turkey for 6 hours, and then cook for 36.”

  “Oh my,” Sue spits out, biting her lip and glancing over at me. “I’m just going to go into the back for a minute. Maddie, can you hold the fort down for me?”

  “Absolutely,” I agree as she hurries into the kitchen.

  What was with the face? She acted like I’d done something wrong. I knew I shouldn’t have left the oven on all day. She’s probably afraid I’m going to burn my house down. Well, she doesn’t have to worry about that. I was careful to…

  Actually, why didn’t I think of that before? I probably will burn the house down! I’m sure it’s too late already. I can practically hear the fire trucks in my mind, sirens blaring as they come blasting down my street. All the neighbors will know immediately whose house is ablaze.

  “I always knew that girl would set her house on fire,” Mrs. Willows will tell the news crew, shaking her head.

  “It’s a terrible tragedy,” the fire chief will say, “but it’s an excellent opportunity to remind people about the importance of fire safety.”

  “Thank goodness the fire didn’t reach my beautiful palace at the end of the street,” Harley Laine will add, looking poised and perfect with the microphone in her hand.

  What will Josh think if I burn his house down? I will never be able to look him in the eye again.

  “Okay,” Sue suddenly says, emerging from the kitchen, “back to counting.”

  Back to counting, just like that, when my home is possibly on fire? Does she not see the depth of this dilemma? She was the one who turned me on to the problem in the first place, with the biting of the lip and everything.

  But what if the biting of the lip was for something else? Maybe it was for something she forgot in the kitchen. That’s it! When I started talking about cooking the turkey, she realized she had forgotten something in the kitchen. Whew! No house fire.

  Well, there still could be a house fire.

  No, I’m not going to think about it anymore.

  “Hi, Maddie,” I hear Mom’s voice behind me. Turning, I see her standing there, wearing an apron and beaming at me.

  “Mom,” I reply stoically. “What are you doing over here? I thought you were prepping food.”

  “Yes, I am, but I thought I would come over and say hello. It would have been nice if you could have been assigned to food preparation, too.”

  “Well, I’m here to help as much as I can, and I probably wouldn’t be very much help in that area. I’m sure you’re doing a great job.”

  “Yes, we’re doing fine. I had just hoped that you and I could volunteer together, that’s all.” Glancing over at her, I can’t help but see her sad eyes. Seriously, who are you and what have you done with my mother?

  “But we are volunteering together,” I insist. “We wouldn’t be able to talk much, anyway, since we’re here to work.”

  “I guess you’re right about that,” she says dejectedly. For a moment I wonder what else to say, but suddenly her eyes brighten and a smile crosses her face.

  “Look, Maddie,” she whispers. “There’s Harley Laine from Channel Six.”

  She’s right—Harley just barged through the front door with her camera crew like she owns the place, and she’s speaking into her microphone, although I can’t hear what she’s saying. She’s pointing to the food preparation area. It’s unfortunate that Mom didn’t remain at her post, because she might have gotten her face on television.

  “Do you think she’ll come over here?” Mom whispers, grabbing my arm.

  “I don’t know, I hope not.” Turning back to the cans of corn, I continue to stack them as I glance over at Audrey, who is amassing her own little pile. She has really impressed me today – working hard and not complaining once. Maybe I don’t give her enough credit.

  “She’s the prettiest news reporter, if you ask me,” Mom continues. “She’s my favorite of all of them, too. I’ve always wanted to see her in person. Do you think I’ll get to meet her?” Trying to ignore her, I continue stacking.

  “Over here, Kenny,” I hear Harley order. “I think I see a familiar face.”

  Great—just what I need. Harley Laine is marching toward me and Mom is practically jumping up and down with excitement. Did Mom agree to come down here just in the hopes of meeting Harley Laine? Why did I have to invite her, anyway? I should have known there was something behind this nice, new demeanor.

  “You’re from Cooper Corporate Financial, right?” Harley confirms. “Madeline, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, that’s right,” I reply calmly. “Madeline Heard.”

  “I’m her mom!” I hear from my right. Harley doesn’t even bother to look at her.

  “Could we get a few words?”

  “Actually, I’d rather not.”

  “I could do an interview!” Mom chirps, while Harley continues to ignore her.

  “Why don’t you interview the staff here at the shelter?” I suggest. “They know more about what’s going on than I do.”

  “We already have,” Harley states, pointing to her cameraman. “I need to get the rest of the story, and this will just take a minute.” She straightens her white blazer and fluffs her hair a little before holding the microphone in front of her face.

  “Ready,” I hear from behind the camera.

  “Madeline Heard is the spokesperson for Cooper Corporate Financial, co-sponsor of the food drive,” Harley croons into the microphone.

  “Hold up,” the cameraman says, tilting the camera to the side. “The old lady’s in the shot.”

  “What? Ma’am, will you move, please?” Harley directs toward my mom. “You’re in the camera line.”

  “I’m sorry,” Mom mutters, stepping away a couple feet. She looks down at the ground in embarrassment.

  That cameraman just called my mother an old lady. Who does he think he is, anyway? Besides, that Harley Laine might think she’s pretty hot stuff, and it could turn out that meeting her was my mom’s only reason for coming down here, but they can’t treat people like dirt. Not just people, either—my mother.

  “Okay, one more time,” Harley huffs. “Madeline Heard from Cooper…”

  “No, Harley, I decline an interview,” I inform her, going back to stacking cans. I only manage to pick two or three up off the pile before she leans into me.

  “Like I said, it will just take a minute, and then we’ll be done here.”

  “And like I said, I decline.”

  Harley just stands and stares at me in disbelief. The cameraman has the camera at his side, looking at me with wide eyes. Neither one of them moves for a moment, standing there gaping in my direction. Audrey moves toward me just to my left, and I notice Sue looking at me from her station.

  “You’re refusing to talk to me?” Harley assesses, eyes narrowed and face slightly pink.

  “Yes, I believe so,” I reply cordially, stacking a few more cans. By now I am aware of an intense silence throughout the shelter. Everyone must be watching the drama.

  “I…I don’t know what to do, Harley,” the cameraman states.

  “Here’s an idea,” I offer. “Run a story about the shelter without looking for an angle. You’ve got enough footage for today.”

  “How dare you insinuate that I’m looking for an angle,” Harley barks at me, now completely unaware of all the attention she’s receiving. “I don’t look for angles in my stories. Have you never seen me on the air? Do you have any idea how rude that is?”

  “I’m honestly not that familiar with you,” I tell her with a shrug, aware that my nonchalance is driving her crazy, but strangely
feeling protective of my mother as she lurks just to my side.

  “I’m the top reporter in this town. Number one most popular newscaster, in fact.”

  “Oh, come on now,” I reply, looking into her face as I laugh quietly. “Why would Channel Six send the hottest reporter in town to a volunteer food drive?”

  “Because I’m good with people,” she rants. “No one else could possibly make these crummy little unimportant stories seem interesting. What would you know about it, anyway?” Whirling on her heel, she storms toward the door as her cameraman continues to stand in front of me, gaping with his mouth open like a fish. “Kenny!” she screams as she pushes the door open. He quickly jumps to attention and begins to jog after her.

  “I’m so sorry, Sue,” I whisper, but she just shrugs and waves her hand.

  “Sounds like she needed it,” she tells me with a laugh, going back to her cans. Shaking my head, I turn to go back to my own little pile.

  “How could you do that, Maddie?” Mom hisses beside me, face red and hands on her hips.

  “What, Mom?”

  “How could you talk to Harley that way?”

  “How? I was defending you. She and that cameraman insulted you. Did you miss that part?”

  “Same old Maddie, always screwing things up,” Mom mutters under her breath, pulling off her apron.

  “What are you doing?” I wonder with a sigh, wishing she had chosen another setting to unveil this scene of hers.

  “I can’t work in these conditions!” she snaps at me. “I can’t volunteer alongside someone who would insult another person like that.”

  “They’re gone, so you don’t have to worry about them insulting you,” I insist, giving her a puzzled expression.

  “I’m talking about you,” she steams, throwing the apron at me. “You better shape up by tomorrow!” Just a few steps, and she disappears through the door.

  Have I ever been more embarrassed in my life? Not likely. I’m the person responsible for co-sponsoring this food drive, and my mother just berated me in front of all the volunteers like a small child. Now they’re all staring at me. Thinking quickly, I lift a can of vegetables above my head.