*
When they got to Palm Beach, Rachael hugged her father and sat and talked with him about her ongoing Travis issue. “Problem is, Dad, I think I really like him, but I love Colten,” she said, emphasizing the word love.
“This is serious stuff, Rachael. So what are you going to do about it? I mean, now that you know that avoiding Travis won’t work because it’s making you both miserable, and breaking up with Colten will make you miserable too. So what’s the answer?”
“I don’t know, Dad. That’s what I am asking you.”
“I don’t know the answer either, honey. I never claimed to be a boy expert.” He grinned.
“Great. And I was counting on that…some expert advice I mean.”
“Sorry to disappoint you. A good place to start may be seeing how you feel about Colten while you’re here visiting.”
“You’re absolutely right. If my feelings are the same, I can assume the Travis thing is just a fluke. You are brilliant, Dad!”
“Thanks. It’s been awhile since someone has called me brilliant.”
“Well, you are. I think I’ll go and surprise Colten at the Club. He should be playing tennis.”
“Why don’t you call first?” her father advised her. “He may be home sick or taking the day off. There’s no use riding your bike that far when he may be right around the corner at home.”
“That kind of defeats the purpose of surprising him, but you’re probably right.” She dialed Colten.
“Hey, baby. How’s the metropolis of Hicksville treating you today?”
“I don’t know. I’m not in Hicksville.”
“Where are you?” Colten asked. Was that surprise she heard in his voice?
“Here in Palm Beach—at my house—for the week!”
“Be there in five.” Colten disconnected the call and was ringing her doorbell less than five minutes later.
Wow! He didn’t waste any time!
When Rachael opened the door, he hugged her and swung her in a circle. “I’ve missed you so much, my favorite girl!”
“I’ve missed you too! Aren’t you supposed to be at tennis?”
“No. You have perfect timing. I’m taking the week off from tennis practice. It works out perfectly!”
“Yeah, I’ll say. I’m here all week. We’ll head home Friday afternoon. We had to borrow my Aunt Margaret’s car, so we need to take it back by Friday.”
“Five days is wonderful. I could never spend enough time with you, but five days is better than what we’ve had lately.”
“I know you have school, but Mom and I have Debutante Ball things to attend to during the morning. Then we can hang out after school each day. Sound good?”
“Sounds great!”
Rachael and Colten went out back and shot hoops on the basketball court. They caught up on everything. Brittany was now dating some new guy—a junior, but not the one from the Club. Another guy named Matt. Ellery and TJ were still dating and getting pretty serious to hear Colten tell it.
After shooting hoops they jumped into the pool still fully dressed. Colten held Rachael’s right hand, checking for the ring he had given her three months earlier. “Still wearing it, I see.”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be? I will have you know this ring was given to me by a very special guy.”
“Oh yeah? How special?” he asked, holding her even closer.
“Special enough that I think I love him,” Rachael confessed.
“Good. Because I love you too.”
Rachael and Colten kissed in the pool. It was a long kiss that had been three long months in the making.
“Hey, you two,” her father called, “come inside and get dried off. I made dinner.” Her father walked back inside.
Rachael and Colten dried off. Inside her father handed Colten some dry shorts and a shirt to change into. Rachael sprinted upstairs to change her clothes and was back downstairs for dinner.
Her father had actually cooked. Even more shocking, it was amazing! Grilled chicken Caesar salads with garlic bread on the side. For dessert there was banana pudding with whipped cream piled on top.
“Dad! I can’t believe you’ve learned to cook,” Rachael jested.
“Survival instincts kicked in.”
“That’s for sure.” Michael said. “And it’s edible.”
20
THE NEXT MORNING Rachael and her mother set out on a Debutante Ball planning adventure. Luckily the Garden still had an opening for the third Saturday in April during Rachael’s spring break. Rachael and her mother sat with the Garden’s event planner, Evelyn.
“That will be perfect,” her mother stated. She went on to explain their theme. She talked about a traditional English tea party and the foods that would be served, as well as the ambiance they wished to create.
Evelyn nodded in approval.
“Then,” her mother continued, “later in the evening there must be an English rock band—similar to the Beatles—playing dance music. Nothing ends an evening like dancing!”
“What about flowers?” Evelyn asked.
“Purple roses?” Rachael offered.
“Yes. There must be lots of purple roses. Anything else, dear?”
“No. Now all we need is the perfect dress.”
Rachael could see Evelyn’s eyes dance at the mention of a dress.
“If I may suggest, I know a dressmaker here in town who is starting her business. She is very skilled, but she hasn’t many clients yet. Would you like her number?”
“Yes. That would be wonderful.”
Rachael had been so worried about this Debutante Ball thing—the cost, the location, the lack of support from friends, and mostly the cost! Now that they had the location and she knew the expense was being covered, she felt like she could enjoy the planning part of it all.
Next she and her mother broke for lunch. They ran into Ellery’s mother and had a very friendly conversation. Afterwards, they called the seamstress and agreed to meet her at her new office. It was very small and crammed full of sewing equipment, bolts of material, and sewing boxes.
“Please don’t mind the mess. You must be Virginia and Rachael Harte. I am Kathleen. Please have a seat.” She motioned them to the two oversized armchairs that seemed too large for the small room.
Both Rachael and her mother were seated.
“So what brings you here today?”
“We are hosting a Debutante Ball in honor of my daughter’s debut the third Saturday in April. It is an old-fashioned British tea party. I want her to be very sophisticated and mature in appearance. Rachael, any suggestions?”
“I was picturing something retro. Maybe Jackie O-esque.”
“That’s fantastic. Maybe linen.” Evelyn nodded.
“Yes, but it has to be white. I think we failed to mention that.”
“White linen. Jackie O. Here is my vision…” Evelyn began to detail her vision of the perfect dress. “Scoop neck, with empire waistline. Fitted straight skirt to the calves. Large white buttons on the top of each shoulder. A matching fitted half jacket with the same oversized white buttons. Heavy white patent leather shoes, low heel, maybe two inch. A small hat with a net veil worn slightly angled. 1950s in appearance. Real old school.”
“I love it! And of course there must be white gloves and pearl earrings!” Rachael squealed.
“Of course!” her mother added.
“Okay. So let’s get started with some measurements.”
Rachael changed out of her clothes and stood in her bra and panties being measured. So many measurements…
I can’t wait to see what this looks like when we are finished!
When they finally finished, it was nearing three o’clock.
On their way home, Colten called her cell. “Hey, how did today go?”
“Great! We have a venue, a menu, and a dress. All that’s left is a cake.”
“All in one day! You certainly were productive.”
“Yep. So when can I see you?”<
br />
“Well, there’s a slight problem. I have a huge project due tomorrow, and I haven’t finished it yet. I need to go to the library with my group and finish it today. Can we get together tomorrow afternoon?”
“That’s okay. I need to spend some time with my dad tonight. Bonding stuff. We’ll catch up later.” Rachael hung up. She tried not to feel disappointed, but she was.
“What’s wrong, honey?”
“It’s Colten. He has a project due tomorrow and can’t hang out with me.”
“Hmmm. It is the school year and also a school night. I think he may have stayed a little too late last night. Maybe he got himself into trouble.”
“Yeah. Maybe,” Rachael said.
“Besides, if he’d known we were coming, he probably would have finished the project. Since we surprised him, it’s no wonder he didn’t have time to finish it. You’ll see him tomorrow, dear.”
“I know. It’s just been so hard.”
“I know. It’s been hard for all of us,” her mom said.
“Maybe Dad and I will go see a movie. And I really should go see Ellery and Brittany while I’m in town. Ellery’s mom is bound to have told her I’m here after she saw us at lunch today.”
“I’m certain of it. Why don’t you call her?”
Rachael dialed Ellery.
“Hey, girl. My mom said you were in town. Want to come over and hang?”
“Mom, Ellery wants to know if I can come over. Can I?”
“Of course. I’ll drop you right now.”
Ellery chuckled. “I heard her. See you in a few.”
Ellery and Rachael sat on the floor and made a collage of all of their favorite guy actors. By the time they had finished, they counted thirty-two guys in all. Short, tall, dark haired and blond, blue-eyed and brown—they didn’t discriminate. They liked them all!
“So, tell me about you and TJ. How did this all happen?”
“It was in August, right after you left. We had all gone to an end-of-summer, back-to-school barbeque at the beach. He was there, looking so fine in his swimsuit, and he started talking to me. Then, out of nowhere, he asked me out. I would have totally gotten it if it had been Brittany. You know? Curvy, blonde, beautiful Brittany. But it wasn’t. It was me! Plain ole’ Ellery.”
“First, you are not plain. Your hair is perfectly straight—something I’d kill for. Second, it’s the prettiest shade of red I’ve ever seen. I’m sure TJ would agree with that. Third, your eyes are green—the color of emeralds. Fourth, you have a great, physically fit body. We can’t all be boobalicious like Brittany. Fifth, you are tanned with freckles. Do you even know how incredibly cute that is? Trust me, you’re a hottie! A total babe!”
“Thanks, hun.” Ellery grinned. “So back to the barbeque. I sat there wondering, Is he talking to me? Is this some kind of joke? But nope. Here we are, a few months later. Totally committed. He even wants to go off to college together. He’s freaking my parents out. They think I’m too young for a serious, committed relationship like this. But I think we’ll actually make it. That’s the crazy part about it. I just know. Deep down I know. This is it. He is the one.”
“Holy crap! You are serious!” Rachael said in awe.
“Yep, I am. We’re taking it slow on the physical side of things. When you have the rest of your lives, why rush?”
“I am amazed by all of that. The only thing I wish we could fix would be you and Brittany. She’s pretty messed up by the whole thing. I wish there was a way to mend the relationship, so to speak.”
“I’m sure there is, in time. I know she liked him and all, but he liked me. At first, I even refused to date him. He was so persistent, though. He kept stopping by all the time and visiting me, day after day after day. Then I finally just said yes to one date. I knew I liked him, but I couldn’t even admit it to myself. I knew it would hurt Brittany. On our first date we went to a movie and then to grab desserts. He told me how he had liked me forever. Then he kissed me, and that was it. I knew I couldn’t resist it anymore. I hope Brittany will understand someday soon. I don’t want it to be on our wedding day. I want it to be in the near future.”
“I’ll talk to her. I promise.” Rachael meant it.
Her mom came to pick her up around nine o’clock. The girls hugged good-bye. “See you next time,” both said in parting.
*
The next day was Tuesday. Colten was probably already in school by the time Rachael crawled out of bed to eat a bowl of cereal. She hadn’t realized how annoying that rooster really was. Maybe she would kill him after all…or, on second thought, maybe not. But she was certainly enjoying sleeping in a little. She glanced at her clock.
Seven o’clock? Since when is seven sleeping in? What happened to the days of sleeping in until noon? Country life has ruined me for city life—forever! Now I’m preprogrammed to wake with the rising of the sun and all that nonsense.
She refocused. Cake. Today is our day to select a cake.
Rachael decided to invite her brother along. Even he would enjoy gorging himself on dozens of cakes, trying to select just the right one.
“Hey, Rach,” he announced groggily as he entered the kitchen.
“Hey, today is cake-tasting day. We’re going to sample dozens of cakes to try to find the perfect one. We may even make ourselves barf, we eat so many.”
That should get him.
“Count me in. Anything that involves you puking is right up my alley. Besides, it will make good blackmail footage for my collection.”
“Your collection?”
“Yeah. My ‘Rachael will pay me a lot of money not to show this to hot guys’ collection. Let’s just say it’s a little something Levi and I have been working on over the past three months. We have all sorts of footage.”
“Like?”
“Like you walking out to the barn in your underwear and a tank top to feed the calf at dawn. Or, how about you in the pasture when you decided to tan your butt—I mean, really tan your butt, as in a thong! And then there is my favorite. We like to call it Rachael singing while taking a bath.”
“No, you didn’t!”
“Oh, yes, we did. And if you actually throw up today, it will complete the footage. Kind of a Rachael’s Greatest Hits collection!”
Although she couldn’t admit it to him, Rachael had really missed this banter with her brother these past few months. She loved him even if he was a little creep. She’d have to work harder to be close to him in the second half of the school year.
“So what’s up with you and Travis Baxter?” Michael said over a bite of Frosted Flakes.
“What do you mean?”
“You two aren’t fooling anyone. Levi and I have a bet on it.”
“A bet?”
“Yep. I bet you two will be dating by summer. Levi bet you two won’t date until next year.”
“Really,” was the only justification to this nonsense Rachael offered.
“So which is it?”
“What?” Rachael decided to play dumb.
“Summer or fall?”
“Neither. I am totally committed to Colten.”
“All joking aside, Rachael, can we be serious for a moment?”
It wasn’t very often her brother was serious. This was a complete change for him. Who kidnapped my little brother?
“Colten didn’t make it to even take you to the homecoming dance. Then he cancels on you yesterday afternoon. It just seems you’re not the priority in his life that you should be. Don’t sell yourself short. You’re worth way more than that.” Michael put his bowl in the sink. Then he walked past Rachael and patted her on the cheek.
Rachael was too shocked to say anything at all. She merely sat at the table with a cup of coffee. She wasn’t sure how long she stared out the window.
After a while, her mother came in. “Hmm, Michael is strangely excited about cake day.”
“Yeah, I invited him,” was the only response Rachael could think of.
“Something wro
ng?”
“No, I’m fine. Just can’t seem to get enough sleep. I’m so used to getting up early at Aunt Margaret’s now.”
“I know, honey. It’s been such a lifestyle change. Get dressed. We have a nine o’clock appointment.”
Rachael went to her room to get dressed. Suddenly she was overanalyzing her entire relationship with Colten.
He doesn’t text me every day. He did in the beginning, but now I’m lucky if it’s three times per week.
We used to talk every night before bed. Now it’s every other night.
There was a time when he’d never miss something I was involved in. Now I had to go to homecoming with Fred Visicawitzenberg—who ended up being a great date, but that’s beside the point.
Now he cancels on me yesterday over a school project. Well, that sounded legit.
Calm down, Rachael. Take a deep breath. Michael is only thirteen. What does he know about relationships and guys?
Rachael heard her mother calling her.
Let the cake tasting begin!
Her mom, dad, brother, and Rachael loaded up to go taste her Debutante Ball cake. How ridiculous was that? An entire family going to choose a Debutante Ball cake! It wasn’t like she was getting married or something. She was a fifteen-year-old planning her debut. Having them all involved was crazy, but totally cool at the same time.
At the first bakery they tasted various cheesecakes—turtle, mocha, raspberry, chocolate chip, cherry, peach—the varieties went on and on.
Rachael glanced at Michael. “Don’t get too excited. Your sister may be thin, but she can really pound some cheese cake!”
“We’ll see about that.” Michael had his camera poised to photograph any barfing that might take place.
At the second bakery, they tasted small pieces of cake that looked a lot like petite fours. The carrot cake with cream cheese frosting was the best in Rachael’s opinion.
Finally at the third bakery, they tasted chocolate cakes that were to die for! Rachael could have lain down right there and eaten a five-course meal just in chocolate cake.
“Feel like puking yet?” her brother asked hopefully.
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