Free The Secret Book Club by Ann M. Martin Page A

was a little girl, her second-grade teacher had told her mother that Mary Lou had a mind like a steel trap. Mrs. Willet was nearly seventy-nine now and her memory was fuzzy and fading. Worse, many everyday things no longer made sense to her.
    â€œHow strange ,” she would say when a tray of food was placed before her on the dining table.
    â€œHow strange ,” she would say when the television in the lounge was turned on and a performer began to sing.
    â€œHow strange ,” she would say when that man who might be her husband came to visit and brought with him news from a place he called Aiken Avenue.
    It was because Mary Lou’s mind had begun to failthat Bill Willet, her husband, had finally made the decision to move her to Three Oaks, a continuing care retirement community featuring apartments for people who could live independently, rooms for people who needed nursing or special care, and a wing for people with Alzheimer’s — people such as Mary Lou Willet, whose mind now took alarming turns down unfamiliar pathways and retrieved distorted information for her. “How strange .”
    Bill Willet felt remarkably lucky to have secured a room for Mary Lou at Three Oaks so quickly.
    It was because of the Willets that Nikki Sherman knew of the good reputation of Three Oaks. So when Mrs. Sherman returned from work one evening and announced that she had applied for a job as the dining supervisor there, Nikki was pleased.
    â€œIt’s a big job,” Mrs. Sherman added, “a full-time job.”
    â€œWhat you’ve been looking for!” exclaimed Mae, who was listening from her place at the kitchen table.
    Mrs. Sherman smiled. “Yes, it is. It would mean a lot of changes for us, though. I’d have to leave every morning before eight, and I wouldn’t get home until after six in the evening. And sometimes I’d have to work on weekends or holidays.” (Nikki wrinkled her nose.) “On the other hand,” Mrs. Sherman continued, “the salary is great. More money than I earn at my part-time jobs put together.”
    â€œWould we be rich?” asked Mae rapturously.
    â€œNo. But we’d be in much better shape.”
    â€œWhen will you find out if you have the job?” Tobias wanted to know.
    â€œNext Friday. I was asked to come in for an interview — I went on my lunch break today — and the woman I talked with said she’d have an answer next Friday.”
    Today was that Friday, and Nikki’s nerves were in a tangle as she waited for her mother to return at the end of the day with news.
    â€œWhat if she doesn’t have any news?” Nikki said peevishly to Tobias at breakfast. “What if the woman at Three Oaks hasn’t made up her mind after all?”
    Tobias shrugged. “Then we wait a little longer.”
    â€œI don’t see how you can be so calm about this…. I’m going to call Mom this afternoon to see if she’s heard anything.”
    â€œAt the restaurant? Don’t call her there,” said Tobias. “Really, don’t. You know how they are about personal phone calls. And if Mom doesn’t get the new job, then she’s going to want to hold on to her old ones.”
    Nikki sighed. “Won’t it be great not to have to worry about money all the time?”
    â€œYup. And I won’t have to worry about you and Mom and Mae so much.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” asked Nikki.
    â€œWhen I’m away at school. I mean, if I go away.”
    â€œTobias! Did you decide to go?”
    â€œPretty much.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you say anything?”
    â€œBecause I’m still thinking about it. But … I guess I know what I’m going to do. I just haven’t done it yet.”
    â€œWow,” said Nikki. “College. I’ve dreamed about it since I was Mae’s age. And now you’re going to get to go. You are so lucky.”
    â€œI know. But