Free Finding Fortune by Delia Ray Page A

Before I could stop him, Hugh slid down from the counter, darted to the side of the serving window, and peeked around the edge. I couldn’t resist tiptoeing over to the opposite side so I could hear too. “I’m well acquainted with how stubborn you can be when you set your mind to something, Mother,” the man was saying. “I expected you’d react this way so I’ve already been thinking about how to help you get a handle on the situation. I need to head back to Des Moines tonight, right after dinner, but I’ve decided to leave Tucker here with you.”
    â€œ What ?” Hildy squawked. “For how long?”
    â€œThe whole summer.”
    I glanced over at Hugh. He was pressed up against the window frame, his face bright with anticipation. Maybe Tucker would be the friend he’d been waiting for.
    Hildy, on the other hand, didn’t sound so happy with the idea. “Jack!” she cried. “Have you lost your wits? No thirteen-year-old boy wants to spend the summer with his grandmother, stuck out in the country without any friends nearby. Tucker will be bored silly! You saw how disappointed he was a few minutes ago when I told him we don’t have a hookup for that Internet business out here.”
    â€œIt’s already decided, Mother. Tucker won’t have a chance to be bored. He’ll be working. There aren’t many jobs available for someone his age so I’m going to pay him to work here in that … that museum of yours. He’ll be earning real wages and I expect you to treat him like any other employee—”
    We didn’t get to hear the rest. Mine came banging through the swinging door. “Hey, what are you guys doing?” she asked, narrowing her eyes as she glanced back and forth between the two of us.
    â€œNothing,” Hugh said. “We thought we heard a funny noise out there.” But the cafetorium had fallen silent. Hildy and her son must have moved on as soon as they heard voices. And Mine was too preoccupied with the search for her missing vegetables—they weren’t in her car either—to care what we’d been up to.
    The next hour was a blur of trying to decide things like how long to boil the potatoes and which tablecloths we should use to cover the picnic tables and how many places we should set. At first Mine said eight. Then Hugh told her that the Mayor was back from his latest trucking run. “Oh, and what about you, Ren?” Mine asked. “Your mom was supposed to come and get you, right? Or did you decide to stay for dinner?”
    When I fumbled for an answer Mine said, “Either way’s fine. Why don’t you set an extra place just in case?”
    I scurried back and forth from the kitchen to the cafetorium, keeping my eye out for Hildy as I set the table with her hodgepodge collection of dishes and silverware. My palms were so sweaty that I almost dropped the slippery water glasses I was carrying. I wanted to run back upstairs to hide out in my room. But how was I supposed to escape now without making a scene?
    Once the roast was done and Mine had given up trying to mash more lumps out of the potatoes, she sent Hugh to round everyone up for dinner. Hildy’s son was the first to appear. Instead of coming to the table though, he stood near the entrance to the gym introducing himself and shaking hands with each of the tenants as they arrived. “Hello. How are you? Jack Baxter. Good to meet you,” he kept saying. He sounded like a politician running for office, and he looked sort of like one too, with his helmet of carefully combed hair and his starched khakis and button-down shirt.
    â€œI’m Clarissa,” Sister Loud bellowed as she shook Mr. Baxter’s hand. “And this is my sister, Colette.” Sister Soft said something polite, but I couldn’t hear exactly what. Garrett had arrived in a fresh change of clothes. It was hard not to stare. He was