Karen's Mistake

  “Karen, this would be a good time to start passing around some food,” said Nannie.

  My friends and I each picked up a tray. Passing food was more fun than putting away coats. I got to talk to everyone, plus I got to eat.

  “I want to help,” said Andrew.

  “Follow me with the napkins,” I said.

  I gave him some napkins with balloons and party horns on them. As soon as someone took something to eat, Andrew handed out a napkin. In no time, the tray was empty.

  “Wow, everyone is really hungry,” said Andrew.

  “You can stay here and talk to people,” I said. “I will get more food.”

  I went to the kitchen for a refill.

  “Hi, Karen,” said Elizabeth. “I have another tray ready. But before you go, I would like to introduce you to Mr. English, who is my friend Alice’s father. He is visiting from Florida. We want to make him feel at home.”

  “Hi, Mr. English,” I said. I took the tray from Elizabeth and held it out to our guest. “Would you like a cracker with cheese?”

  “Thank you. That looks delicious,” he replied. He took one of the crackers.

  “Would you like another? I have to take the tray around the whole living room, and they might go fast.”

  “Not right now, thank you. I will find you later,” said Mr. English.

  By the time I saw Mr. English again, there were just two crackers with cheese left.

  “I see I found you just in time,” said Mr. English.

  He took one cracker. Then he took the tray from me and offered me the other cracker.

  While we were munching on our crackers, Nannie passed by. I tried to be a good host to our new guest.

  “Nannie, have you met Mr. English? He came here all the way from Florida,” I said.

  “We met for a moment in the kitchen. But I have been so busy, we have not had a chance to talk,” said Nannie.

  “Well, you two can talk now. I have to go get more food!” I said. “See you later.”

  I left Nannie and Mr. English together and went to the kitchen to refill my tray.

  Two Musketeers

  I found Hannie and Nancy in the kitchen. I was glad to see my friends. I had had enough grown-up company for awhile.

  “Daddy, do you mind if we take a break from passing food?” I asked.

  “Of course not. You girls have been a terrific help. Thank you very much. Now go have fun!” replied Daddy.

  “Come on, we can go upstairs,” I said.

  “It is almost time for the concert,” said Hannie. “There is a TV in the room where the coats are, right?”

  “Yes, we can go there if you want,” I replied.

  We went to Daddy and Elizabeth’s room. The pile of coats on the bed was huge.

  “Watch this!” I said.

  I jumped into the pile and bounced around.

  “It is a coat trampoline,” said Nancy. “Make room for me!”

  She jumped into the pile and bounced next to me.

  “Come on, Hannie,” I said. “This is fun!”

  “Not now. The concert is starting.”

  Hannie sat on the floor in front of the TV.

  “Do you want to watch with me?” she asked.

  “No, thank you,” I said. “There is something else I want to do.”

  I put on a big fake fur coat. It was white with black trim.

  “Oooh, you look very elegant in that,” said Nancy. “I am going to try this one.”

  She put on an enormous red down parka.

  “You look like a red marshmallow!” I said.

  “Hannie, look at me!” said Nancy.

  Hannie did not move an inch.

  “Which is more fun? A concert on TV or your friends?” I asked.

  I would have no trouble answering that question. I wanted to be with my friends. Hannie had no trouble answering either.

  “This is a Nate Bellows concert!” she said.

  Nancy and I rolled our eyes. We tried on some more coats. We were going to have fun even if Hannie was not joining us.

  I put on a man’s overcoat and hat. “Hello, and happy new year,” I said in a deep voice.

  Nancy found a baby’s pink knit cap. “Goo-goo, ga-ga,” she said.

  “Will you please talk a little more quietly?” said Hannie.

  I did not answer Hannie. I was afraid I would say something that was not very friendly. I turned to Nancy. “Who wants to go downstairs and get some cookies and candy?” I asked. “I helped Nannie make them yesterday afternoon. They are really good.”

  “I already had some of the cookies and they were delicious. I am ready for more,” said Nancy.

  “Hannie, do you want to come with us?” I asked.

  “No, thank you,” Hannie replied.

  “We need to eat sweets. The sugar will help keep us awake for midnight,” I said.

  “Nate’s voice is all I need to keep me awake,” said Hannie.

  Yuck! It was no use talking to Hannie.

  “Come on, Karen. We will let Hannie stay here with Nate,” said Nancy.

  “That is right. The Two Musketeers will go downstairs and get delicious homemade goodies. See you later, Hannie!” I said.

  She did not even turn around to say good-bye.

  Midnight Surprise

  Downstairs, we heard laughter coming from the den. A bunch of kids were sitting in a circle on the floor.

  “Come on! We are playing Telephone,” said Kristy.

  “We have each had a turn already, so one of you can start,” said Scott Hsu.

  Nancy let me go first. I whispered in her ear, “The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.”

  “This is going to be a good one,” said Nancy.

  She whispered what I had said into David Michael’s ear. David Michael whispered it to Andrew.

  “Huh?” said Andrew.

  “No repeating. Just pass it around!” said Melody.

  Andrew whispered into Linny’s ear. (Linny is Hannie’s brother. He is nine years old.)

  The secret sentence went around the circle till it reached Melody. She was the last person.

  “This sentence is really weird,” she said. “The bear went to a fountain to see about a bee.”

  I was laughing so hard, I could hardly say the real sentence.

  Then it was Nancy’s turn. Her sentence was “Old MacDonald had a farm.” The sentence turned into “Ronald McDonald had two arms”!

  While we were playing, I saw Hannie come down a few times, then run back upstairs. She probably came down during the commercials. Finally the concert must have ended, because she came down and stayed.

  I did not invite her to sit with us. If she would rather be with Nate Bellows than with her friends, she could find her own place to sit.

  We were still having fun in the den when Daddy announced the time.

  “Five minutes to midnight,” he said.

  “We did it! We stayed awake,” I said to Nancy.

  The truth was I was pretty tired, even after all the candy I had eaten. But it was not time to think about being tired. It was time for a countdown to midnight.

  “Four minutes!” called Daddy.

  Some more people crowded into the den to watch the ball drop on TV.

  “Three minutes!” said Daddy.

  The next thing I knew, we were counting down seconds instead of minutes. Everyone counted together.

  “Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Happy new year!” we all shouted.

  Horns blew. Our homemade confetti went flying in the air.

  I was jumping up and down with Nancy when I saw Hannie looking at us. I knew that I did not want to start the new year being mad at my friend. I held out my hand for Hannie to join us.

  The Three Musketeers began to jump up and down together. While we were jumping, I saw something that made my eyes open wide.

  I saw Nannie being kissed on the cheek by Mr. English!

  Life Without Na
nnie?

  On Saturday morning I decided it had not really happened. Nannie had not been kissed by Mr. English.

  “I was very tired last night, and I was probably seeing things,” I whispered to Moosie. (I was whispering because my friends were still asleep.) “Maybe I just dreamed that I saw the kiss.”

  Moosie did not say anything. I was going to have to figure the mystery out for myself.

  Hmm. Maybe I had had a cloud of confetti in my eyes. Instead of kissing her on the cheek, maybe Mr. English had been whispering in Nannie’s ear. He was whispering, “Happy new year,” because it was noisy and she could not hear him.

  On the other hand, maybe he really did kiss Nannie. And maybe Nannie really did smile at him afterward, which is the way I remembered it. Why would she do that?

  Then I remembered something else. It was a little thing, but it might be the answer to the mystery. I remembered what Nannie had said about falling in love, when I talked to her about Hannie’s crush. She had said being in love is a pretty wonderful thing.

  What would happen if Nannie fell in love? She would be so busy being in love that she might not have time for her family anymore. Life without Nannie would be awful.

  Who would help with Emily? And Andrew? And the pets? Who would help all of us? There would be no more baking cookies. No more making prizewinning chocolates. (Did I mention that Nannie won the Cocoa-Best cooking contest for her chocolate recipe? She did, and I helped.)

  My worrying was interrupted by the sound of a yawn coming from Nancy’s direction.

  “Good morning,” said Nancy. “What time is it?”

  I decided not to tell anyone about Nannie and the kiss. Maybe if I did not say anything, the mess would disappear.

  “It is time for breakfast,” I replied. “I am hungry.”

  Hannie sat up next. “Me too,” she said.

  My friends and I got dressed and went down to the kitchen. We had a full house. Everyone was up except Sam and Charlie. Kristy was there with a couple of friends who had slept over. The table was covered with food. No doubt Nannie was the one who had put it on the table.

  “Good morning and happy new year,” said Daddy.

  “How did you girls sleep?” asked Elizabeth.

  “Really well,” said Nancy. “We were so tired.”

  “Happy, happy!” said Emily.

  Nannie was wiping cereal off my little sister’s chin. Emily needed her Nannie! I decided to find out more about Mr. English. While everyone was talking about the party, I slipped in a few questions.

  “I hope Mr. English had a good time last night,” I said. “After all, he did not know anyone.”

  “Brian said to thank you,” said Nannie. “You were an excellent host, and he had a very good time.”

  “I was glad he could join us,” said Elizabeth. “He seems like a very nice man. He told me he lives in a big house on the beach and likes to play golf very much.”

  “Would anyone like more juice?” asked Nannie.

  I was busy thinking about what I had learned. Mr. English’s first name was Brian. He had a big house and played golf. And Nannie did not seem to be especially interested in him this morning.

  I was thinking there might not be much to worry about after all. But I was still glad that Mr. Brian English lived far away.

  It Is a Date!

  All our guests were gone by early afternoon.

  “Who would like to watch our movie now?” asked Daddy.

  We had decided the day before that New Year’s Day would be a good time to be cozy at home together. We had rented The Wizard of Oz. It was fun to watch, even though everyone except Andrew and Emily had seen it lots of times before.

  “Follow the yellow brick road! Follow the yellow brick road!” I sang.

  I was curled up on the couch under a blanket with Kristy, David Michael, and Andrew. The movie knocked any worries I had right out of my head. It was a new year. It had come with a little bit of a shaky start. But sitting cozily under the blanket and looking at Nannie with Emily on her lap made me see that things were going to be all right.

  Ring! Ring!

  The telephone rang, and I jumped up to answer it. Daddy paused the movie.

  “Hello?” I said.

  I heard a man’s voice on the other end.

  “May I please speak to Janet?” asked the voice.

  Uh-oh. Janet is Nannie’s name. It is the name her friends call her. Old friends and new friends. New friends like Mr. English.

  “Nannie, it is for you,” I said.

  Nannie settled Emily on Elizabeth’s lap. Then she took the phone. “Hello?” she said. Then, “Just fine, Brian. How are you?”

  I knew it!

  Nannie waved to Daddy to start the movie again. Then she walked into the hallway with the phone.

  Everyone began watching the movie again. Except me. I was not as interested in the yellow brick road as I was in the hallway.

  “I will be right back,” I said.

  “Do you want me to stop the movie?” asked Daddy.

  “No, that is okay. I am just going to the bathroom. I will be back in a minute.”

  I did not really have to go to the bathroom. But if I walked by Nannie slowly, I would be able to hear what she was saying.

  “No, tomorrow would not work for me,” said Nannie.

  Uh-oh. He was asking her out!

  “Monday? Yes, Monday would be fine,” said Nannie.

  How could she?

  “Around four o’clock would be perfect,” she said. “It is a date!”

  I went to the bathroom and shut the door. I sat on the closed toilet seat and put my head in my hands.

  What had I done? I had brought Nannie and Brian English together. And now they had a date on Monday at four.

  Girl Talk

  While we were getting dinner ready, I heard Nannie tell Elizabeth about her plans.

  “I am glad you enjoyed meeting him,” said Elizabeth. “I know he will be staying with Alice till the end of the month.”

  When I heard that, I dropped the spoons I had been carrying to the table. They made a racket clattering to the floor. “Are you all right?” asked Elizabeth.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  I was not about to tell Elizabeth what I was thinking. All my worries had poured back into my head. If Mr. English was going to be here for a month, that would give Nannie plenty of time to see him. The more she saw him, the more she might like him.

  I returned to the kitchen to get some napkins for the table.

  “Is Mr. English married?” I asked.

  “He was, but his wife died about ten years ago,” said Elizabeth.

  I held on tight to the napkins. This was not good news. He was probably very lonely by now. He was probably looking for good company. Good company like our Nannie. But we loved Nannie. We needed Nannie.

  I worried so much that I could hardly eat my dinner. I was glad when Hannie called and invited me to come over on Sunday afternoon. Nancy would be there too.

  “I am glad,” I said. “I need to talk to my friends.”

  The next afternoon, I told Hannie and Nancy about Nannie.

  “What do you think?” I asked. “What if she falls in love?”

  “This is only their first date,” said Nancy. “Maybe you are worrying too soon.”

  “Maybe you are right,” I said.

  “I think it is good for Nannie to be dating,” said Hannie. “Why should she live alone?”

  “She does not live alone. She lives with her family,” I replied.

  “I live with my family too,” said Hannie. “But I can understand why people want to be in couples. It is good to be in love. I know, because of how I feel about Nate Bellows.”

  I could see our talk about Nannie was over. Once Hannie started talking about Nate Bellows, it would be hard to talk about anything else.

  “How can you be in love when you have never even met him?” asked Nancy.

  “I have not told you this ye
t, but I have been writing to him every day,” said Hannie. “And he has written back.”

  “Do you have his letters?” I asked.

  “He only wrote to me once so far. But I have the letter right here,” said Hannie.

  She opened her drawer and passed an envelope to us. Nancy and I looked at the letter together. A picture of Nate Bellows was at the top, and some information about his life and music was below.

  “This is a form letter,” said Nancy.

  “No way,” said Hannie. “He was just too busy to write me a long letter because of his concert schedule. But that envelope has my name on it, and it came to me from Nate Bellows!”

  “The same letter was probably sent to a lot of his fans,” I said.

  “You do not understand at all,” said Hannie.

  And she put the letter away.

  Karen’s Warning

  On Monday my friends and I went back to school. I love school and my teacher, Ms. Colman, but it is sometimes a little hard going back to class after a holiday. It was especially hard this time, because my mind was on important things. Like Nannie’s first date.

  I was glad when the day was over and I could go home. But I did not feel so good about being at home when I saw Nannie all dressed up. She was wearing pearl earrings with a matching necklace, a sweater and skirt, and shoes with high heels. I tried not to be a meanie-mo.

  “You look very nice,” I said.

  “Thank you,” Nannie replied. “Would you like a snack?”

  “Yes, I am hungry.”

  I was glad Nannie was acting like herself, even if she was dressed up. She gave me cream cheese on crackers and carrot sticks with dip that was left over from our party. Andrew and Emily were having the same thing. I was crunching a carrot when the doorbell rang.

  Nannie answered it and brought Mr. English in to say hello. He was dressed up too. But I did not tell him he looked nice.

  Before they left, Daddy came into the kitchen. (He has an office at home where he works most of the time.)

  “I will watch the kids,” said Daddy. “Enjoy yourselves.”

  “I will not get Janet home too late,” said Mr. English. “We are going to do some shopping and have an early-bird dinner downtown.”