Read Online Claudia Silver to the Rescue (9780547985602) by Kathy Ebel - Free Book Online Page B

in disbelief. At that moment, her immediate and entire future had consisted of nothing more than the ceremonial burning of her tragic dress.
    â€œThe event itself, tasteful,” Garth continued. “The after-party, bumping. I’m talking Phish. Or a Phish cover band. Or whatever the kids are listening to in . . .” He paused to silently calculate. “ . . . in 2013. Because that’s how this family parties.” He was still talking about the bar mitzvah.
    â€œThank you for a lovely evening,” Claudia intoned. With no idea what else to do, she reached out and squeezed Garth’s shoulder, then turned and began, very slowly, to flee. She’d known it was rude.
    â€œDon’t walk away, Renee!
” Garth cried, quoting pop lyrics of a bygone era, and loudly. Claudia ignored him with remarkable ease as the nighttime crowd of concertgoers buoyed her along Prospect Park West.
“You won’t see me follow you back home!”
Garth hollered after her. Claudia considered turning around to offer Garth a very human shrug that would communicate her heartfelt appreciation and regret. “I always thought that was a Steely Dan song, but it’s not! It’s Left Banke!” Garth continued at top volume. “Banke! With an
e!
”
    But Claudia
did
just walk away.
    Over the next few weeks, Garth left several messages on Claudia’s answering machine, but she’d never gotten to the meat, erasing them as soon as she’d heard: “Hey. It’s me.”
    All of that had been last July.
    One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten—two hundred bucks. Claudia couldn’t see the bills themselves, just the relaxed movement of Garth’s shoulders as he caught the money and secured it with a clip that he jammed in the front pocket of his corduroys. Claudia worried that Garth would notice her and say hello. Simultaneously, she hoped that in the five months since they’d last seen each other he might have forgotten they’d ever met. Garth’s eyes immediately lit on Claudia and brightened. He wasn’t angry, just hopeful. He ambled over, bowlegged.
    â€œWill you look who the cat drug in!” Garth bellowed, his headphones still on.
    â€œBoy, that’s loud,” said Phoebe.
    Garth pushed his headphones up. They leaked music, making a halo of hip-hop around his head. “Wow. You are so gorgeous right now with your pink cheeks.” Claudia noticed Garth’s eyes, Siberian husky bright and pale, and his chapped lips, shiny with goo. “You’re like Sabrina from
Charlie’s Angels
meets Rhoda,” he praised.
    â€œNo, I’m not,” said Claudia.
    Garth gave Phoebe a polite, disinterested smile. “And who are
you?
”
    â€œPhoebe,” said Phoebe.
    â€œMy sister,” Claudia explained, adding pointedly, “she’s sixteen.”
    â€œCool.” But Garth clearly wasn’t interested in Phoebe. Penetratingly, he admired Claudia. “So how are two sophisticated Jewesses celebrating Christmas Eve?”
    â€œWe’re headed uptown to my roommate’s parents’ house,” Claudia told Garth.
    â€œEast or west?”
    â€œSide?”
    â€œWhat else?”
    â€œWest. Eighty-First and the Park.”
    â€œPicturing that,” said Garth. “Me and my pop, we do the movies–Chinese food thing. In a strange twist, on Christmas Day we do movies and Vietnamese. You guys wanna come?” Garth scanned the sisters’ faces hopefully. “The pork chops on Bayard Street are crazy good, and as we all know, Jews love swine.”
    â€œI don’t think so,” said Claudia.
    â€œDon’t think,
feel,
” Garth urged. “That’s what went wrong last time.”
    â€œMaybe next time.”
    â€œBut next time is a year from now.”
    â€œBy then we’ll have so much to catch up on,” said Claudia.
    Garth smiled and slid