Read Online Keeping Secrets by Ann M. Martin - Free Book Online Page A

quite satisfied with herself.
    â€œLord above,” murmured Min.
    â€œSo who called?” asked Ruby. “I heard the phone ring at, like, three o’clock.”
    â€œWell, it was five o’clock,” replied Min. “But still.” She hesitated, spending a long time buttering a piece of toast. “The caller was Mrs. Hamilton,” she said finally.
    â€œWhat was wrong?” asked Flora. “Are they okay?”
    â€œThey’re fine.” Min frowned. “I don’t think Mrs. Hamilton had any idea what time it was. She said she was calling to thank me for the cake I brought over on Sunday.”
    â€œShe was thanking you at five in the morning?” said Ruby.
    â€œI know.” Min shook her head. “She sounded awfully confused. Or nervous. It was hard to tell. Then she started talking about a particular kind of cake her mother used to make, and then she wanted to know what grocery store we go to. I was about to ask her if we could talk later in the morning when she suddenly said she had to hang up — and she did. Hang up, I mean.”
    â€œHuh,” said Flora.
    â€œWacko,” said Ruby.
    â€œRuby,” said Min.
    â€œSorry,” said Ruby. She leaned under the table to sneak a bite of toast to Daisy. “But she is,” she muttered.
    Â 
    That afternoon, a gray day that felt more like November than October, Flora walked home from school with Willow. Above them, seven geese honked noisily as they flew over Main Street.
    Willow shivered and fastened the top button on her coat. She glanced up. “Those geese are lazy,” she said. “They didn’t even bother to make a V. It’s more like an L.” She paused to read a sign in the window of Time and Again. “Dog parade? What’s a dog parade?” she asked.
    Flora smiled. “That was Nikki’s idea. It’s a Halloween parade for dogs. It’s a fund-raiser for the animal shelter. Hey! You guys should enter Bessie. There’s still time.”
    â€œMaybe,” said Willow. “So let me get this straight. Your grandmother and Olivia’s grandmother own the sewing store, right?”
    â€œRight,” said Flora.
    â€œAnd Olivia’s parents own — what’s it called? Yours Truly?”
    â€œSincerely Yours. It’s right back there. Olivia’s helping out this afternoon. That’s why she didn’t walk home with us.”
    The girls turned the corner onto Dodds Lane.
    â€œAnyway, we’re entering Daisy in the parade,” said Flora. “Ruby and I. We’re going to dress her as a daisy.”
    â€œDid you know that Cole does sixth-grade math and he’s only in third grade?”
    â€œI — well, no, I didn’t know that.” Flora eyed Willow.
    â€œYup. He’s really amazing. Is this where we turn?”
    Flora nodded. Ahead were the Row Houses. She liked this view of them, from back at the corner, where she could see the rows of everything — the sixteen third-floor windows, the sixteen second-floor windows, the eight front doors, the eight front stoops, the eight yards, one after another. She noticed now that the Hamiltons’ door was open and Willow’s mother was standing on their stoop.
    â€œYour mom’s waiting,” said Flora, glancing at Willow.
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œDoes she always wait like that?”
    Willow shrugged. “I never know what she’s going to do…. Oh, well.” They drew up to the Hamiltons’ walk and Willow said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    â€œOh,” said Flora, who had been about to invite Willow to her house. “Okay. See you tomorrow.” She edged down the sidewalk. When she reached the Malones’ house, she turned around. Willow was approaching her mother, who stood like a grim statue before the front door, arms folded across her chest.
    â€œSo?” said Mrs. Hamilton.
    â€œI … what?” replied