compelled to bolt out of there at a dead run. She looked at the clock, and the time decided for her.
“Yikes! My mother will be waiting. I’ve got about two minutes before she calls Carmen.”
“Now that’s a real risk.” Gabe laughed. “At least, it is if we want more unchaperoned lunches. Off we go.” They threw a wad of bills on the table and sped out the door.
“So, when are you back in town?” she asked when they reached the sidewalk. Usually, the families had plans to get together but Cara hadn’t mentioned anything coming up.
“I’ll be back in a few days, and then I’m around until the middle of August.”
Kate frowned. “What’s in the middle of August?” Her school didn’t start until early September.
“Well, in the reclusive and nutty style of education my family adheres to, I’m going away for school this year. For the next two years, in fact.”
Kate felt a crushing disappointment, which she suspected leaked through her voice when she responded, “Why? When did you decide to do that, and where are you going?”
He blushed and dug at a crack in the cement with his toe. “It’s certainly not my decision, and it’s kind of, well, a boarding school. All the kids in my family go. I mean, all the guys go,” he amended.
She felt numb. “Out of state, I assume?”
He glanced toward water. “East of here.”
Kate wracked her brain to think of a land mass between here and Europe. “So, is your school located on the rocky outcropping at the far side of the bay, or are you off to England?”
Gabe worried another crack with his shoe. “I’d really rather not talk about it, Kate. Look, I’d better run. I’ll catch up with you next week sometime.” He gave her a quick hug and loped toward the beach.
Kate stared after him for several seconds, trying to understand her anxiousness and wondering what she was going to do about it. She sprinted to the library to avoid being late.
* * * *
Kate drove home with her mother from Griffins Bay, her curiosity about the Blake party grossly impeding her ability to concentrate and make conversation. She bolted to the phone to call Maya as soon as they entered the house, attracting a suspicious stare from her mother.
“Maya, how’d you like to crash the Blake party with me?” Kate whispered into the receiver.
“Oooo, girl, I like how you think. I’ll be right over.”
When Maya knocked, Kate yelled to her mother they were going into town and would be back in an hour or so. She grabbed Maya’s arm, hurrying her away from the house so they could talk.
“I had lunch with Gabe today, and there’s something fishy going on at the Blakes’ tonight. I want to spy on them.” Maya furrowed her brow, perhaps, Kate thought, because she disapproved. “Do you think we shouldn’t go?”
“No, it’s not that. Yes, I want to go, I’m just trying to think of how we can both get away from our parents.” After a moment she looked cautiously hopeful and proffered a solution. “How about if you tell your mother you’re staying at my house, I tell mine I’m staying at your house, and then we meet at neither of our houses to drive to the Blakes’?”
It sounded like a workable plan. They stopped at the store for a juice before heading home. When it came time to part, they agreed to handle their parents individually and then meet at the drug store at seven. “I’ll switch the porch light on if I can’t swing it,” she told Maya.
“And I’ll give you a call if I can’t. Just call me, for crying out loud. This isn’t a James Bond movie.”
“Right. Okay. I’ll call if I can’t come.”
The ruse worked, and Maya was at the rendezvous just as Kate arrived. Maya had use of a car and had told her folks she wanted it to drive down to see a new litter of puppies at a classmate’s house outside of town. She and Maya killed a couple of hours at the municipal park, loaded into Maya’s car, and then the game was on.
Kate’s initial worries
“Yikes! My mother will be waiting. I’ve got about two minutes before she calls Carmen.”
“Now that’s a real risk.” Gabe laughed. “At least, it is if we want more unchaperoned lunches. Off we go.” They threw a wad of bills on the table and sped out the door.
“So, when are you back in town?” she asked when they reached the sidewalk. Usually, the families had plans to get together but Cara hadn’t mentioned anything coming up.
“I’ll be back in a few days, and then I’m around until the middle of August.”
Kate frowned. “What’s in the middle of August?” Her school didn’t start until early September.
“Well, in the reclusive and nutty style of education my family adheres to, I’m going away for school this year. For the next two years, in fact.”
Kate felt a crushing disappointment, which she suspected leaked through her voice when she responded, “Why? When did you decide to do that, and where are you going?”
He blushed and dug at a crack in the cement with his toe. “It’s certainly not my decision, and it’s kind of, well, a boarding school. All the kids in my family go. I mean, all the guys go,” he amended.
She felt numb. “Out of state, I assume?”
He glanced toward water. “East of here.”
Kate wracked her brain to think of a land mass between here and Europe. “So, is your school located on the rocky outcropping at the far side of the bay, or are you off to England?”
Gabe worried another crack with his shoe. “I’d really rather not talk about it, Kate. Look, I’d better run. I’ll catch up with you next week sometime.” He gave her a quick hug and loped toward the beach.
Kate stared after him for several seconds, trying to understand her anxiousness and wondering what she was going to do about it. She sprinted to the library to avoid being late.
* * * *
Kate drove home with her mother from Griffins Bay, her curiosity about the Blake party grossly impeding her ability to concentrate and make conversation. She bolted to the phone to call Maya as soon as they entered the house, attracting a suspicious stare from her mother.
“Maya, how’d you like to crash the Blake party with me?” Kate whispered into the receiver.
“Oooo, girl, I like how you think. I’ll be right over.”
When Maya knocked, Kate yelled to her mother they were going into town and would be back in an hour or so. She grabbed Maya’s arm, hurrying her away from the house so they could talk.
“I had lunch with Gabe today, and there’s something fishy going on at the Blakes’ tonight. I want to spy on them.” Maya furrowed her brow, perhaps, Kate thought, because she disapproved. “Do you think we shouldn’t go?”
“No, it’s not that. Yes, I want to go, I’m just trying to think of how we can both get away from our parents.” After a moment she looked cautiously hopeful and proffered a solution. “How about if you tell your mother you’re staying at my house, I tell mine I’m staying at your house, and then we meet at neither of our houses to drive to the Blakes’?”
It sounded like a workable plan. They stopped at the store for a juice before heading home. When it came time to part, they agreed to handle their parents individually and then meet at the drug store at seven. “I’ll switch the porch light on if I can’t swing it,” she told Maya.
“And I’ll give you a call if I can’t. Just call me, for crying out loud. This isn’t a James Bond movie.”
“Right. Okay. I’ll call if I can’t come.”
The ruse worked, and Maya was at the rendezvous just as Kate arrived. Maya had use of a car and had told her folks she wanted it to drive down to see a new litter of puppies at a classmate’s house outside of town. She and Maya killed a couple of hours at the municipal park, loaded into Maya’s car, and then the game was on.
Kate’s initial worries
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