“I wasn’t going to be rude to Robert. He’s a nice guy. But that’s not the point,” said Claudia. “I thought we were going to spend this evening together.”
“We will, starting now.”
Claudia shook her head and started walking again. “It’s no good now. I know you’d rather not leave Robert. And he was looking at you with those big eyes like, Please don’t leave me.”
“He was not!”
“We’ll just run into him wherever we decide to go.”
Just then, Robert came out of the pizzeria. He didn’t seem to know whether to come join us or walk in the other direction. Then I had a great idea. “Claudia, I know what we can do. We’ll have a nice dinner tomorrow night at the real restaurant, at the Casino. I’ll tell Robert not to be there, so we’ll be sure we won’t be interrupted. Okay?”
“Okay,” Claudia said, a smile washing away her frown. “It’s a best friend date. Tomorrow, just you and me.”
Thursday was yet another super beautiful day. In the morning, Claudia and I rode the first ferry over to Patchogue. We took a cab into town, and Claudia found a fax place. She sent a message to Watson’s fax number telling Kristy, Shannon, and Mary Anne to bring costume stuff. She even faxed a second page with her costume sketches on it.
On the way back, Robert had a break and sat with us. We left Claudia sketching on the lower deck and went up to the top deck together. A guy in an official ferry windbreaker with the name “Mitch” stitched on it came over to us. “Is this the amazing Stacey I’ve heard so much about?” he asked.
Robert nodded proudly. “The very same.”
“This guy is crazy about you,” Mitch teased. “Now I see why.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Nice to meet you.”
When Mitch left I kissed Robert lightly on the cheek. I knew he liked me, but “crazy about” me? It sounded wonderful.
After we got off the ferry, Claudia and I hurried over to the ocean. Dad was already there, reading a novel. Claudia started right in building small sand castles. She built five little ones in an hour. Some were tall and thin with high towers, others were more ranch-style castles, low to the ground with sprawling courtyards. She said she was experimenting, trying to find a model that wouldn’t crumble easily when she built a large-scale version for her parade float.
She was so engrossed in her castles that I didn’t feel bad leaving her to go meet the ferry. (Dad had already taken off, for more chess, or something.) I was there in time to see the boat pull into the dock. Robert spotted me from the upper deck and waved. I waved back. (It was so romantic. I thought about long ago days, and sailors coming home from the sea. I imagined myself as Robert’s true love, waiting on the dock to greet him. I could easily picture myself in a long white skirt, with ribbons in my hair.)
As usual, I watched all the passengers stream off the boat, and then Robert appeared. “Wait until you hear this,” he said, putting his arm around me. “A guy I work with — Mitch, the one you met this morning — he has this great sailboat. He’s taking it out for a sunset sail this evening and he’s invited us to come along.”
“Oh, that sounds so —” I was going to say wonderful, but I stopped myself. “I can’t go.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Remember? I told you I’m going out with Claudia tonight.”
“I forgot. Go out with her tomorrow night,” Robert suggested.
“I can’t. Tomorrow night Mary Anne, Shannon, and Kristy will be here. Claudia really wants to do something together, just the two of us.”
“Then do it after they leave,” said Robert.
Robert was making sense. There was no reason Claudia and I couldn’t go to the Casino any night next week. But the idea of canceling out on Claudia tonight didn’t make me feel good. I had a strong sense that Claudia wouldn’t take it well. “Is this guy going to take his boat out any other evening?” I asked hopefully.
Robert shook his head. “He’s lending it to a friend for the rest of July.”
Angrily, I kicked a pebble with my sneaker. “I’d really like to go. Maybe Claudia would understand. By tomorrow she’ll have a whole house full of friends to do things with.”
“You could ask her,” said Robert.
“I can’t,” I muttered. “I just can’t.”
“Okay. I’ll tell Mitch we can’t make it.” Robert said as he jammed his hands in his jeans pockets. I could tell he was disappointed. So was I.
“Wait,” I said. I’d just had a brilliant thought. “The sun doesn’t set until almost nine o’clock, right? What time is Mitch sailing?”
“He said to be down at the harbor no later than eight-thirty,” Robert replied.
“If I have supper with Claudia at six, I can definitely be here by eight-thirty.”
“Do you think so?”
“I don’t see why not,” I said. “It doesn’t take more than two hours to eat supper. And at six o’clock, the restaurant shouldn’t be crowded.”
Robert’s face relaxed into a smile. “That would work out great.”
“I’ll have to ask Dad, but I’m sure he’ll say yes.” I gave Robert a quick squeeze. “A sunset sail with you is too special to pass up.”
I was walking on air for the rest of the day. What could be more romantic than a sunset sail? I kept picturing Robert kissing me as golden light bathed us in its glow, and the pure white sails billowed behind us. (Somehow, in my fantasy, I had on that flowing white dress again. And Mitch was not on board. Neither was anyone else. It was just Robert and me.)
At five o’clock, I didn’t go meet the ferry. I wanted to get Claudia home so we could be at the Casino by six. “I’m not really hungry yet,” Claudia protested as I hurriedly gathered our towels and beach chairs.
“I’m starved. And you’ll be hungry by six,” I insisted.
“But we never eat that early.”
“This is the beginning of the big Fourth of July weekend,” I said. “You should have seen the last ferry to come in. It was loaded with people. If we don’t show up early we might not get seated at all.”
“It’s only Thursday,” said Claudia, taking a folded beach chair from me.
“Robert says the weekends start on Thursday here. And Fourth of July is a super mobbed weekend.”
Claudia shrugged. “If you say so.” Carrying most of the stuff myself (there was no time to hand things to Claudia), I led the way back to the house. It was five-fifteen when we walked in.
Dad was talking to someone on the phone. “Okay, someone just came in. Talk to you later,” he said, hanging up quickly. For some reason he wore a guilty expression, as if we’d caught him doing something he shouldn’t be doing.
“Who was that?” I asked suspiciously.
“Stu,” Dad said.
I studied him. What could he and Stu be discussing that would make Dad look so guilty? I didn’t have time to worry about it right then.
“You girls still planning to go out to dinner?” he asked.
Claudia nodded and sat down at the kitchen table. I took her arm and lifted her back up. “Come on, we have to get ready to go. We need to be there by six.”
“Boy, you’re getting as punctuality-crazy as Kristy. Why do we have to be on time? We’re on vacation. It isn’t as though anyone is waiting for us,” Claudia protested.
“I just don’t want to stand around waiting for a table,” I said.
“Chill out, would you?” Claudia mumbled. But at last she went to our shared room. She opened the closet and stared at her clothing — just stared at it!
“What are you doing?” I asked, trying hard to sound relaxed. (And not succeeding.)
“Picking out something to wear,” she answered. “I brought all this great stuff, and all I’ve worn since we landed is my suit, T-shirts, and shorts.”
Sometimes Claudia can pick out a great outfit in seconds, so I decided not to worry about her being ready on time. I dashed through my shower. Since I’d spent all day thinking about what
I would wear, I knew exactly what to put on: this white and blue sundress with a dropped waist and a square sailor collar. It wasn’t exactly the dress of my fantasy, but it was as close as I could get.
I ran into the bathroom to do my makeup, since the light in there was better. This evening, I decided I looked fine without makeup. Even with the number fifteen sun block I usually wore, I’d gotten a light golden tan. I love the way I look with a tan. It makes my eyes bluer and gives me a wonderful glow. My hair was a little blonder from the sun, too. All I needed was a touch of lipstick and I was done.
“Ready?” I asked as I hurried back into the bedroom.
I took a deep breath in an effort to stay calm. Claudia was still staring into the closet. I pulled a yellow sundress of mine off the pole and handed it to her. “Wear this. You’ll look great in it.”
Claudia held the dress out and studied it. “Do you really think so? I’m not sure yellow is a good color for me.”
“Claudia!” I cried. “What’s the big deal? We don’t even know anyone who will be at the restaurant. What do you even care?”
“Excuse me if I like looking nice,” Claudia said, clearly miffed. She put my yellow dress back in the closet and took out a blue denim jumper. “I’ll wear this.”
Action at last! But it was all in slow motion. Claudia buttoned every button slowly. She smoothed away the packing wrinkles left in the dress one by one. Watching her brush her long hair almost drove me insane. She began each brush stroke at the crown of her hair and then — ever so slowly — drew the brush down, down, down to the end. And then she would start all over again.
Finally, I couldn’t stand it another second. I took the brush right out of her hand. “You look gorgeous. Let’s go.”
“I’ve never seen this side of you, Stacey,” Claudia said as I drew her out of the room, holding her wrist.
“What side?” I asked.
“I never knew you acted so crazy when you’re hungry. Is it because of your diabetes?”
“Yes!” I said. “That’s it! When I’m really hungry I act like this. I usually don’t get this hungry at home but here I’m all off schedule.” That, of course, was a total lie. But maybe if Claudia thought I needed food she’d move a little faster.
Claudia went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. “What are you doing now?” I asked.
“I’m looking for something for you to eat,” she said. “I think you should eat a snack before we go.”
I shut the refrigerator. “No, come on, let’s just sit down and have a nice supper that I can really enjoy. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said.
Dad came into the kitchen. “You girls look lovely. If you need me tonight, call Stu Majors. He’s having a party, so I might not be right there, but he’ll find me and I’ll call you right back if —”
“We won’t need you, Dad,” I said, pulling open the kitchen door. “ ’Bye.”
“Have fun,” he called after us as we hurried down the steps and onto the boardwalk. I waved back to him without even turning around.
“Slow down,” Claudia complained. “I can’t keep up with you.”
Reluctantly, I slowed down a bit. I checked my watch. Six-fifteen — I was already fifteen minutes behind schedule.
It was six-twenty when we reached the Casino. It was pretty empty. “I don’t see any holiday mob scene,” Claudia pointed out.
“It’s a good thing we’re here early,” I replied as we walked inside. The hostess came right over and seated us. Claudia requested a table by the window. The hostess found us one, and handed us menus. I decided on flounder in a lemon sauce and put down my menu.
But Claudia kept reading, and reading, and reading. I began munching on a breadstick from the bread basket on the table. By that time I really did need to eat something. “What’s the problem?” I asked her, several minutes later.
“Well, I can’t decide between shrimp cocktail or crab legs for an appetizer.”
“You’re having an appetizer?” I squeaked.
“Don’t worry,” said Claudia. “I have enough cash. Order whatever you want. My parents gave me money, to take you out for a treat of some kind. Besides, I really do think you need to eat something right away. Why don’t you get the crab legs and I’ll get the shrimp and we’ll share.”
“All right,” I agreed, just to get it over with. “It’s nice of you to treat. Now put down your menu so they know we’re ready to order.”
Instead, Claudia lifted her menu back up. “Just give me a minute. I can’t decide between the lobster bisque and the clam chowder.”
She was having a soup course, too! “I thought you weren’t hungry,” I reminded her.
“I know,” she laughed. “But everything looks so good.”
Picking out her main course was another drawn-out decision for Claudia. By the time the waitress took our order my watch said it was five to seven. “You have to allow twenty minutes for your lobster thermidor to be prepared,” the waitress told Claudia.
“Why?” I asked sharply.
She explained that they started with a fresh lobster, boiled it, and then cooked the meat with all the other ingredients before putting it back into the lobster shell. “Maybe you’d like something else,” I said, although I hated the idea of beginning the decision-making all over again.
“No,” Claudia said. “I’m in no rush.”
Exactly. I, on the other hand, was in a huge rush. I couldn’t tell Claudia that, though. The way I’d pictured it, Claudia and I would have a fun dinner and then stroll back to the house. Claudia would probably want to work on her parade project, and I’d just say I was going out for a while. She’d be happy because we’d spent time together. And I’d be happy because she was happy, and Robert and I could still have our romantic sail together.
Although it had sounded perfect, it wasn’t turning out that way. By seven-thirty we’d eaten our appetizers and soup. (I was already stuffed, and could have done without the main course altogether.) When Claudia’s lobster thermidor arrived, she inhaled the warm scent of the creamy sauce with herbs and hunks of sautéed lobster meat floating in it. She savored every bite, slowly. “This is heaven,” she sighed.
JUST EAT!!!!! I wanted to scream. Of course, I couldn’t. I just sat there choking down my fish. Even though it was delicious, I was too full and rushed to enjoy it.
By eight o’clock a busgirl was clearing our table and wiping away the crumbs. I was craning my neck, looking for our waitress so I could signal for the check, when I heard Claudia ask a passing busboy: “Could you bring us a dessert menu?”
“Claudia, how could you eat dessert after all that?” I cried.
“I don’t know.” Claudia smiled. “Somehow I always have room for dessert. I bet they have fresh berries or something else you could eat.”
“I couldn’t eat another bite,” I told her.
By eight-fifteen Claudia was finished with her ice-cream sundae. My prediction about the Casino getting busy had also come true by then. While we’d been eating, the place had filled up. Our waitress was incredibly busy taking orders, delivering them, and not bringing us our check. By eight-twenty I stood up to get her attention.
She brought the check, and Claudia laid down her money. It was eight-twenty-five before the waitress came back with the change.
“Let’s go,” I said to Claudia, finally.
I’d estimated that I needed fifteen minutes to walk down to the dock. Ten minutes if I hurried. Five minutes if I ran like the wind.
I now had five minutes.
As we were hurrying along the boardwalk, Claudia pointed up ahead. “Isn’t that Robert?” she said. She was right! Robert was riding a bike toward us. In minutes he met up with us.
“It was getting late, so I thought I’d come meet you,” he said.
Saved! On the bike we could be there in time. Way to go Robert!
“Late for what?” Claudia asked.
Uh-oh.
Robert looked at me.
He hadn’t realized I wasn’t going to tell Claudia. “Oh, I thought we’d be done much earlier,” I said, trying to make it sound like it was no big deal. “So I told Robert I’d meet him later, so we could —”
“So that’s why you’ve been rushing me all evening!” Claudia cried angrily. “And here I actually thought you wanted to spend time with me. Boy, am I a jerk!” Claudia stormed off down the boardwalk.
“You’re not a jerk,” I said, running after her. “I did want to spend time with you. It’s just that I thought I could —”
“Save it,” Claudia snapped at me. “From now on I’m not talking to you. Not ever!”
With a quick, apologetic glance at Robert, I hurried after Claudia all the way to the house. As we drew close, she broke into a run. I ran behind her, and followed her inside.
Claudia went right into our room and began gathering her clothes from the dresser and closets. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m moving into the other bedroom,” she said, pushing past me, with clothes tumbling from her arms. “I don’t want to spend another minute with you.”
She went into the room and slammed the door.
Poor Mary Anne! She was totally in the dark about the Vanessa-Haley feud when she went to sit for the Braddocks that afternoon. “Hi, Haley,” she said brightly as she came in the door. Then she signed “hi” to Matt, who is profoundly deaf.
Matt smiled and signed “hi,” in response before he turned back to the closed-captioned episode of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? he was watching on TV.
Haley hardly seemed to notice Mary Anne. She didn’t even look up from whatever she was making on the living room floor.
“She’s been working on some top secret project ever since she came home from day camp this afternoon,” said Mrs. Braddock. “She won’t even let me see what she’s writing.”
Mary Anne noticed that Haley had draped herself in front of the paper she was working on. Mrs. Braddock told Mary Anne that she was meeting Mr. Braddock at his office, and they would be going to a movie together. “We shouldn’t be later than nine o’clock,” she said. “We’ll be at the Washington Mall multiplex if you need us.”