"BSC034 - Mary Anne and Too Many Boys - Martin, Ann M" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin Ann M)

"Maybe she went back to the car," she said a little breathlessly. I know she was really worried, even though she was trying not to show it.
Mr. Pike stood up. "I'll check the car. Stacey, why don't you look around the play area." (There were a couple of swing sets at the far side of the parking lot.)
"I'll go back inside," I said suddenly.
"Maybe she had to go to the bathroom."
Mr. Pike nodded and hurried off, his expression tense. Claire is only five years old, and at that age, kids shouldn't be out of your sight for even a minute.
I quickly checked the restroom, the water fountain, and the phone booth. No sign of her. I was about to dash outside when I spotted her at the counter, happily spinning on a stool.
"Claire!" I said, rushing up to her. "We thought you were missing." I hugged her, my heart still doing flip-flops in my chest.
"I'm not missing," she said seriously. "I'm right here. All my ice cream leaked out, so I came back to get another cone." She held up an empty cone. The bottom was jagged as if she had bitten it off.
"We can fix that," a boy behind the counter said. "What kind of ice cream did you have?"
"Vanilla. I always get vanilla."
He handed her a new cone and winked. "Make sure you eat this one from the top down, not the bottom up."
We hurried outside, just as Mr. and Mrs. Pike were coming through the glass double doors. They swept Claire into their arms and hugged her, just like I had done.
We piled back in the cars, and after endless rhyming, Vanessa shrieked with joy.
"There's the cow sign!" she said, jabbing me in the ribs and forgetting to make a poem. The cow sign is one of the Pike kids' favorite landmarks. It's a billboard with a three-dimensional purple cow, and they look for it every year.
"And there's Crabs for Grabs!" Jordan yelled a few minutes later. Crabs for Grabs is a seafood restaurant on the outskirts of Sea City.
"And the suntan girl!" Adam and Byron shouted together. The suntan girl is another billboard that they always watch for. "And there is Sea City!"
We're finally here, I thought. I started to relax and then caught myself. Who knew what would happen next!
Chapter 4.
"The wind chimes are still here!" Jordan shouted.
"And they left the swing up!" Adam said, throwing himself into a white wicker swing on the front porch.
"The honeysuckle bush is blooming, just like before," Vanessa said dreamily. She buried her face in the soft blossoms for a moment.
"Okay, gang," Mr. Pike said firmly. "I know you want to run around and look at everything, but what do we have to do first?"
"Unpack?" Nicky suggested.
Mr. Pike nodded, and there was a chorus of groans.
I took a deep breath of salty air while Mrs. Pike unlocked the front door of the house. The Pikes rent the same place every year, and it looks like something out of Hansel and Gretel. It's a giant gingerbread house, which Mrs. Pike says is Victorian style. It's painted yellow with white trim, and has carved railings and posts and eaves and edges. Best of all, it has a big front porch, so you can sit for hours and look at the ocean (if you're not busy running after eight kids). The Pikes love it because they have the beach right in their own front yard.
After we helped unload the car, Stacey and
I headed upstairs for the yellow bedroom we'd shared the last time. It's very old-fashioned (maybe a little too much for Stacey) and has two high, dark wood beds, a bare wood floor, and yellow flowered wallpaper. It also has a great view of the ocean, and I stood and watched the sun glittering on the water for a moment before I tackled my suitcase. I saw a lifeguard talking to some little kids splashing in the surf, and I thought of a lifeguard we met here the last time. His name was Scott, and Stacey had an incredible crush on him. Unfortunately he was much too old for her (I tried to tell her so at the time), and besides that, he was interested in another girl.
She must have read my mind because she joined me at the window, eyeing the little group on the shore. She watched them for a minute and then said softly, "Thank goodness I'm more grown up this time."
I knew exactly what she meant. "You have to admit it was an interesting vacation."
"Interesting!" Stacey hooted. She curled up on the bed, her knees tucked under her chin. "I can't believe I made such an idiot of myself over Scott." She paused, inspecting a frosted-pink fingernail. "Of course, it wasn't a total loss. You met Alex and I met Toby."
"That's right." I sat down next to her. "Do you think they ever think about us?"
Stacey twisted a lock of blonde hair around her finger and frowned. "Probably just once in a while. Toby was really cute, wasn't he?"
I nodded. Toby was one of those totally cool boys (really Stacey's type), but I preferred Alex. Alex was the first mother's helper I ever met who was a guy! Alex was great with kids, and we hit it off right from the start.
"Whatever happened to that ring he gave you?" Alex and I exchanged rings on our last night in Sea City, but it didn't mean there was anything really serious between us. (Plus, I didn't know Logan then.) We found this place where you can buy rings and have stuff engraved on them for five dollars each. Alex has a ring with my initials and I have one with his.
"Um, I'm not sure. It's either in the bottom of my dresser drawer, or in a shoe box in my closet."
Stacey pretended to be shocked. "I thought you slept with it under your pillow every night."
I knew she was just teasing. I don't even think of Alex in a romantic way, especially since I've met Logan. I guess Alex played an
important part in my life, though, because he was the first boy I was ever interested in.
"Wouldn't it be funny if Alex and Toby showed up again?"
I didn't get a chance to answer because Claire bolted into the room just then and wrapped herself around my knees.
"Can we go to the beach, please, please, please, Mary Anne-silly-billy-goo-goo?"
"We have to finish unpacking," I told her, and Claire's mouth turned down, just like one of those Greek masks that are supposed to stand for "tragedy."
Then she brightened. "What if I help?" she asked. She picked up one of my T-shirts and held it up to her chest. It hung all the way down to her knees.
"The best way you can help is to go back to your own room and get Mal to help you find your bathing suit and beach towel. Then when you're all dressed Ч and your suitcase is unpacked Ч we'll hit the beach," I said.
"Promise?"
"Promise." That seemed to satisfy her because she gave a wild whoop of joy and dashed down the hall.
I probably should explain about the sleeping arrangements. Claire and Margo bunk to-
gether, Vanessa and Mallory share a pink bedroom, and Stacey and I have the yellow bedroom. The boys have a big bedroom at the end of the hall. There are plenty of rooms to go around, and there is even an extra room with a window seat up on the third floor. It's one of my favorite places to curl up (Mal's, too), and once she and I went up there to watch a lightning storm. Very exciting!
It took at least half an hour to unpack, because Stacey and I kept reminding each other of funny things that happened with Alex, Toby, and Scott, the lifeguard. Actually, the incident with Scott wasn't exactly funny (Stacey saw him kissing another girl and dissolved into tears), but I was pretty sure that she was over him.
"How will you feel if you run into Scott on the beach?" I asked her.