Libby's Sweet Surprise Read online

  “I think that would probably be fine,” Jayne said.

  As they walked into the pet store, Libby breathed a little easier, knowing she at least had a chance now to get away. Hopefully it wouldn’t be super busy the entire day.

  “I’ll get the food,” Aunt Jayne said. “And you go pick out a toy for him. I’ll meet you at the register.”

  “All right,” Libby said before they turned in opposite directions.

  As she passed the cat food aisle, a girl about her age practically knocked her over, coming around the corner. It happened fast, and it took a moment for Libby to realize she knew this girl.

  Rebecca.

  “Sorry,” Rebecca said. “I didn’t see you there.”

  “That’s okay,” Libby said. She pointed to the cat food in Rebecca’s hand. “How’s Marvin doing anyway? I haven’t seen him, you know, in a while.”

  After she said it, Libby realized how ridiculous that sounded. She could feel her cheeks getting warm.

  Rebecca tossed her brown hair back. “Oh, he’s fine. Still sleeps about twenty-three hours a day. Must be nice, right?”

  “Yeah,” is all Libby could manage to say. Why did this have to be so awkward? She didn’t want to talk about Marvin. She wanted to talk about the two of them. About what had happened. About how much she missed Rebecca and how she wished things could go back to the way they used to be, before summer camp and before Rebecca had met her new friends. But no words came. Libby remembered what Hannah had said in her letter: Laughter is the best medicine.

  The problem was that it’s hard to be funny when all you feel is worry and tension. Still, she decided she had to try.

  “Sometimes I think if cats and dogs could talk,” Libby said, “it’d really surprise us what they might say. Like I bet Dexter would be happy about everything. ‘Time to eat — yay! Time to go for a walk — double yay! A treat — oh boy!’ And if Marvin could talk, he’d probably say, ‘Please, just leave me alone, all right? You people annoy me. All I want is a little peace and quiet!’ ”

  Rebecca grimaced. “What? Marvin would not say that. I don’t annoy him. He loves me, Libby. You make him sound like an old, grumpy cat, and he’s not like that at all.”

  Libby wanted to turn and run the other way. What had she done? “No, I know, I was just trying to be funny. Because cats and dogs are so different. I didn’t mean anything by it. Honest.”

  “I gotta go,” Rebecca said with a sigh. “My mum and little brother are in the car, waiting for me.”

  “Please don’t be mad. Please? The last thing I want is for us to fight like cats and dogs because of my bad joke.” Libby waited for Rebecca to smile. She didn’t. “Rebecca, I wanted you to laugh. Remember how much fun we used to have together? I want it to be like that again. That’s all.”

  “I really gotta go. Bye.”

  Rebecca scurried away so fast, Libby couldn’t even return the good-bye.

  Feeling totally defeated, Libby made her way to the dog toy aisle and tried to focus on figuring out what Dexter might like to play with, but all she could think about was the way Rebecca had looked at her after she’d tried to be funny. Like she was the meanest, most horrible person on the planet.

  “What’s taking so long?” It was her aunt. Libby had been so busy trying to focus on the toys, she hadn’t seen her walk up.

  “Sorry,” Libby said, trying not to cry. “I’m just having a bit of … trouble.”

  “Well, here,” Aunt Jayne replied. “Let me help you.” She reached up and grabbed a stuffed cat off the rack. It squeaked when she squeezed it. Just what Libby needed, a constant reminder of the dog-and-cat joke that probably ruined her friendship with Rebecca forever.

  “Anything but that one,” Libby pleaded.

  “Yes, I see how that could get annoying after a while,” Aunt Jayne said as she put the cat back in its place. “How about a new rope, for playing tug-of-war? You know how he loves playing that.”

  Libby nodded her head in agreement. It seemed fitting, for just about everything in her life right now felt like a tug-of-war, and now she’d actually be playing it for real with the dog.

  How perfect.

  When Oliver, Jayne, and Libby arrived at the sweetshop Saturday morning, there were already some customers standing outside, waiting to get in.

  Uncle Oliver smiled as he said, “Just give us a few minutes to get things in order, and then we’ll be open for business.”

  “I can’t believe people are already here. That’s a good sign, yes?” Aunt Jayne said after they’d gotten inside and closed the door.

  Uncle Oliver smiled. “A very good sign.” He turned to Libby. “Thanks again for the brilliant idea of an anniversary sale, sweetheart.”

  “You’re welcome,” Libby replied.

  Her uncle walked over to the register with the envelope of change he’d gotten from the bank the day before. “All right. Let’s get to work,” he said. “Libby, there are a few jars that are in desperate need of filling. I made a list yesterday and it’s there, on the counter, near where you’re standing. While you do that, I’m going to put this change in the register. Jayne, would you mind giving the counters a quick wipe down?”

  “Certainly.” And with that, they were off and running.

  Once the doors opened, business was steady for the first few hours. When lunchtime arrived, they took turns eating sandwiches that Aunt Jayne had brought from home in the back room. As Libby ate her lunch, she recalled running into Cedric at school the day before and how he’d asked her again if she would stop by The Sweet Retreat to see the place and say hello. She’d planned to tell him something had come up and she wouldn’t be able to come after all. But as he looked at her and pleaded with her to come and see the shop, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t lie to him. She already felt guilty enough because she was keeping her family’s business a secret from him.

  After she wolfed down her tomato-and-cheese sandwich, Libby returned to work to find the shop empty for the first time all day. She knew this was her one and only chance. The Sweet Retreat was across town, but on her bike, she figured she could make it in twenty minutes or so. She’d go in, say hello to Cedric, and only stay for a few minutes before she’d head back to the shop.

  “Is it all right if I take a break and go home and take Dexter for a walk?” Libby asked. “He likes to walk around the park a couple of times, so I’ll probably be gone about an hour.”

  She’d barely gotten the words out when some customers walked through the door. She held her breath, hoping this didn’t mean the answer would be no.

  Uncle Oliver greeted the people, so Libby walked over to her aunt. “Please? May I go?”

  And then, another group of customers came in. And behind them, an even bigger group. Libby’s heart sunk. She knew she was now stuck here for good.

  Her aunt gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. All hands on deck, I’m afraid.”

  “Libby,” her uncle called. “Can you please get me the jar of sour strawberry bites?”

  And so it went, for the rest of the afternoon.

  At five, Uncle Oliver put the “Closed” sign in the window and then danced a silly little jig across the shop. “I can’t believe how much business we did today,” he said.

  “Hopefully everyone was here and not at the other place,” Aunt Jayne said. Libby had noticed they never called the other shop by its name, as if it were evil. Like “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” in the Harry Potter books.

  Libby was glad the sale had been so successful, but there was a part of her that felt bad for Cedric and his family. She didn’t want their business to completely fail. That would be horrible.

  “I think we should drive by the other place and see what’s going on,” Uncle Oliver said. “I saw that they were staying open until seven tonight.”

  Libby felt panic rising up. What if Cedric saw them driving by, but not stopping to go in? What would she tell him? She looked outside and realized it would be dark soon, and
that made her feel better.

  “Why not take it a step further?” Aunt Jayne asked. “Let’s go inside. Introduce ourselves. Tell them there are no hard feelings and we wish them the very best.”

  “No!” Libby shouted, before she had the good sense to stop herself.

  Both her aunt and uncle stared at her.

  “I mean, I don’t want to do that. It would be so embarrassing. Like, what are they going to say back to us? What if they don’t feel the same way?”

  Uncle Oliver scratched the back of his head, thinking. Libby rubbed her bracelet, hoping for some luck to come her way. They couldn’t go into The Sweet Retreat. They just couldn’t.

  Finally, her uncle said, “Today’s their big day. I don’t want to intrude on that if we’re not really welcome, and we don’t know if we are or not. We certainly wouldn’t be stopping in to buy anything, so it does feel a bit wrong.”

  Libby let out the breath she’d been holding. “Exactly.”

  “But I still want to drive by,” Uncle Oliver said. “There’s no harm in that, right? And after that, we’ll stop for dinner. We’ve definitely earned a nice meal out after all our hard work today.”

  Aunt Jayne grabbed her purse from the cupboard where they stored personal belongs. “Let’s go then, shall we? Oh, I just realized, we should stop by and let Dexter out first.”

  “Yes,” Uncle Oliver said. “Good idea. And Libby, I’m sorry you couldn’t take him for a walk today. Tomorrow you can take him for a nice long one, how’s that sound?”

  She’d planned on going to Franny’s house on Sunday to ask about the mysterious jar. That meant Dexter would have to come along.

  Well, hopefully Franny liked dogs.

  That night, with so much on her mind, Libby tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. These were just a few of the questions that kept spinning around, making her brain feel like a merry-go-round:

  Would Cedric be upset with her about not showing up at the grand opening? What should she tell him as to why she didn’t make it?

  Was her friendship with Rebecca over for good?

  And finally, where was that jar with the poem? Now, more than ever, she wanted to read the poem about friendship and see if it offered some help or advice. Every time she considered that maybe she needed to let Rebecca go and move on, she’d remember a fun time they had together and long for more moments like that with her.

  Like the time the two girls gathered up some friends and went Christmas caroling around the neighborhood. The pretty lights and the cool night air created the perfect atmosphere as the group sang their way from house to house. It had been a truly magical night. When they’d finished, Libby went to Rebecca’s house for a sleepover. They slept on the floor, near the Christmas tree, where they’d exchanged whispers like gifts into the wee hours of the morning.

  Didn’t Rebecca remember any of the good times they’d had? Or did she just not care?

  Libby rolled over again, and her charm bracelet poked her wrist. Thinking about Caitlin, Mia, and Hannah made her instantly feel better. She could picture the four of them, underneath the canopy of tree branches that smelled like pine, where they’d held friendship circle every afternoon.

  Welcome to another meeting in the friendship circle. As it’s been since the beginning, our friendship circle is secret, safe, and special. Speak your mind, but please be kind. And always remember, no matter what, wherever we go, we’re friends forever, this we know.

  Friends forever.

  Forever.

  Forever.

  Finally, Libby drifted off to sleep.

  * * *

  The next day, Libby and Dexter headed out for their walk after lunch. They swung by the park on the way to Franny’s house, because Libby thought maybe Cedric would be there. As much as she dreaded having to apologize about not coming to the grand opening, she wanted to get it over with. But he wasn’t there. So they continued on to Franny’s house, in her great-grandma’s neighborhood.

  As she walked past Grandma Grace’s house, she wondered what would happen to it now. Would it be sold? She’d been ninety-three when she died, which meant there was probably a lot of stuff to go through before they could even put it up for sale.

  When she reached Franny’s house, the first thing Libby noticed was that it’d been painted recently. Instead of white, the house was now yellow. The second thing she noticed was the fancy new car in the driveway. Was someone visiting or was that car for Franny to drive?

  She went to the front door and knocked. It didn’t take long at all for someone to answer. “Good day,” said the woman, who looked a little bit older than Aunt Jayne. “May I help you?”

  “Hello. I’m here to see Franny?”

  “I’m sorry, but Franny passed away. About a month ago. I’m her daughter, Anne. I’m actually here packing up her belongings so I can move in to the house next month. Is there something I can help you with?”

  The news took Libby by surprise. She stood there for a moment, wondering what to do. “I’m very sorry for your loss. My great-grandmother Grace, who lived around the corner from here, passed away a couple of weeks ago. I came to ask Franny if she happened to have an old canning jar that Grace might have accidentally given to her. The jar came from America and was very special, so I’m trying to find it.”

  Anne shook her head. “I’m sorry, but it’s not here.”

  Libby looked at her curiously. “But how do you know?”

  Anne smiled. “My mother didn’t keep anything like that. She hated clutter. She truly despised knickknacks and extra things that didn’t serve a purpose. To give you an example, she only kept enough place settings for four people. She said she didn’t need any more than that, because she’d never entertain more than one or two people at a time.”

  “So, you’re sure?” Libby asked.

  “Quite sure,” Anne responded. “I’m sorry. I hope you find it. Do you have anywhere else you can look?”

  “Yes. I have one more friend of hers to ask. Maybe I’ll go there now.”

  “Tell you what,” Anne said. “I’ll go through the few kitchen items that are left to make sure it’s not here. If I happen to find something, which I doubt, I’ll let you know. Your family owns Mr. Pemberton’s, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I’ll stop in there and leave a message for you if I find it. But as I said before, even if Grace did give it to Franny, I don’t think Franny would have kept it.” Anne laughed. “One year for Christmas I gave her a new set of glassware. Eight glasses in all. When I came by a week later, I looked in her cupboard and only saw four there. I checked the dishwasher, and they weren’t there, so I asked her what she did with the other four. She told me she threw them out, because why did she need eight glasses if she only had four place settings? My mother was quite the character, let me tell you.”

  Tears started to form in Anne’s eyes, and Libby knew that was her cue to leave.

  “Thanks for your help,” Libby said. “And again, I’m really sorry about your mother.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss as well,” Anne said. “Good-bye.”

  Libby waved and scurried down the front walk. She knew she couldn’t go home yet. She had to go to Eloise’s house now, while she had the chance.

  Her one and only last chance to find the jar.

  Eloise lived just a few blocks over. Thankfully, it was a nice day, and pretty warm for early December, so the walk wasn’t a big deal. Dexter certainly didn’t mind continuing on. Libby was pretty sure he’d be happy to walk all day long, if given the chance.

  Libby had been to Eloise’s house only once, a couple of years ago, because Grandma Grace and Libby had made her a cake. A German chocolate cake, from scratch. Eloise had turned eighty years old, and Grandma Grace said turning eighty deserved something special. She’d said that Eloise didn’t have any family nearby, and it made her sad to think she might not have cake for her special celebration.

  It turned out that many of Eloise’
s friends had the same idea, so her kitchen was filled with delicious, homemade cakes. Anyone who stopped by could have any kind they wanted and as much as they wanted.

  “Happy birthday to you,” Libby had said to Eloise.

  “And happy cake day to you,” Eloise had said. “Come in and look at all my beautiful cakes, and see what you fancy.”

  Libby had decided on a piece of sour cherry crumb cake, and it was one of the best things she’d ever tasted. Of course, she’d had to try some of the German chocolate cake she and her great-grandma had made as well. It was good too, though a bit rich and filling when her stomach was already full of sour cherry crumb cake.

  Cake day. That had been a wonderful day.

  When Libby got to Eloise’s house, she rubbed the charm bracelet for luck and knocked on the door three times.

  But nobody answered. Libby tried again and still, nothing.

  Just as she turned to leave, the gate along the side of the house clicked, and out walked Eloise wearing a straw hat on her head and carrying a couple of small garden tools.

  “Hello,” Libby said, walking toward her with Dexter by her side, wagging his tail.

  “Why hello, dear,” Eloise said. She was a very petite woman, only a little bit taller than Libby. She reached down and gave Dexter a few friendly pats. “I’m sorry, were you at the front door, looking for me?”

  “Yes, I was. I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Libby. Grace’s great-granddaughter?”

  Eloise smiled. “Why, yes. I remember now. She talked about you often. I do miss her so.”

  “Me too,” Libby said.

  “Let me put these tools away,” Eloise said. “And then we’ll go around back. It’s a lovely fall day; we should make the most of it.”

  “All right,” Libby said.

  She waited as Eloise ducked into the garage for a moment. When the older woman returned, she led Libby through the gate and into her yard, which was a nice English garden with lots of trees, bushes, and colorful winter pansies.

  “Wow,” Libby said. “It’s beautiful.”