"You always smell like flowers," David said when he got his kiss.
"Why, thank you, David," Marti said.
Before she could invite them inside, David turned to Mom. "You always smell like spaghetti sauce."
"Like spaghetti sauce!" A quick ocean breeze caught a curly bunch of Mom's short, dark hair and scattered it across her forehead. "What made you think of spaghetti sauce?"
Christy thought Mom looked a little hurt to be the "spaghetti sauce" next to her sister, who was the "flowers," even if Mom had grown used to such comparisons over the years.
"It's 'cuz Marti smells more like a garden, and you smell more like a kitchen."
"David, that is so rude!" Christy stopped his analogy, feeling bad for Mom. In a low voice between her teeth, she said, "I can't believe you said that!"
"Why?" David looked surprised. "I love spaghetti. It's just different from flowers, that's all."
Marti took the peculiar moment in her clever grasp and concluded, "I believe we have both been given a genuine compliment. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach! Now come in, everyone, please."
They filed past Marti into the plush, modern-decor house. Paula took in everything as if this were a famous museum and responded with what Christy considered to be overly exaggerated oohs and ahhs. Paula's exclamations continued into every room as Christy gave her the grand tour.
"Lunch is all ready and waiting in the kitchen," Marti called up the stairs. Christy was showing Paula the guest room that had been her bedroom while she stayed with her aunt and uncle last summer. "I thought we'd be informal, so I picked up a few things at the deli."
Marti's "few things" turned out to be a full tray of various sliced meats, cheeses, relishes, four kinds of bread, and a choice of three salads. David set to work immediately and built a sandwich so big that Mom warned him he wouldn't be able to eat it all. And he couldn't.
"Can I go out on the beach?" David asked.
"Actually..." Marti placed her diet soft drink down and looked at David with a serious expression. "I need to talk over something with you before you leave the table."
Christy thought something might be wrong, but when she looked at Mom, she was wearing that perky little smile again. As soon as she noticed Christy looking at her, Mom tried to put on a serious expression, but it didn't work.
"As you know," Marti began, "Bob is gone for several weeks and has left me all alone here."
Her dramatics reminded Christy of Paula's flair for animation. "It's really become more than I can bear, so I've come to a decision."
David jumped up and spouted, "You want us to come stay here with you!"
Paula gasped and entered in with the same enthusiasm. "Oh! Really? You'd let us all stay here with you? What a dream come true! I've always wanted to stay at a beach house!"
"No, no, no." Marti held up her hand and regained the floor. "I am not inviting you to stay here."
"Oh," said Paula.
"Oh." David sat back down.
Christy felt the same way inside, but she kept her reaction to herself.
"I'm not going to be here, so you can't stay with me here," Marti said. "But I would like you to stay with me on Maui!" This time she jumped up and opened her arms, waiting for the congratulatory hugs. Instead of trampling her, the three kids sat frozen in their seats, waiting for the punch line to what seemed like a joke.
"Didn't they hear me, Margaret?" Marti asked her sister.
Mom smiled and tried the direct approach. "Bob and Marti have invited us all to go to Maui. We leave in two days."
Paula screamed. She screamed so loud that Christy put her fingers in her ears and let her mind replay Mom's words one more time, "...go to Maui. We leave in two days."
Marti received her awaited hugs from a screeching, jumping Paula and David. As soon as Christy let herself believe the announcement, she joined in the frolic.
When the noise died down, Paula said, "You guys! This is just like winning on a TV game show or something! My mom is never going to believe this!"
"Your mom already knows," Christy's mom said. "I called and talked it over with her before you came out here."
"How long did you know, Mom?" Christy asked, feeling her heart steady itself from a wild sprint back to a jog.
"Oh, I don't know. A week or two. It was awfully hard keeping it a secret!"
"Does Dad know?" David asked.
"Yes, and that's something I haven't told you yet. Dad can't arrange to get off at the dairy, so he's not coming with us."
"He deserves a vacation more than any of us," Christy said.
"I know," Mom agreed.
Marti jumped in. "He said he'd come with us next time, and he even joked with Bob that the only reason we wanted him to go was to put him to work painting. Bob assured him that's why he took Todd along."
Todd! He must have known all along, because he kept saying we'd have a good time. No wonder he was laughing at me. That turkey!
This wasn't the first time Christy's aunt had arranged a special, extravagant surprise. It wasn't that Christy had grown accustomed to such treatment and no longer fully appreciated the special treats. She did. But the news of going to Maui didn't shock her the way it totally unnerved Paula.
"I can't believe this! Can you believe this? I can't believe this!" Paula grabbed Christy and hugged her, squealing right in her ear. Then pulling herself out to arm's length, a horrified look came over Paula's face. "Oh no. Oh no!"
"What is it?" Marti reached over to pat Paula on the shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Paula turned around and moaned, "I won't have time to get a new bathing suit!"
Then Marti did something Christy had only seen a few times before. Marti laughed out loud, a real back-on-the-farm kind of laugh. "I should've known! You young girls are all alike! What do you think, Margaret? Why don't we take the rest of the afternoon and go shopping?"
"I guess we could do that."
"Aw, do we have to?" David griped. "Can't I just stay here on the beach?"
"In a few days you'll be on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Today, we shall go shopping!" Whenever Marti made declarations like that, David had learned better than to try to cross her. The girls were the first ones in the backseat of Marti's new black car, which had more room than her old Mercedes and softer upholstery than Christy had ever felt.
David wadded himself up by the left door, and when Marti started down the street, he played with the electric windows until Mom told him to stop. Paula began to talk the minute she slid into the backseat and didn't stop until they got to South Coast Plaza.
Marti took the car around to valet parking, and Paula asked in amazement, "You mean you can hop out right here in front of the store and somebody parks your car for you way down there and you don't have to walk or anything? That's so cool. This is so unbelievable! Yesterday I was making cones at the Dairy Queen, and today I'm shopping in California for my trip to Maui!"
She shrieked again and clutched Christy's arm. "When are you going to get excited about this trip and show some enthusiasm?"
"I am excited, Paula. It's just that you're expressing enough of it for both of us."
"If the way you're acting now is your idea of enthusiasm, then it's no wonder you didn't make cheerleading!"
What a blow! Christy stopped walking, and Paula turned around and playfully said, "Aw, come on, Christy! Lighten up! I was just kidding!"
Why would Paula say such a thing? She knows I made the team but turned down the spot so another girl could take it. Why would Paula twist it like that and make me look bad?
Mom, Marti, and David were walking ahead of them, but Christy felt sure they must have heard. It was hard not to hear Paula when she was cranked up.
Christy could feel a headache beginning to streak across her forehead. She wished she was taking a nap instead of participating in Marti's shopping parade.
Watching Paula's exuberance over the variety of bathing suits to choose from only made the situation worse. "Which one should I get, Christy?" Paula held up a neon green bikini on a hanger and modeled the same style in hot pink in the spacious dressing room.
"I don't care. Either one," Christy answered from her slouched position on the dressing room chair.
"Oh, well you're a lot of help! Where's your aunt? I should ask her."
"She's still looking at stuff for my mom."
"I guess I'll get the green. I've never owned anything this bright in my life. I think I'll look more tan, don't you?"
"Yeah."
Paula took her eyes off her reflection and examined Christy. "Are you all right? You've been a total blob since we started shopping."
"I have a headache, and I feel kind of yucky."
"Why didn't you say so?" Paula sprang into action and dug into the bottom of her huge purse. "Do you want real aspirin or acetaminophen?" She pulled out a travel-size bottle of each.
"Look at you, Little Miss Organized!" Christy teased. "I'll take either. Just one. And I need some water. I'll be right back."
Christy took the tablet and headed for where she'd seen a drinking fountain, glad for the excuse to get out of the dressing room. She knew it was a stupid little thing and it shouldn't bother her, but the whole time she was watching Paula pick out a bathing suit, she felt waves of jealousy over Paula's figure.
To tall, lanky Christy, Paula seemed to have the perfect body. She was just the right medium height and well-proportioned, with a much larger bust than Christy's. Paula seemed proud of her figure too, judging by the way she didn't hesitate to try on skimpy little bathing suits and model them without embarrassment.
I would never even try on that neon bathing suit! Christy thought as she sipped the cold water and swallowed the pill. I'd never look Osgood as Paula does in a suit like that, but also Mom would never let me out of the house with so little on.
By the time Christy returned to the bathing suit department, Paula had paid for the swimsuit and stood waiting for her by the register with the bag in her hand.
"Did you get the green one?" Christy asked, trying to hide her jealousy.
"Nope. Changed my mind. I got the pink one. Now I want to find some of those really cool sunglasses like I saw in a magazine. Do you think they have sunglasses here?"
"I think we'd better find my mom first," Christy suggested. "We can ask Marti about the sunglasses. She'd know where to find them."
"Aren't you going to get anything?" Paula asked.
"I don't know. Maybe. I can't really think of what I need."
"Forget what you need. Get what you want! I bet your aunt would buy anything you wanted if you just hinted you liked it."
"Yeah," Christy agreed, "she would."
What Christy didn't add was that she'd tried that route with her aunt before, and it hadn't produced the kind of satisfaction she'd expected. Almost all of Aunt Marti's gifts came with a string attached, and Christy had concluded that being content with what she had was more freeing than having lots of things and feeling like Marti's marionette.
"Girls!" Marti called. "Over here! Margie's getting a new bathing suit and cover-up. Did you two find anything?"
"Paula got a bathing suit too," Christy offered.
Marti looked at the bag in Paula's hand and with a slightly offended tone said, "You paid for it yourself?"
"Well, yeah," Paula answered, confused at Marti's reaction. "I planned on buying a suit once I got here, and I had the money all saved up and everything. It was even on sale!"
Marti handed her credit card to the clerk at the cash register, and in a voice that sounded like a cooing dove, she said to Paula, "You tell me how much it was, and I'll give you the cash back. I wanted to get the swimsuit for you as my little Welcome-to-California gift."
Paula's eyes stretched wide open, resembling two bright blue marbles. Christy thought she looked like a character in a storybook right after being sprinkled with fairy dust and told all her dreams were about to come true.
I didn't look that way last summer... did I?
They shopped another three hours, with David continually complaining until Marti bought him a frozen yogurt sundae in a waffle cone. Mom warned him that he wouldn't be able to finish it, and he didn't.
Paula spotted the sunglasses she wanted in a store window, and Marti swiftly bought them for her, as well as a matching pair for Christy. Christy didn't even really like them. They were expensive, and she knew she should be appreciative to her aunt for the gift, so she said thank you. But she refused to gush the way Paula did.
When the valet brought the car around, Marti suggested they go somewhere for dinner. Mom declined, saying she was anxious to get on the road since they still had another hour and a half drive back home to Escondido.
"Thank you soooooo much." Paula gave Marti a hug as they parted in her driveway. "I love the sunglasses and the bathing suit and everything you got me. Thank you!"
"Thanks," Mom said, giving her sister a hug. "I guess we'll see you at six o'clock on Tuesday morning when we pick you up."
"Right," Marti said efficiently. "Six at the latest, because the plane flies out at eight-thirty. Why don't you take the leftover lunch meat home for dinner? I won't eat it before we leave, and it's a waste to throw it out."
Mom followed Marti inside for the leftover deli tray, Christy and Paula transferred the shopping bags from Marti's car to Mom's car, and David claimed the front seat, where he lined up his tiny cars on the dashboard.
"You sure didn't get much," Paula commented once the bags were all in the car. "How's your headache?"
"It's gone. Thanks."
"Can you believe we're going to Hawaii? I still can't believe it! And Todd is there! I can't wait to meet him! I noticed your bracelet while we were shopping. That must be the one he gave you on New Year's Eve, right? And didn't he give it to you somewhere right around here, in the street? You'll have to show me the intersection on the way home. I thought that was so romantic when you wrote and told me all about him jumping out of the car and giving you the bracelet and kissing you and everything!"
"Ewwww!" David exclaimed. "You and Todd kissed? That's gross!"
Oh good, Paula! Great Thanks a lot. I'm so glad you feel free to make my private life public! Why did I ever tell you all those personal things?
Christy's expression mirrored her feelings, and Paula instantly got quiet while making a face that said "Oops!" Then she giggled a tiny secret giggle like she and Christy had many times in the past. But this time the last thing Christy felt like doing was giggling.
All the way home Christy pretended to be asleep, her head resting on the window. Paula didn't slow down a bit. She talked about the farm where Christy grew up and about the new owners while Mom kept her going with questions about a variety of people who lived in their small community.
Christy filtered it out and tried to figure out why she was feeling bothered by everything. This was Paula, her best friend ever since she could remember. They were going to Maui to spend a week with Todd.
Maybe she hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. Whatever it was, she didn't like being so grumpy, and she decided to lighten up and try to act carefree like Paula.