Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul

Author:Donita K. Paul [Paul, Donita K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-45900-8
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2010-10-05T04:00:00+00:00

9

Sandy sat on Cora’s living room floor and watched the kittens in a box. They did a sort of elbow crawl around their nest, mewling for milk. Their movements reminded Cora of movies where the marines bellied under the sniper fire to gain their objective. The kittens were just as determined to get to their mother.

Skippy now tolerated people admiring her litter, and the mother cat seemed especially fond of Sandy. Cora sat on the sofa, her legs curled up, her cold feet tucked under a throw pillow. Outside, on this beautiful Saturday morning, sun sparkled off pristine snow-banks and made the tree branches glitter. Simon had deposited Sandy with Cora for an hour and promised to bring pizza for lunch when he returned.

“But you don’t have a dress,” Sandy complained, with her eyes on the babies trying to stand on wobbly legs. “We should get Simon to take us to Sage Street.”

“I can go to the costume shop by myself.”

“He won’t mind. When he picks me up, we can ask.”

“We don’t want to force your brother to do things. He may have other plans for this afternoon.”

Sandy looked up at Cora, her beautiful eyes magnified just a bit by her thick glasses. “I wanted to come see the kittens, and Simon said he had errands. But he changed things so we could come over here. I think he likes you.” She tilted her head to one side. “Do you like Simon?”

“Yes,” Cora said, decisively. “I like Simon. And I like you.”

“Aunt Mae says it would be good for Simon to have a woman.”

Sandy cooed at the kittens, unaware that she’d set off clamoring alarms in Cora’s calm morning. Cora tried to formulate a question to get a bit more information about the conversation Sandy must be remembering.

The doorbell rang. Even if she could think of a way to cross-examine Sandy without sounding like she was digging for information, her time with Simon’s little sister had ended. Life was complicated.

Cora stretched the tension out of her shoulders as she stood and crossed the living room to open the door.

Simon stood on her doorstep, holding a box of pizza. Balanced on the top, a cardboard carrier held three drinks.

Cora stepped back to let him enter. “You got pizza at Meetza Pizza of Yo’ Life and drinks from Creamery Delights? Why go to two places?”

Simon put the pizza on her dining room table and lifted a paper cup out of the carrier. “Because Meetza Pizza didn’t have ice cream sodas. And according to Mr. Kinnaught, an ice cream soda is a necessary component of courting.”

He held the cold drink out to her, and she took it automatically. Her face warmed, and her stomach fluttered.

Sandy jumped up. “I’ll get plates.” She went into Cora’s tiny kitchen and washed her hands.

Cora looked past Simon, and his smile turned to a frown. “You look upset. Don’t you like floats?”

“I think the word ‘courting’ has me a bit off kilter.” She watched Sandy get three plates from the cupboard, then pull out a stack of napkins and three forks.

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