The Summertime Girls by Laura Hankin

Author:Laura Hankin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2015-07-15T16:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

No, no, I told you that you could review a movie for adults, not an adult movie! This is a family newspaper, goddammit! I won’t run it!” August Niederbacher, roly-poly editor and owner of the Britton Hills Bugle, slammed down his telephone and turned to Ally and Beth as they walked through the door of the Bugle headquarters. “Good afternoon,” he said, suddenly formal. “How may I help you?”

“Is Valerie around?” Ally asked.

“Right in there,” he said. He pointed toward a door in the wall, with a sign posted on it that said Home of Britton Hills’ Favorite Advice Column and, underneath, a gold plaque with the name Valerie Niederbacher. (Ally suspected nepotism played a large part in Dear Valerie’s continued existence.)

“Thanks so much,” Beth said, and together they walked over to the door and gave it a knock.

When Ally had told Beth about her Penny Joan Munson discovery, and Beth had shared Grandma Stella’s comment about missing the woman in the photo, they’d sat in perplexed silence for a moment.

Then Ally had blurted, “We need to get them back together!” She’d realized immediately after she said it how childish she sounded, so she said, rolling her eyes, “Coming soon, direct to DVD, The Parent Trap 2: Ally and Beth Reunite Two Old Ladies.”

“Right,” Beth said. “And in a side plot, we’ll set up our homeroom teacher with Mr. Martin from eighth-grade algebra, because they’re just so perfect for each other.”

“The New York Times calls it ‘an insipid successor to the Lindsay Lohan remake!’”

They’d laughed together at the ridiculousness of the idea, but as her giggles subsided, Ally found herself surprised by how much she actually wanted to do it.

“I mean, we could—” she started to say, right as Beth began talking too.

“But what if we tried—” They had both stopped talking and stared at each other, then smiled.

“For Grandma Stella’s sake . . .” Beth said. So they’d come up with a plan.

Now, from the other side of the door, a choked voice called out, “Oh . . . yes, come in.”

Ally pushed the door open. Valerie sat behind a desk, frantically dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

“Oh, I’m so sorry—should we come back?” Beth asked.

“No, no, please!” Valerie said, struggling to her feet and coming around to greet them. “Elizabeth, Allison, it’s marvelous to see you.” She gave them both kisses on the cheek, then sniffed loudly.

“Are you all right?” Ally asked, hyperaware of the wetness Valerie’s kiss had left behind on her cheek.

“Oh yes, yes, I was just watching the most wonderful video,” Valerie said, heading back to her desk chair and gesturing at her computer. “It’s a—have you heard of—there are these things called flash mobs, and oh, they’re so romantic. Have you ever seen one?”

Ally smirked and tried to catch Beth’s eye, but Beth was watching Valerie with a pleasant smile and nodding.

“This one—” Valerie paused to blow her nose into the tissue. “It’s a marriage proposal. The couple just met four months ago. He found her lost wallet.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.