Finding Fortune Read Free Page A

coming home until you get rid of him for good.”
    I paced back and forth under the small circle of light with my mind racing. This was crazy, but Mom had forced me into it. I couldn’t remember my mother ever telling me a lie before—not even a white one. But after what I saw in the parking lot at her office, there was no denying it. She had lied .
    I forced myself to take a few deep breaths. Nora would cover for me. Of course she would. She’d been just as worried as I had been about what was going to happen with Mom and Dad. She was even the one to come up with our private code: Rick Alert .
    Before Dad had moved out, Mom had started picking on him about everything . How would he ever get promoted to manager at the printing plant now that he was leaving for a year? Why hadn’t he gotten out of the army reserves when he had the chance? Why did he insist on keeping a smelly old hunting dog even though he barely went hunting anymore?
    But whenever Rick was around, Mom turned into someone completely different. She acted like Allison did whenever she had a crush on a guy—all flirty and weird, asking him a flutter of questions about the bank he managed and what it was like volunteering for the Bellefield Rescue Squad. Nora started to take more notice after she found her missing Desert Bronze eye shadow in Mom’s bathroom. “Rick Alert,” she had whispered when she showed me the evidence. We had never seen our mother wear eye shadow a single day in her life, and suddenly she was coming home from the drugstore with a tube of Big & Bold mascara and three colors of Covergirl Eye Enhancers.
    In a few minutes Hildy was back, holding out a clunky flip-phone and fixing me with a no-nonsense stare. “The cell service out here is pretty hit or miss,” she said as I reluctantly took the phone. “But I can usually get a signal when I’m in the foyer. Go ahead and give it a try.” I edged away a few steps, nervously punching in my sister’s number. I’d had it memorized ever since Nora had gotten her own phone when it was her turn to start junior high.
    The call not only went through, but Nora picked up on the very first ring.
    â€œHi, Mom,” I blurted out. I cleared my throat, fighting to keep from sounding so phony. “Yes, I’m totally fine. I’m sorry I ran out of the house like that. But I was so mad, I just needed to get away for a little while and think about things. And I figured you probably needed some space too, considering how much we’ve been fighting lately.”
    I closed my eyes as I pretended to be listening to my mother vent. I could hear Nora breathing on the other end, trying to absorb the situation. She finally spoke up in a strangled whisper. “What’s going on?”
    â€œI’m in Fortune,” I babbled back at Nora. “At a rooming house.”
    â€œ What? Your note said you’re at Allison’s,” she hissed. “And what do you mean you’re at a rooming house? There’s no rooming house in Fortune. There’s nothing in Fortune.”
    â€œYes, there is,” I said. “And Mrs. Baxter, she’s the lady who owns this place, she says I can stay here if I have your permission.” I glanced over my shoulder to flash a grateful smile at Hildy.
    â€œRen,” Nora said. “What are you talking about? This is sounding really weird.”
    My pulse sped up. Hildy was motioning for me to hand over the phone. “Uh—here’s the thing, Mom,” I stammered. “Mrs. Baxter wants to talk to you and make sure it’s all right for me to spend the night. You don’t have to worry about the money part. I’m paying for everything myself. With my babysitting money. Okay? Here’s Mrs. Baxter.”
    Please, Nora, I prayed as I thrust the phone at Hildy. I knew she could do it, as long as she didn’t panic. My sister was good at acting. She had gotten a standing