SummerHill Secrets, Volume 2 Read Free Page A

stick the phone under my pillow if that makes you feel better.”
    “It’s a deal.” Her voice was stronger. “Well, I’ve gotta figure out something for supper. Dad likes big meals.”
    I remembered that Chelsea had said they’d been eating meatless meals for the past week. “Surprise your dad and make something gourmet,” I suggested.
    “Yeah, right. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, if not before.”
    “Okay. Good-bye.” I hung up the phone, concerned about the latest information. The message about the bank business didn’t sound good. Could someone actually be coerced to pull money out of their bank account?
    When Mom came downstairs, I wanted to ask her about it, but I’d promised not to tell anyone. So I held it all in—every single heart-wrenching detail.

Chapter
4
    “When’s Skip coming home?” I asked Mom.
    She straightened up from putting a frozen casserole in the oven. “He should arrive by suppertime tomorrow.”
    “So…he’s really homesick, huh?” I hoped Mom would give some other reason for his coming to spend the weekend. I was downright worried he might move back.
    “Adjusting to college life is harder for some students than others,” she explained. “I think Skip may be having a little difficulty. Sometimes I wish we’d found a Christian college for him to attend.”
    I reached for two dinner plates; it was going to be just Mom and me tonight. “Well, I sure don’t want to go off to some heathen college campus.”
    Mom scowled. “Your brother is not attending a heathen college. There are several wonderful Christian organizations right there on campus. In fact, one group meets in Skip’s science lab after hours. He said something about being invited to one of the meetings last week.”
    “Oh.” That’s all I said. There was no arguing with Mom.

    Later that night while working through a pile of homework, I found a slip of paper wedged down in one of the pockets of my three-ring binder. I pulled it out.
    A photography contest notice! How could I have overlooked this? My heart leaped up as I thought about the annual event. As a tenth-grader, I would have oodles of opportunities to display my talents at Buchanan High School, starting this year! The competition would be stiff, but I could hardly wait.
    One of my passions in life was photography, followed by a close second—poetry. Especially romantic sonnets. Not writing them but reading them and occasionally agonizing over them. And if I were completely open about my hobbies, I’d also admit that I loved word games—and Jon Klein included…probably.
    Jon hadn’t yet reached the level of maturity required to acknowledge such profound things as love. Give him another year , I figured. Maybe then he’ll start seeing me for what I am. Girlfriend material .
    The biggest roadblock was our new pastor’s daughter. Ashley Horton was the kind of girl people—especially guys—noticed when she walked into a room.
    Ashley wasn’t beautiful only on the outside; she did have some depth of soul. She was kind to animals and never spoke out of turn in Sunday school class. Ashley wasn’t a typical preacher’s kid, and people knew it the first time they met her. She didn’t seem interested in pushing the limits like some ministers’ daughters. In other words, she wasn’t wild. She was genuinely nice. A little dense, but nice.
    One other thing: Ashley had developed a huge crush on Jon. Just plain couldn’t keep her eyes off him. Everyone knew it. Everyone except Jon.
    It started to rain. In spite of intermittent lightning flashes, I settled into working two pages of algebra, sailing right through—thanks to getting help from Dad last school year. Everything about solving unknown factors made complete sense to me now. If only there was a way to solve the unknowns in Chelsea’s life.
    Where could her mom have gone? And why?
    Questions haunted me all evening. By the time I finished my homework, the phone was ringing. I scooted my desk chair