The Color of a Promise (The Color of Heaven Series Book 11) Read Free

an item now, and I was already planning when and how I would ask her to junior prom, which was still an entire school year away.
    Gordon and I sat down on a couple of chairs under the deck because we didn’t know anyone on the grass. I checked my watch. My parents expected us home by 11:00, and it was almost 10:30.
    Then the most unexpected thing happened. That new girl, Millicent, spotted us and approached, stomping up the grass as if she were on a mission. Gordon sucked in a breath, and I wondered if he might have a thing for her, because she was kind of cute. Not beautiful like Jeannie, but there was something awkward and nerdy about her, which Gordon probably found attractive.
    “Hi Jack,” she said, standing in front of us.
    “Hi Millicent,” I replied.
    She shifted uneasily and looked around. “Are you having fun?”
    “Yeah, it’s an okay party,” I replied, even though on the inside, I was bouncing up and down on a mental pogo stick.
    Her shoulders rose and fell with a frustrated sigh and she looked me straight in the eye, accusingly. “Did you give my letter to your brother?”
    Here we go …
    “Yes.”
    “Did he read it?”
    “I don’t know. I think so.”
    She blew out another quick breath, as if she were frustrated with me. “He was supposed to be here tonight. Do you know if he’s coming?”
    I shrugged again. “He didn’t mention anything, but we don’t talk much.”
    Just then, the sliding glass doors opened and three of Aaron’s friends walked out. Millicent gasped and watched them stroll onto the grass and join the others.
    “He’s here,” she whispered, watching the door and waiting for him to step out as well, but he didn’t. Her eyebrows pulled together in a frown. “Where is he?”
    She sat down between Gordon and me. “What should I do? He’s probably inside. Should I go in? Should I try and talk to him?”
    “Wow, you’ve got it bad,” Gordon said.
    “I can’t help it,” she replied, sounding all swoony and in love. “He’s just so cute.”
    Cute? She thought Aaron was cute ?
    She took hold of my arm and shook me. “I need to do something, Jack, or I’ll go crazy. Will you come inside and introduce me to him? Even if he read the letter, I’m not sure he even knows who I am.”
    My head drew back in surprise. “You’ve never talked to him before?”
    “No, he’s in the ninth grade!” As if that explained everything.
    “Did you sign your name to the letter or was it anonymous?” Gordon asked.
    “I signed my name,” she replied. “And I caught him looking at me yesterday at recess, but I don’t know how he feels. Could you ask him?”
    “ Me ?” Was she nuts?
    “You’re his brother.”
    “Just because we’re brothers doesn’t mean we like each other.” I paused. “What does Jeannie say? You should ask her .”
    Millicent huffed. “Jeannie was the one who encouraged me to write the letter in the first place and tell him how I felt, but it’s not working. I wish he would just talk to me. Or something .”
    “Maybe he’s just not interested,” Gordon said, and I gave him a look, because Millicent didn’t seem in any state to hear something like that. The poor girl was obsessed.
    “Please, Jack?” she asked. “Will you come inside and help me talk to him?”
    Though it was the last thing on earth I wanted to do, I said yes because Jeannie was in there, and I figured I could use the excuse to ask her to dance with me again. So I got up and went inside with Millicent.
    o0o
    “Where is he?” Millicent asked, looking around the dark rec room where a few kids were slow dancing to Against All Odds .
    I led her to the snack table, which had been replenished in the last half hour. “Look, they have Doritos.”
    I grabbed a handful and stuffed them into my face, then glanced around for Jeannie, but I didn’t see her either.
    “Did he not come?” Millicent asked, growing increasingly frustrated. She boldly walked up to Kimmy, who was waltzing with