Lost and Found by Laura Dower Read Free Book Online

Denver, sweetheart. We’re holed up here in the hotel at the airport, waiting for the next available flight. Only problem is that the airport is closed and looks like it might stay closed for another day or so. I miss you, Maddie. Stephanie says hello. Tell your mother I said hi. I’ll call again later when I think you might be—”
    Beeeeeeeeep. Message two.
    “This is Ronnie Dustin at Budge, calling for Fran Finn. Fran, we have a distributor for that Brazil documentary. Give me a call, please, at your earliest convenience. I’m in the LA office.”
    Madison clicked STOP and then saved the last message. But she deleted the first one, figuring that Mom probably wouldn’t need to hear Dad’s voice. Her parents were getting along better these days, but Mom still bristled a little bit at the mention of Dad. She tried to be fair, but no matter what Dad ever did to redeem himself, Mom would find something wrong.
    None of that mattered to Madison. She loved everything about her dad, even the parts that weren’t so perfect, even the horrible jokes. Plus Dad always noticed and complimented Madison on her outfits.
    After playing the messages, Madison hopped upstairs to put on sweatpants, her woolly monkey slippers, and an old plaid shirt she’d inherited from Dad. It was so warm.
    She turned on her laptop computer and let it warm up, too, before opening another new file.
Snow Day
    Today was the BEST snow day I have ever had in my entire life, and I am not exaggerating one bit.
    Secret admission #1: I maybe have a baby crush on Aimee’s brothers again (but only a teeny, tiny one, I swear). They looked soooo cute today outside her house. We played Frisbee for an hour or more, and Aimee was acting kind of dorky, but she always acts weird around her brothers. I don’t know why.
    Secret admission #2: I think I will go skating at the lake Thursday. I’m getting up my courage. I’m feeling so HAPPY.
    I’ve never seen so much snow in my whole life, like I could get lost in all this snow. Aimee and I made the BEST snow angels, and it was all powdery for perfect wings.
    Rude Awakening: Getting left out in the cold can be a good thing. Blizzards are awesome!
    While Madison was online, Phinnie came into her room and curled up near her feet. She could feel his warm little pug body. In the next moment, however, he jumped up and scampered up the attic stairs.
    “Phinnie?” Madison turned and called after him. “Phinnie, are you there?”
    “Rowrroooooo!” Phin called back. Madison could hear the click-clack-click of his black nails running back and forth in the attic.
    She got up quickly to head upstairs, too. Phin would make a huge mess if he started chewing on any of the materials Madison and her mother had left out of boxes.
    Madison remembered what Mom had said about the extra items left in one of the open boxes. She took the attic steps by twos and hurried to see what was inside the books and albums.
    Once upstairs, Phinnie seemed to calm down. Madison guessed that he’d heard steam in the pipes or a creaking floorboard and gotten jumpy.
    The box Mom had mentioned was sitting right by the attic entrance. Madison looked through some of the art projects and pictures. But there was another box that caught Madison’s eye.
    Madison walked over to the box in the corner of the attic. The box had large red letters that read FRANCINE HOOPER . On top was a rubber-banded pile of old, torn report cards with her Mom’s name on them.
    The rubber band snapped off in Madison’s hand as soon as she reached for it. The cards were chilly from being in storage for so long. Each report card was filled in with so many comments.
    Very good writer. Needs improvement on math skills. Suggest extra-credit program for Frannie this summer.
    Madison chuckled to herself. Mom had been unsuccessful in math class, too. Just like Madison. Fortunately, summer school hadn’t been necessary in Madison’s case.
    Excellent English papers this term! However, we