Team Play by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online

of brownie-making had stopped.
    “But there’s no way—”
    What was going on?
    Colonel Hanson laughed into the phone. “No, I mean there’s no way I could say no. Carole would never speak to me again—to say nothing of Stevie and Lisa—”
    That sounded much better!
    “Okay, so that’s the fourth weekend of the month. Let’s see … wait a minute. I just need to find—” Colonel Hanson looked around. The girls sprang to his assistance. Carole handed him a calendar, Lisa gave him a pencil, and Stevie offered a scrap of paper. He accepted the things with a wink.
    He looked at the calendar, scribbled something downon the paper, and spoke. “All right, we’ll see all three of you then.”
    “We will?” all three girls asked at once. The colonel nodded and listened.
    “Okay, I’ll wait to hear from you then, and somebody will meet the girls. It’s too bad you have to go right back,” he said.
    It can only mean one thing
, Carole hoped. She held her breath while her father finished his conversation.
    “All right. Good-bye. Love to Phyllis,” he told Frank, then hung up.
    “So?” Carole asked, about to explode with excitement.
    “You think that had something to do with you?” he teased.
    “Come on, Dad,” Carole pleaded. “We can’t stand the suspense.”
    Colonel Hanson smiled and hugged his daughter. “Well, my dears,” he told all three girls, “it turns out that Frank’s piloting skills are needed.” Frank, a former Marine Corps pilot, sometimes flew a plane for a wealthy neighbor with business in Washington. “He’ll be making a couple of round trips at times that coincide with Kate and Christine’s spring break. Now, it’s not your spring break, but I thought you all could enjoy a visit anyway. So, they’re coming the fourth weekend of the month and staying for a week.”
    Carole whooped. “It’s going to be fabulous! Imagine, both Kate and Christine here for a visit at the same time. Isn’t it wonderful?”
    Lisa hugged her friend with excitement. “And they’ll be here in less than three weeks!” she shouted gleefully. “Won’t it be wonderful, Stevie?”
    Stevie nodded, but something about Lisa’s words bothered her. Suddenly she didn’t feel very good. She put down her wooden spoon and picked up the calendar.
    Colonel Hanson had circled the date of Kate and Christine’s arrival. They were coming on the fourth weekend of the month. Stevie counted off the days carefully. She looked again and counted again. Lisa was right: It was less than three weeks away.
    “Isn’t it exciting, Stevie?” Lisa asked again. “Stevie?”
    Stevie just stared at the calendar.
    “Too much excitement for you, Stevie?” Carole teased.
    “Yes,” Stevie said glumly.
    Her friends fell silent. As long as they’d known Stevie, there had never been such a thing as too much excitement for her.
    “What’s she staring at?” Lisa asked at last.
    “The calendar,” Colonel Hanson said.
    “Is there a problem with it?” Carole asked.
    Stevie nodded numbly.
    “What is it?” Carole wanted to know.
    “The fourth weekend of the month,” Stevie said mechanically. “It’s less than three weeks away.”
    Carole nodded. “Right, so—”
    “The Italian boys arrive in three weeks,” Stevie said.
    “Oh,” Lisa said. “Well, it’s really not a problem. After all, they’ll probably be thrilled to meet the famous Katharine Devine. Or are you worried that they’ll think she’s better than they are?”
    Stevie didn’t answer the question. She kept counting the days on the calendar. It all came up the same. She tried to explain, but she was so upset she knew she wasn’t doing a good job of it.
    “The end of the month is also in three weeks,” Stevie managed to say.
    “Right,” Lisa agreed. “Thirty days hath September and all that. The fourth weekend
is
the end of the—oh, no.”
    Stevie knew that Lisa had just understood the seriousness of the situation.
    “What’s going on here?”