The Gingerbread Boy by Lori Lapekes Read Free Book Online Page B

have a chance to talk to this guy before she left?” Catherine asked.
    Beth shook her head. “No, she’d already gone home for the weekend. Why?”
    “Nothing,” Catherine replied, “I just thought she might know him.” O r recognize Daniel’s description, she thought .
    “Joanne? Don’t be nuts. Joanne could never meet a guy like that. I’m still amazed you did.”
    Catherine tightened her lips. One day she might lose control and punch Beth right in those fat red lips of hers. It was ridiculous that Beth painted her face so much. She honestly was a beautiful girl, even without the make-up. Catherine’s eyebrows drew together in thought: Maybe Beth’s make-up was a disguise for her insecurity. She smiled to herself at her diagnosis. If she hadn’t had her heart set on becoming a veterinarian for so many years, she might have been a decent psychologist.
    “Will you please come?” Penny asked, casually flipping her hair, “It’s Friday night, so you don’t have to worry about classes tomorrow. Besides, it might be fun. You can listen to the band, meet people ”
    “How can you talk to people over the noise of a band?” Catherine asked. “It doesn’t sound fun to me.”
    Beth threw her arms into the air. “Then meet that guy and leave. This is my last offer. Either say yes, and come with us, or say no, and miss out.”
    There was a period of silence as the three girls looked back and forth from one to another. Catherine wished Joanne was around to offer support. Walking into a nightclub sounded paralyzing. Yet apparently Daniel wanted to meet her there. Why there?
    At last Catherine pulled herself to her feet. “Okay, I’ll go. I hope the place isn’t too bad.”
    “Daniel LaMont and The Front wouldn’t play in a dive,” said Penny. They’re a classy band, and the lead singer is getting famous. I saw him on television doing an interview promoting their album. If you go tonight, you won’t only be meeting some hot guy, you’ll also be witnessing history in the making. That group is going to be big.”
    But Catherine’s mind had already wandered off. She was once again waltzing with Daniel in that abandoned ballroom, enjoying the warmth of her hands in his and his breath brushing across her neck.
    ****
    Daniel had left his red scarf with Catherine the night they’d met, and Catherine hoped he’d forgotten it as an excuse to see her again to get it. She hadn’t told Joanne about the scarf, because the idea was so romantically idiotic that Catherine was embarrassed to hope it was true. But she had brought the scarf with her tonight, and, as she, Beth and Penny stepped out of the car at the nightclub, Catherine realized she had wound it into knots around her hands.
    She’d never been so nervous. And it wasn’t merely because of Beth’s lunatic driving. It was the thought of seeing Daniel again. Catherine’s anxiety deepened as they hurried across the slushy parking lot toward the enormous brick building with huge arched windows and a deck surrounding it. She was glad Beth and Penny were caught up in their own conversation and didn’t speak to her, for Catherine was sure her voice would give away her terror. By the time they walked up the steep concrete stairway of the nightclub a man asked for her ID and cover charge, and she was embarrassed to find she’d twisted the scarf around her hands again. Beth turned her way and rolled her eyes as Catherine wormed her way out of the scratchy red wool.
    “Why on earth did you bring that old rag, anyway?” Beth asked as Penny looked on, blinking innocently.
    “The guy I’m meeting loaned it to me and I want to give it back,” Catherine muttered, shoving it into her purse. “He’s had it for years. His sister gave it to him when he was twelve.”
    “Odd, he didn’t look at least a hundred years old, like that scarf does.” Beth said.
    Catherine eyed her coolly, but remained silent. She handed the doorman his cover charge and showed her