Bittersweet Sixteen (A Dodie Jenks Novel) (12 page)

“Just do it for me, Brody.” Sasha hit the end button on her phone and smiled, picking up a pretty dress she was going to wear to dinner. “It’s all taken care of.”

I waited until she went into my bathroom and then I practiced walking in the boots some more. For no other reason than to reassure myself that I could walk in them without falling. I did not want to leave anything to chance when we went down to dinner and end up tumbling down the stairs.

A knock at my door stopped me from finishing my trek across the room. I opened the door and found Leopold standing there. He took in my appearance and smiled. “I was wondering if you were okay. I kept getting mixed signals as if you couldn’t make up your mind. We really need to work on your ability to shield.”

I smiled and shrugged, pointing down at my boots. “I guess because I’m trying to walk in these.”

“Oh. And you’re afraid you’ll fall. I see now. Don’t worry.” He slid his hand up the base of my neck underneath my hair and pulled me forward, kissing my forehead. “I have all the confidence in your ability to make it down the stairs without falling.”

“You do?”

He nodded, dropping his arm and taking hold of my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Dinner is almost ready. Don’t be long.”

“Okay.”

I went back into my room just in time to see Sasha emerge from the bathroom. She’d somehow transformed herself from beautiful to stunning in a matter of minutes. No wonder Brody liked her. She wasn’t just pretty on the outside but beautiful on the inside too.

“Dinner’s almost ready. Shall we go down?”

“Sure.”

A knock came at my door again and I opened it to find Brody standing there. He gaped at me for a moment then shook himself before clearing his throat. “I—I’m here to escort you down to dinner.”

I smiled. “Really?”

He looked pained as he offered me his arm, but nodded.

“Thank you.” I slipped my arm through his and he offered his other to Sasha. The three of us made an odd trio as we walked down the hallway to the stairs.

I stopped abruptly at the top and looked all the way down. Leopold has assured me I’d make it down in one piece. I had the railing on one side and Brody on the other. Surely if I faltered he’d catch me.

“Go ahead, Dodie. You can do it,” Sasha urged.

I took a deep breath and nodded. I could do it. I took a step and they did as well, then another and another without losing my footing. Everything was fine until we got to the bottom and I stepped onto the polished hardwood floor. Brody let go of my arm and I slid, lunging forward, face first into the marble entry table.

Leopold, who’d been putting a dish of food on the table must have seen me from the corner of his eye, because within a split second he was there catching me before I hit the table.

He held me in his arms and I clutched him tight, breathing hard as my heart thudded within my chest. I’d been so afraid to wear heels and maybe I’d been right. Taking a chance like this wasn’t worth it.

“Brody.” Sasha smacked him on the upper arm. “I told you to hold on to her. Why’d you let go of her once we got downstairs?”

“I thought you only wanted me to make sure she didn’t fall on the stairs.”

“Boys!” Sasha crossed her arms over her chest, clearly upset with my brother. Then she took one look at me and she came over, hugging me and Leopold. “Dodie, I’m so sorry. I talked you into wearing the boots.”

My dad came out of the downstairs bathroom looked confused. “What’s going on?”

We broke apart and Brody explained what had happened, “Dodie’s foot slipped and she about did a Hail Mary into the entry table, but Leopold caught her.”

“Are you all right, honey?” he asked, showing more concern than my brother.

“Yeah.” I looked down at the boots and really liked the way they looked on my feet. Perhaps I could give them one more try.

Mom appeared in the doorway. “Food is on the table. Let’s eat.”

Chapter Twenty

Everyone ate way too much food at dinner. Dad, Brody and even Leopold retired to the living room after dinner to watch a football game. Sasha and I helped Mom and Grandma clear the table, put away leftovers and load the dishwasher. Then we all went to Grandma’s studio and she showed us some of her latest paintings.

I’d seen a few of these already, but she had a small room off from the studio that contained nothing but her paintings. A few hung on the walls and others were held in racks on the floor.

“You really should contact a few art galleries and see if they’d be interested in your work,” Mom told her.

“It’s a hobby, Glynis. Just a hobby that helps me pass the time.”

“It may be, but you are talented, Cherie. It will be a shame if you are discovered posthumously.”

Grandma pursed her lips together and frowned, then she sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good.” Mom wrapped her arm around my shoulders as we walked out of the studio and down the hallway at the back of the house.

“What’s in this room?” Sasha asked, pointing to the closed door.

“That’s Leopold’s room. It’s the only bedroom downstairs and belonged to my parents when I was a child. My studio was my mother’s private parlor where she would receive her friends and have afternoon tea.”

“And the room where you keep your paintings?” Sasha asked.

“The nursery when we were babes and then later on our playroom. After we were grown and my mother passed away, my father closed up the upstairs rooms and lived downstairs until he passed on. My older brothers had no desire to return here and I had my life elsewhere. Therefore the house stayed empty for many years until I decided to return and restore it to its former glory.”

“I’m so glad you did. I love it here,” I told her. “I never want to leave.”

“Dodie!” Mom said, clearly surprised by my announcement.

I bit my lower lip, knowing I’d opened the can of worms and needed to close it. “Sorry. I know you and daddy want me to come home soon, but I don’t want to. I like living here and studying with Ms. Pritz and Leopold.”

Mom looked pained by my confession. “The decision isn’t up to you, Dodie. You will come home. Whether you want to or not.”

I nodded, unable to say anything.

“I’d love to have you stay here with me, Dodie, but your mom is right. You need to go back home with them when the time comes.”

I looked at Grandma, not believing she’d side with my parents on this, but then I wondered if she was only saying it when she didn’t really mean it. Hadn’t we cried over it Monday after having those delicious cinnamon rolls Leopold had made?

“When will Dodie be coming home?” Sasha asked. “Brody seems unclear about that.”

“Soon.” Mom said and walked ahead of us to the living room. She took a seat on the loveseat with my dad to watch the rest of the game.

“Did I say something wrong?” Sasha asked.

“No. I did. I shouldn’t have said I didn’t want to go home with them.”

“But you did and there is nothing you can do to take it back,” Grandma said, putting her hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eye. She leaned forward and whispered in my ear. “I don’t want you to leave, but they have given you to me for these last few days, and if we do break the curse, you will have to go home with them until we can get you back here.”

“I know.”

“Your parents seem great, Dodie. You have a good home. Going back can’t be all bad,” Sasha said. “My parents are divorced. Dad travels all the time with his job so I rarely get to see him and Mom’s a nurse, always picking up extra shifts to cover the bills. That’s why I’m here, because Brody didn’t want me spending another Thanksgiving alone eating a frozen microwave dinner.”

I looked at Sasha, stunned at what she’d said. I never imagined she came from a broken home. She appeared so put together and strong, but I guess she had to be.

“Well we’re glad you’re here, honey,” Grandma said, hugging her.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Brody asked, coming into the foyer where we were.

“Girl talk,” I said.

“Yeah…well…okay. I’m going to get a snack. You want anything?”

“There’s plenty of food in the kitchen,” Grandma said, following him to the kitchen. “We put the fruitcake back in the cellar. I can show you where.”

I turned to Sasha. “I need to get out of these boots. You want to come up and listen to some music, maybe plan a playlist for the party?”

“That sounds great.”

Sasha took a few steps up the stairs and I was about to follow her when Leopold came out of the living room.

“Hey Dodie, Sasha,” he said.

“Tired of watching football?” I asked.

He nodded.

“We’re going to pick out music for Dodie’s party. Want to join us?” Sasha asked.

He smiled. “Don’t you think Brody will object?”

“Leave him to me,” she said and went on up the stairs.

“You should join us if you want. I’m going to change into something more suited to lounging.”

“Okay. I’ll be up in a few. You want anything to drink?”

“That would be great. I think I saw some canned sodas in the back of the refrigerator.”

“You got it.”

By the time I got up to my room Sasha had already changed out of her dress and had on a pair of knee-length young pants and a t-shirt. She’d pulled her hair up in a ponytail and was digging in her bag, sitting crossed legged on the floor.

“You change fast.”

“It’s a learned trait. When you go to cheerleading camp and competitions you have to be fast about everything. So is Leopold coming up?”

“Yeah. He’s going to change and grab us some drinks.”

“Great.”

I shut the door and sat down in my desk chair to remove the boots, then I walked to my closet, going inside to change into my version of Sasha’s outfit.

“Rats!”

“What is it?” I asked pulling the t-shirt over my head.

“I can’t find my iPod. Brody said you listen to classical so I know you don’t have a good dance mix already picked out.”

“Maybe he has his with him.”

“You can’t be serious, Dodie. His playlists consist of music from Pink Floyd, Def Lepard, ZZ Top, Montley Crew. Not really what you want for your dance music.”

A knock came at the door and Sasha jumped up, going to answer it.

Leopold and Brody stood there together looking like they’d each consumed a bag of sour patch kids.

“Dodie needs a playlist of dance music and I can’t find my iPod,” Sasha announced. “We have to do something, Brody.”

“Maybe you left it in the car. I’ll go check,” he said.

“Thank you,” she called after him and pulled Leopold into the room.

“What kind of music do you suggest be played?” he asked.

“A mix of current pop and classic songs. She’ll also want to have a special song for her first dance with her date.” Sasha turned to me. “You do have a date, don’t you?”

I looked at Leopold expectantly. I’d kinda assumed it would be him, but what if…”

“Yes she does.” He looked at me and grinned.

Sasha winked at me and gave a quick thumbs up behind his back. “Perfect. So what song will you dance to?”

“A Goo Goo Dolls song.”

She looked surprised that I knew the group. “Okay. What other kinds of music do you like?”

I gave her my iPod and started the playlist I’d been listening to lately.

“Bon Jovi, Letters to Cleo, Justin Timberlake, One Republic. You do listen to more than classical. Brody doesn’t know you as well as he thinks.”

I shrugged.

Brody returned. “I didn’t find it.”

“We’ll have to create one from scratch then, but I think we can manage.”

The four of us actually worked together listening to songs and creating a shuffle that had a good mixture of dance music that represented the present all the way to the eighties to make Brody happy.

When we went downstairs the house was quiet. The adults had already turned in even though it was still early. Mom and Grandma were going shopping to take advantage of Black Friday sales. And dad was reading.

We found a movie to watch before we went to raid the kitchen. I was enjoying myself so much and it appeared that Leopold was too. Brody even stopped glaring at him and seemed to accept him, but that was before the doorbell rang.

I ran to answer it and forgot to check out the side window so I was not prepared for Anson to be standing there. The sun had already set and it was dark out so he was illuminated by the porch light which gave him an eerie glow. I stood there staring at him, unable to find my voice to invite him in. Brody came up behind me and nudged me out of the way.

“Hey man, you made it. Come on in,” he said.

I backed away and hurried back to the kitchen to let Leopold know, but he met me at the swinging door, taking hold of my shoulders.

“Calm down. It’s okay.”

“Yeah, but—”

“What’s wrong?” Sasha asked. “Why do you look so pale, Dodie?”

“Anson is here.” Leopold led the way back to the living room.

“Why don’t we like him?” Sasha whispered, hanging back.

“It’s complicated. He doesn’t like Leopold and the last time he was here with Brody they behaved badly.”

“Oh. So you don’t like Anson?”

“I did at first. He was really nice to me, but things changed after Leopold came. Like I said, it’s complicated, but he’ll be at the party because we couldn’t exclude him.”

“Hmmm. I’m a pretty good judge of character. I can sniff out a rat fink a mile away.”

Sasha went ahead of me into the living room and planted her hands on her hips. “Brody, aren’t you going to introduce me to your guest?”

“Sure. Anson, this is my girlfriend Sasha. Sasha, this is Anson. He lives next door, up on the hill.”

Anson stood and offered his hand to her. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Brody has told me all about you.”

She gave his hand a quick shake and dropped it. “Funny. He hasn’t mentioned you at all.”

“I know I did,” Brody quickly defended himself. “You must have not been paying attention to me.”

“No. I’m positive you didn’t. But don’t worry about it. You two have fun together.” Sasha pursed her lips together, with her hands planted on her hips. “Dodie, Leopold, and I will take the movie upstairs to watch so you two can hang out.”

She did a quick about face and started up the stairs.

“Sasha!” Brody called but she didn’t stop.

I hurried up after her and Leopold was a step behind me when I heard Anson’s comment.

“Wow, she’s a cold one.”

“Shut up. Or you can leave. What did you want to come over about anyway?”

So Brody hadn’t called and invited Anson over after all. I wanted to sit down on the steps and see if I could hear what they were saying, but it probably wasn’t a good idea to eavesdrop on them. Instead I went on up to my room.

“He’s a rat fink,” Sasha said, sitting cross legged on the floor leaning back against my bed. “Why can’t Brody see through him?”

I shrugged, getting my laptop and setting it on the floor in front of us. I put the DVD into my laptop and started the movie.

Leopold sat down on the floor and I sat between him and Sasha. The opening segment of the film hadn’t played through when she jumped up and started pacing the room. Then she did a hand stand against the wall.

“Sorry. When I get upset this is the best way for me to calm down. There’s something about the blood rushing to my head that relaxes me.”

I leaned forward and pushed pause on the DVD. “We don’t have to watch this tonight if you’d rather do something else?”

She pushed off the wall and stood up. “I gotta go talk to Brody.”

I watched her leave the room and then I turned to Leopold. “Do you want to watch the movie?”

“It’s up to you. What do you want to do?”

I leaned my head back against the side of the bed and shrugged my shoulders. “Sitting here with you is nice.”

“It is.”

“Have you enjoyed yourself today? I have.”

“It has been different and yeah, I have enjoyed it.”

“Good.”

“Dodie, there’s something I should tell you. I had a chance to discuss my plan of action with your parents while you and Sasha were up here changing clothes before we ate. I’d spoken with your mom about it before, but this was the first chance I have had to speak with your father.”

“And?”

“They are both still in denial about what could happen on your birthday. I’m amazed that they believe they’ll come here next weekend for your party and just take you home and that will be that. They’re not prepared for the opposite to happen.”

“But you’re supposed to keep that from happening.”

“I know and I’m working hard to make sure that the curse is broken but there is always to one percent chance that I could fail.”