Wishing Pearl (30 page)

“Yep. That would have been Kira.” Ju-Ju smirked. “Great timing, huh?”

“Yeah. That explains why she was sobbing in the bathroom. I caught her in a private moment. Explains a lot, actually. But wait. I thought you had to, quote, ‘want to change’ to be allowed to come here. How could someone who really wanted help do something so devious?”

Tricia sighed. “There’s no telling what goes on in someone’s head. She convinced herself that her situation was special, and she would have done anything she could have to get out of it or make it okay somehow. It’s easy to justify bad actions when you’re under fire like she felt, you know?”

That was the most Olivia had heard Tricia say at one time. “I guess. But seduction, abortion, deception? That’s pretty huge. And she’s only, what, sixteen?”

“She’s seventeen as of a few weeks ago. Not that age matters. She’s a troubled soul.” Skye’s face softened. “I try to remember to pray for her every day. We all should.”

Ju-Ju shook her head and gazed at Skye then patted her hand. “Sweet, simple little Skye.”

“What? Are you saying we shouldn’t pray for Kira?”

“Nope. I just think you put a little too much stock in the hope of answered prayers and too little trust in your own common sense. But that’s just my opinion.”

“Whatever. I’d rather have extra faith and believe in people than be tough as nails.”

“Okay. Now’s not the time to fight. I need you to stay with me here.” Olivia shook her head. It didn’t make sense. “I don’t get it, you guys. I wasn’t here for any of this. I’m the new girl. What did I ever do to make Kira hate me besides catch her crying?”

“Ah!” Skye held up her finger. “It’s not what
you
did, sugar. It’s what Justin does every time he sees you.” Tricia giggled.

“Huh? What does he do?”

“Come on, chica.” Ju-Ju tilted her head and squinted. “You can’t seriously be trying to tell us that you don’t see him look at you differently than he looks at the rest of us. Really?”

“Differently how?” If they saw it, too, then it might actually be real.
Don’t blush
. But what if Ben or Tammy—or worse, Donna—saw it?

“Like the sun’s coming up behind you.” Skye’s face softened, and she batted her long eyelashes. “Like you’re the first woman he’s ever seen. Like … like he could devour you.”

“Giiirl. From the looks of things, you read a few too many of those contraband romance books your daddy tried to hide from you.” Tricia fanned Skye’s face with a notebook.

Ju-Ju stared at Skye then turned back to Olivia, shaking her head. “Anyway. He looks at you like you’re special. He watches you. If we see it, Kira must see it, too. But who cares about her?”

“Did I hear my name?” Kira peeked around the corner and flashed her dimples as she came through the door. She posed with her hands on her hips like she’d just completed a gymnastics routine.

“I don’t think you did.” Ju-Ju didn’t exactly lie.

Oh no. What had Kira heard? It couldn’t have been much because the door just opened. “Ju-Ju said, ‘Who cares.’ Maybe that’s what you heard.” It wasn’t really a lie, was it? More of an evasion.

“Okay. Well, if you decide to talk about me, let me know.” She grinned. “I’ll join you—I’m my favorite subject.” Kira sashayed away.

“Ugh. She grates on my last nerve.” Ju-Ju gritted her teeth.

“Yeah. That girl’s meaner’n a snake.”

“But you think we should pray for her, right, Skye?” Tricia snorted.

“‘Course we should. It’s the Christian thing to do.”

“But you guys, she’s had it in for me since I had a little clash with her when I visited a few months ago. She didn’t like me then, and that couldn’t have had anything to do with Justin.”

Ju-Ju nodded. “Fresh meat—new competition. That’s all the reason Kira needs to start hating someone. Time only makes it worse.”

Olivia threw her hands up in the air. “So what do you think I should do about Justin?”

“Don’t
do
anything. Keep being yourself.” Ju-Ju peered around the room. “And watch your back.”

C
ool. Nap time.” Ju-Ju dove into the backseat. Olivia climbed into the front seat beside Justin. “Hey. I thought Marilyn was going to be driving me down to practice.”

“Oh, you’re stuck with me today.” Justin’s eyes sparkled. “I had a half day.”

Stuck? Hardly. “What are you going to do while I’m at practice, Ju?”

“Probably more sleep. If not”—she wriggled her arms out of her puffy coat and balled it up beneath her head—”I brought a book.”

“How about you?” Olivia turned to Justin. What if he said he planned to just wait in the van? She’d feel horrible.

“I have a grocery list for Mom and stuff Marilyn needs for the center. That will take me at least as long as your practice.”

“Okay. I just—I feel bad taking up so much of everyone’s time.” Olivia looked down.

“Don’t think anything of it. If I wasn’t driving you, I’d be shoveling manure in the barn or something.”

Eww
. “I’m curious, do you ever get tired of helping so much? Do you ever get to have fun?”

Ju-Ju let out a big snore.

Olivia giggled.

“I think if I didn’t believe in the importance of Diamond Estates then I might feel differently, but I love it. I feel like we’re missionaries with a purpose that God has called our family to. I’m proud to be able to be a part of it in whatever way I can.”

Olivia nodded. She couldn’t remember a time when helping someone else had been rewarding like that. Would she sacrifice so much for God’s work? Probably not. Olivia had to admit that she and the other girls complained nonstop. That had to be wearing on the staff who had sacrificed so much to be there for them—from what she heard, they didn’t get paid that much. Olivia vowed to stop the griping. She’d do her part happily from now on. Or at least try to.

“Most kids our age can’t stand to be around their parents so much. But you’re with yours all the time, and you don’t seem to mind. How come?”

“I think Dad’s amazing—it’s inspiring to watch him work. I know my mom wishes she could be around more though. But she’s doing her part in a different way.” Justin pulled the van under an awning in front of Symphony Hall. “Here we are.”

Olivia reached back and nudged Ju-Ju. “Come on, sleepyhead. You can continue your nap in the theater.” They climbed from the car and waved as Justin pulled away.

The car squealed to a stop and backed up. The window came down, and Justin leaned across the seat, making eye contact with Olivia. “Knock ‘em dead.” The window buzzed up, and he drove away.

“Earth to Olivia.” Ju-Ju waved her hand in front of Olivia’s face. “Hellooo?”

“Huh? What?” Olivia shook her head in an unsuccessful attempt to free Justin from her thoughts.

“Oh boy. You’ve got it bad, girlfriend.” Ju-Ju shook her head and pulled open the door for Olivia.

“I don’t have anything bad.”

I’ve got it good
.

“I can’t believe you’re going to miss free day.” Tricia rolled over in her bed at ten o’clock in the morning. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned.

“Oh, I didn’t miss it. Sleeping in is the best part of the day.” Olivia latched her oboe case. “Next to that is staying up late tonight—I’ll be back in plenty of time for that. Besides, after all these weeks of cramming to learn the music for the holiday concert, an actual performance will be a nice change.” Plus, since it was the weekend, Justin would probably be driving her. She zipped her jacket over her sparkly red dress, grabbed her music folder, and waved to her roommates.

“Have fun.” Skye winked. “Don’t do nothin’ I wouldn’t do, y’hear?”

“That leaves the door wide open for just about anything.” Tricia ducked under her covers as Skye threw a pillow at her.

“Break a leg?” Ju-Ju squinted through her sleepy eyes at the bright light. “Do people still say that?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll take it.” Olivia bustled out of the room and hurried down the stairs toward the conference room to make a quick phone call to Mom before heading out.

Tammy waited in the conference room to set up the call as they’d prearranged. Her laptop sat open on the table. “Here you go, Liv. There are some people who wish to see you.” She grinned and held out a hand toward the chair.

Olivia stepped over to the seat in front of the computer and sat down to peer at the screen. People? She gasped when she saw a face looking back at her. How cool! They’d never had video for their calls before.

“Olivia?” Mom sounded breathless—like she’d been running around. Knowing her, she probably couldn’t get the computer set up and thought she’d be late.

“Yep. It’s me, Mom.”

“Okay. Hang on. I have a surprise for you.”

Another surprise? Hang on? She didn’t have all day—why waste the time they did have? Olivia waited while Mom did something on the keyboard.

A window popped up asking if a third party could be accepted into the chat session and be viewable by webcam. Huh? The instant she clicked A
CCEPT
, the window on her screen split and Mom moved into the right-side window as the left window came into focus.

“Hello?” A familiar male voice came through before the picture’s pixels caught up to real time.

Olivia’s heart skipped. “Jake? Is that you?”

“It’s me, sis. It’s so good to talk to you. The school has this cool voice-to-text software so I can read what you say.” Jake squinted. “Oh, there you are. I can see you now. You look beautiful. How are you?”

“I’m fine now. I missed you both, but I hadn’t realized just how much until I actually saw you.” Olivia sniffled.

“Don’t cry, sweetie. This is a big day for you. A happy day.” Mom grinned.

Wow. She remembered? “I wish you guys could be here.”

“We wish that, too.” Jake cleared his throat. “Liv? I just want you to know how proud I am of you.” He put his fingertips up to the webcam so she could reach out and touch them on her screen.

Olivia waited for Mom to chime in. No words came. Oh well. Baby steps. “I can’t believe I have to make this short, but I really have to go.” The tears fell in earnest.

“It’s okay. We’ll be talking in a few days for Christmas. Give it all you’ve got today, sweetheart.”

“I love you, Liv.” Jake’s piercing eyes came through the camera.

“I love you, too. Both of you.”

The line went dead.

“Morning. Who’s coming with us today?” Olivia smiled at Justin from her perch on the foyer bench, where she waited for him for once. “My mom is, actually. We have some last-minute Christmas gifts to buy in town, and since everyone else has a free day, we decided to go together. She’s already sitting all the way in the back making some work calls so she can be freed up the rest of the day.”

“Okay. I’ll force myself to behave, then.” Like she’d have the guts to do anything else. She could barely formulate a coherent sentence when talking to Justin.

Why could she talk to her friends nonstop all day long, then get in the presence of Justin and have nothing intelligent to say at all? Forget intelligent—she’d settle for interesting. Or even mildly amusing. He would think she was a big bore if she didn’t spark up a little. She climbed into her seat and waved at Alicia.

“Hi, sweetie. I’m on hold.” She pointed to the phone in her hand. “Oh. Yep. This is she.” Alicia turned away.

“What’s wrong? You seem kind of sad.” Justin studied her after they turned onto the road.

Oh, other than missing my mom and brother, nothing
. “Oh, I’m fine. I guess it just feels strange to be doing something this important without any family or friends here or anything.” She reddened. “I mean, no offense. It’s just …”

“No offense taken at all. I’d probably feel that way, too. I’ll cheer extra loud for you, okay?” Justin’s cheeks turned a touch pink.

Time to change the subject. “So how did you get into music and performing?”

“Oh, I’ve loved to sing since I was a little boy. It’s just part of me. And when you go to church as much as I have in my life, you get plenty of chances to practice singing if you even remotely want to.” Justin flipped the turn signal then peeked at Olivia. “How about you? The oboe?”

“For me, it was the sound it made. It seemed to echo my soul. It thinks. It feels.” Olivia looked out the side window.
It hurts
. “That probably sounds stupid. But it’s true. I feel like it speaks for me. It says things I’d like to say but can’t, either because no one’s listening or because I don’t have the guts to say them.”
Ugh! Stop talking
.