Mavis sat on the log in the vacant lot and stared glumly at the wildflowers and the bramble bushes and the small gold sign that read BUILD YOUR DREAM HOME HERE.
Dream home.
Ha!
Mavis had never had a dream home in her life.
Her mother had always made her think that each new place they landed in was their dream home.
The condo in Atlanta.
The apartment over the Chinese restaurant in South Carolina.
That shabby old house they shared with that crazy lady someplace Mavis couldn’t even remember.
That brick house owned by her mother’s hotheaded boyfriend in Hadley, Georgia.
On and on and on.
Dream homes?
Hardly.
And every single time, Mavis had tried to have a best friend. But every single time, they hadn’t stayed long enough for that to happen.
Now, finally, they had a nice place here in Landry, Alabama, and she really did have a best friend.
Mavis felt sure that if her mother quit her job with the Tullys, Rose wouldn’t want to be her best friend anymore.
Why would she?
They wouldn’t be able to see each other every day.
They couldn’t have any more adventures like the one they’d had when they went to Wonderland.
They couldn’t visit Mr. Duffy and play checkers.
Besides, Mrs. Tully would be so mad at her mother for quitting, she wouldn’t want Rose to play with Mavis, anyway.
Then a thought popped into Mavis’s head.
School would be starting in a few weeks.
They would see each other at school!
They could still be best friends.
They could eat lunch together and have club meetings at recess and choose each other as partners in science class and stuff like that.
But then another thought popped into Mavis’s head.
Did Rose even go to Landry Elementary School?
Probably not.
She probably went to some fancy school where the kids wore uniforms and went on field trips to Disney World and the lunch ladies served them fried chicken and apple pie on china plates.
Mavis had been avoiding Rose the last few days, staying up in the apartment or dashing down here to the vacant lot. Not even going to see Mr. Duffy in case Rose was there. But now she looked at the empty spot on the log beside her and felt that loneliness come creeping back.
She needed to see Rose.
Mavis made her way up the street, her thoughts weighing her down and making her walk slow and slump-shouldered. Unfortunately, walking up the street toward her was Amanda Simm, wearing a bathing suit and carrying a towel.
Dang!
Mavis was not in the mood to talk to her.
“Hey,” Amanda called when she saw Mavis.
Mavis said, “Hey,” and tried to keep walking, but Amanda stopped beside her and said, “So, I guess I was right about Mr. Duffy.”
“What do you mean?”
“About him leaving.”
“Leaving?”
Amanda nodded and flicked her cantaloupe-colored ponytail over her shoulder.
“Where’s he going?” Mavis asked.
“I don’t know.”
“How do you know he’s leaving?”
“My mother told me,” Amanda said. “Is he keeping that dog y’all took up there?”
“Yes.” Mavis’s fib came out fast and easy. But if her plan worked, and she was sure it would, Mr. Duffy was going to keep Henry.
Now her thoughts were racing. Did Rose know about Mr. Duffy? If she did, she would be really upset. Mavis suddenly had guilt poking at her from every direction. She had been so busy moping about her mother’s new job that she hadn’t even thought much about Rose. A best friend wouldn’t do that. Why was she so bad at being a best friend?
“What’s Rose going to do?” Amanda asked.
“What do you mean?”
“All she ever does is stay up at the gatehouse with Mr. Duffy,” Amanda said. “There’s lots of other stuff to do in Magnolia Estates. The Junior Garden Club, the mother-daughter book club, the tennis team, the—”
“Rose doesn’t want to do any of that stuff,” Mavis said.
“She could do gymnastics in my yard with me and Mimi Fay,” Amanda said. “You can come, too. Unless y’all would rather play with those lions on Rose’s porch.”
Mavis’s face burned with anger. She wanted to give that cantaloupe ponytail a good yank. But for once, self-control tapped her on the shoulder and told her to cool it.
Then she stood up straight and lifted her chin and walked away from Amanda Simm. She needed to check on her best friend, Rose.