At first, when Mavis had called to tell her about her mother’s new car, Rose had been excited. Miss Jeeter had offered to drive them to Wonderland to visit Mr. Duffy. But Rose was pretty sure her mother would never let her go. She hadn’t told Mavis that, of course. Mavis would tell her not to worry.
Mavis would say, “Trust me.”
But still, Rose worried.
When her mother called her to supper, Rose clomped heavily down the stairs, across the marble foyer, and into the dining room.
“The new gatekeeper starts Monday,” her mother said.
Her father said, “That’s good,” and concentrated on the roasted brussels sprouts.
Her mother made a sour face. “I’m so glad that crazy Mr. Duffy is gone, and we don’t have to be embarrassed to have guests over anymore.”
When Rose heard that, a funny thing happened.
First she felt sad.
Then she felt mad.
And then she felt brave.
She sat up very straight, put her hands in her lap, and said, “Miss Jeeter got a car. She’s going to take Mavis and me to Wonderland to visit Mr. Duffy.”
There!
She had said it!
Her bravery settled over her, making her lift her chin a little and set a smile on her face.
A small smile, but still …
Her mother looked at her as if she had just spoken Greek. Then she looked at Rose’s father, whose mouth was turned up in the tiniest trace of a smile.
Then she turned back to Rose and said, “Are you out of your mind?”
“No, ma’am.”
Her mother said, “Absolutely not,” but her father said, “I don’t see what’s so wrong with it, Cora.” He stabbed a piece of leg of lamb off the platter in front of him and turned to Rose. “Maybe I can drive you to Mavis’s after work some time.”
Her mother folded her arms and sat back in her chair, tight-lipped and red-faced.
And then Rose’s bravery began to grow, making her feel as if it would lift her right up out of her chair and spin her around the chandelier and carry her out of the French doors and into the yard, where she would hover over the potted ferns like a hummingbird. Wouldn’t Monroe Tucker be surprised?
With all that bravery spinning around her, Rose explained to her mother that she didn’t want to have to do things with Amanda Simm anymore. She told her how Amanda liked going to the mall and talking about lip gloss, but she didn’t. She told her that Amanda said mean things sometimes, especially when she was with other girls, but Mavis never did.
“Grace thinks I’m lucky to have a friend like Mavis,” Rose said.
Her father nodded. “I agree.”
* * *
“I know it’s not a new new car,” Miss Jeeter said as she drove Rose and Mavis to Wonderland, “but it’s new to me.” She had hung a pair of Mavis’s baby booties from the rearview mirror and taped a plastic flower to the radio antenna so she could find the car in the parking lot at the grocery store.
When they got to Wonderland, Mr. Duffy greeted them with, “What’s shakin’, bacon?”
“Let’s play gin rummy,” Mavis said, shuffling the cards on Mr. Duffy’s desk in the cinder-block building.
Rose and Mavis and Mr. Duffy played cards all afternoon, interrupted every now and then by someone calling about adopting a dog. Henry lay curled up on his blanket bed beside the desk, making little yipping noises as he dreamed a doggie dream.
Suddenly the door opened, and a man with two noisy kids stepped inside. While the kids ran from kennel to kennel, making the dogs bark, the man explained that they were looking for a dog.
“It has to be one that’s good with kids,” the man said. “And won’t chase cats.”
Mr. Duffy introduced them to one dog after another.
Chuckie.
Caroline.
Gabe.
Pippin.
Henry got up from his blanket bed and went over to greet the kids, wagging his tail and letting them rub his ears.
“What about that one?” the man said, nodding toward Henry.
Mavis looked at Rose and Rose looked at Mavis and they both looked at Mr. Duffy, who said, “That one’s mine.”
Bingo!
Their plan had worked!
Mr. Duffy had fallen in love with Henry.
Rose and Mavis slapped and snapped and fist-bumped.
* * *
At the end of the day, Miss Jeeter drove Rose back to Magnolia Estates with that plastic flower flapping in the breeze. When they got to the gate and the new gatekeeper slid the little window open, Miss Jeeter said, “Luanne Jeeter here to see Cora Tully.” Then she turned and winked at Rose.
When they drove by the Simms’ house, Amanda was sitting on her porch with some other girls. Rose felt confidence float in through the open car window and settle on her shoulders. Here she was, Rose Tully, sitting beside her best friend, not worrying one bit about those girls.
She waved at them.
Amanda waved back.
Some of the other girls waved, as well.
When Miss Jeeter turned into the Tullys’ winding driveway, she honked the horn at Monroe Tucker, who was trimming the azaleas. Then she waved to Mrs. Tully and some ladies drinking tea on the screened porch. Rose and Mavis leaned out the window of the car and hollered, “Yoo-hoo!” Then they collapsed on the back seat, giggling hysterically.
When Miss Jeeter stopped the car in front of Pete and Larry, Rose said goodbye and dashed upstairs to her bedroom.
She sat on the canopy bed and thought about the very first day that Mavis had been here, inspecting Rose’s things and saying “holy cannoli.”
She remembered how she had been worried that Mavis might think having a doll bed in her room was babyish, but Mavis hadn’t.
Then Rose walked over to the dresser and looked at herself in the mirror.
The Rose looking back at her was a different Rose from the one who had been here that day.
Rose smiled and whispered hello to this new Rose.
The brave Rose who didn’t have that tornado of worry spinning around her nearly every minute of the day.
The Rose who had a best friend.
The Rose who went to Wonderland with Mavis.