By the end of the game, Amy was convinced that Colleen was wrong. Danny was friendly and nice, but he hadn’t said anything that made her think he was about to make a move on her. When Hamilton High won, they’d jumped to their feet and he’d hugged her; but everyone was hugging everyone else, and Amy was sure that it really didn’t mean anything at all.
“Hey, Amy!” Michele ran up to them as they were leaving the gym. “I’m having a post-game party at the store, and you’re both invited. My folks are gone for the weekend.”
“You’re having a party at the store?” Amy looked surprised. Michele’s family ran a furniture store.
“There’s more room at the store, and it’ll be fun. I hooked up one of the sound systems my dad sells, and there’s plenty of couches and chairs. The party starts in thirty minutes, so be there.”
Danny turned to Amy as Michele raced off to invite more people. “How about it, Amy? Are you up for a party?”
“Well . . . I guess so. But I thought you weren’t interested in teenage parties.”
“Normally, I’m not. But I’ve never been to a party in a furniture store. It’ll be a first.” Danny slipped his arm around Amy’s shoulders and grinned down at her. “I’m big on firsts. You know . . . first date, first kiss, first love, things like that. How about you? Are you big on firsts?”
“Oh . . . well . . . that depends on which firsts you’re talking about.” Amy wondered if Colleen had told Danny that she’d never gone on a date, never been kissed, and never really been in love. She didn’t want to say anything that might show Danny how naive she was, so she changed the subject to a much safer first. “How about your first bicycle? Do you remember that?”
Danny laughed as he pushed open the door, and they stepped out into the cold. “Of course. It was a shiny red Huffy, with training wheels. The first thing I did was take them off. I didn’t want the other kids to think I was a sissy.”
“But training wheels help while you’re learning to ride.” Amy frowned slightly. “How did you learn to ride without them?”
“Very painfully. I skinned up my knees for the first week, but I finally caught on. Colleen probably told you. I never do things the easy way.”
Amy nodded. “Like coming back to finish school when you’re two years older than everyone else. That can’t be easy for you.”
“You’re right.” Danny nodded. “But it’s something I have to do. I thought it would be so great to be out in the real world . . . but it wasn’t.”
Danny unlocked his car and opened the door so that Amy could get in. She waited until he’d slid in behind the wheel, and then she turned to him. “Was it scary, out there all alone?”
“Not at first.” Danny started the engine to let it warm up. “I was too dumb to be scared. I didn’t get scared until I realized that I didn’t know how to do a lot of things that most people take for granted.”
“Like what?” Amy was curious.
“Like figuring out the bills and paying them every month. I went straight from living at home to renting my own apartment. I’d never been on my own before, and I had no idea how to live on a budget. I made enough money, but I spent it as fast as I got it. And then I got into big trouble at the end of the month.”
“Tell me about it.” Amy leaned back against the seat and smiled up at him.
“Okay.” Danny slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “When I signed my contract, the money seemed like a fortune. I’d never made that much before, so I went right out and rented this really great apartment. I didn’t realize that I’d only get part of my salary.”
“Only part? I don’t understand.”
“Taxes.” Danny shrugged. “That’s the difference between gross and net. It gave me my gross salary on the contract; but when I got my first paycheck, they took out all the taxes, and the total was a lot smaller than I thought it would be.”
“But it was still enough, wasn’t it?”
“It would have been if I hadn’t gone overboard. But everything I bought had to be the best that money could buy. I got the best sound system, the best television, the best furniture, the best clothes, the best motorcycle, you name it. And the food . . . I was so stupid, you wouldn’t believe it!”
“I’d believe it.” Amy giggled, and snuggled a little closer. The car was beginning to warm, and it was cozy, sitting close to Danny in the darkened parking lot. “Why was food expensive?”
“Because I didn’t know how to cook. I went out to the best restaurants, and that adds up. It finally got to the point where I couldn’t afford it anymore.”
Amy nodded. “So what did you do?”
“I bought a cookbook, and I followed the recipes.”
“That makes sense.”
“Not really.”
Danny was grinning as he pulled away from her, put the car in gear and drove out of the parking lot, but Amy was a bit disappointed. She had liked the way he’d held her close, and she hadn’t wanted it to end quite yet. She felt her hopes rise as they pulled up in front of Porter’s Fine Furniture. The store was dark, and there were no other cars on the street. Perhaps Danny would hold her close again while they waited for the others to arrive.
“We must be the first ones here.” Danny parked directly in front of the store, and let the car idle.
Amy nodded. “I guess we’ll just have to wait until Michele shows up. Tell me more about the cookbook, Danny. Why didn’t it make sense?”
“I bought the wrong one. I picked up a copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I’d seen her on television, and everything she did looked so easy.”
“Oh-oh!” Amy started to laugh. “What happened?”
Danny grinned and pulled her over next to him again. “Well . . . I learned to make Soupe Catalane Aux Poivrons.”
“Wonderful. What’s that?”
“It’s Catalonian pepper and leek soup, very good, but it takes forever to cook. And then I tried Ris De Veau A La Financiere.”
Amy nodded and snuggled up to Danny’s side. “I’m impressed, but I don’t know what that is, either.”
“Braised sweetbreads garnished with truffles, mushrooms, and olives. That was very expensive, and once I found out what sweetbreads were, I never made it again.”
Amy frowned slightly. Should she admit that she didn’t know what sweetbreads were? Danny would probably think she was an idiot, but it was best to be honest. “Sorry, Danny . . . I don’t know anything about sweetbreads. What are they?”
“Maybe I shouldn’t tell you.” Danny looked down at her in a way that made Amy’s knees weak. “It might make you sick.”
“Of course it won’t! Julia Child is a world-famous chef. If she makes it, it’s got to be good.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m positive.” Amy gave an emphatic nod. “So tell me, Danny . . . what are sweetbreads?”
“They’re the pancreas and thymus glands from a calf.”
“Oh, gross!” Amy shuddered. “That’s not funny, Danny!”
“I know. And it really wasn’t funny when I spent the whole day cooking a gourmet meal that I couldn’t eat!”
“You mean, it’s really true?” Amy pulled back to stare at Danny. “You’re not just putting me on?”
“It’s true. When Renee asked me what we were having for dinner, I told her. And that was when she mentioned what sweetbreads were. She thought it was wonderful that I was so cosmopolitan.”
Amy’s eyes widened. Who was Renee? She wished she had the nerve to ask, but it was really none of her business. “What did the sweetbreads taste like?”
“I don’t know. I just pushed them around on my plate and filled up on the bread. And the next morning, I called Colleen and asked her to send me some of Mom’s recipes for real meat and potatoes.”
Amy couldn’t stand it any longer. She simply had to ask. “Uh . . . Danny? Who’s Renee?”
“My agent’s ex-wife. We lived together for a while. Renee was an actress, very beautiful, and very expensive. That’s one of the ways I blew all my money. She wasn’t satisfied with dinner at McDonald’s. She wanted to go to trendy places, where she could be seen.”
“Oh.” Amy nodded. And she wished that she hadn’t asked. There was no reason for her to feel jealous, but she did.
Danny had lived with a beautiful actress. “Do you . . . uh . . . still see her?”
Danny shook his head. “We only lasted for a couple of months. Renee had a thing about singers, and I was the newest guy in town. She moved on when a newer guy came on the scene.”
“That’s . . . that’s awful!” Amy stared up at Danny in shock. “You must have been terribly hurt.”
“I was, at first. But then I realized that it’s the sort of thing you should expect when you’re involved with the rock world. The hours are insane, the groupies steal everything of yours that isn’t nailed down, the performances drain every ounce of your energy, and it’s impossible to have any kind of normal life. That’s one of the reasons I got out. I could have stayed and started another band. I had plenty of backing. But I had enough sense to realize that it wasn’t the life for me. I’d rather be here, at Hamilton High, with you and Colleen. You care about me as a person.”
There was a long silence. Amy wasn’t quite sure what to say. But then Danny reached out and tipped up her chin so she had to meet his eyes.
“You do care about me, don’t you, Amy?”
Amy nodded. Danny’s eyes were so intense, it was hard for her to speak. “I . . . I . . . of course I do! You know that.”
“But how much do you care?” Danny began to grin as he closed the gap between them. “Do you care this much?”
Amy trembled as Danny came closer and closer. Now he was so close, he was almost brushing her lips with his. Amy’s mind spun in crazy circles. Was he going to kiss her? Should she pull away? Or should she wrap her arms around his neck, and let him do what she’d been wanting for what seemed like forever? But just as she felt the first feather-light brush of his lips, there was a honk behind them, and Amy pulled back, startled.
“Saved by the honk.” Danny chuckled as he turned around to see who it was. “You must have a guardian angel, Amy.”
“I . . . I . . . yes. I guess I must.” Amy scraped a place clear on the window to look out. Michele and Colleen were parked behind them and as she watched, two more cars pulled up.
“Looks like we have company.” Danny shrugged, and turned off the ignition. “We’d better go, or we’ll be the subject of a lot of gossip at school tomorrow.”
“You’re right.” Amy sighed, and began to button up her coat. She wasn’t quite sure whether she was glad or disappointed to see her friends arrive.
“Should we continue this discussion later?” Danny reached out to touch her cheek with the tip of his finger. “Or would you rather forget it ever happened?”
Amy drew in her breath sharply. Shakespeare had been wrong. To be, or not to be, wasn’t the question. It was to kiss, or not to kiss. And even though it was far from appropriate, Amy wanted Danny to kiss her with every fiber of her being.
“Well . . . ?” Danny was still grinning his sexy grin. “What’s the answer, Amy?”
Amy let her breath out in a shuddering sigh as she made up her mind. “I’d like to continue . . . please.”