BLAKE COLLINS STOOD in the Harrisons’ driveway with arms waving above his head like he was trying to flag down a rescue vehicle. Thirteen-year-old Amanda was stuck in the back of the minivan with her younger sister Fiona, who couldn’t stop touching the new stud earrings in her ears. Amanda didn’t have earrings, but she wouldn’t dwell on it or she’d cry.
Blake was there to offer her the perfect distraction. Of course, there was no fast escape to get to her friend. Climbing over any of the triplets sitting in the middle row would only lead to a huge shouting match and Mom sending them all inside to think about how they should speak to one another. She couldn’t risk missing out on why Blake was here. Whenever he came over unexpectedly, he had a surprise.
“Don’t forget you all have chores to finish before dinner. Your father will be home soon,” Mom reminded them all, but Amanda knew it was directed at her.
Lily groaned. Sixteen-year-old Peyton turned around in the front passenger seat. “Hey, Lil, no worries. I’ll help you get yours done. Please don’t give Mom a hard time.”
“You’re going to help her? She doesn’t even have the hardest chore, and I have a ton of homework,” Georgie complained.
Lily, Georgie and Amanda were the triplets. The middle children in this lively family of seven. If there was one thing the triplets constantly fought over, it was fairness. It always seemed nothing was fair, however.
“I have a broken wrist.” Lily held up her bright yellow cast as if none of them could see it from a mile away. “I need the help more than you.”
“Well, maybe you should stop trying to copy everything Danny does and you wouldn’t get hurt so often,” Georgie said, folding her arms across her chest.
“Maybe if you didn’t study so much, you could get your chores done and have some fun like Danny and I do.”
“Girls, we just spent an hour at the mall having some fun. Can we not argue for like five minutes?” Mom was getting irritated.
Amanda tried to keep the peace like Peyton. “I’ll help you, Georgie. Let me see what Blake needs first.”
Her mom pulled into the driveway and Blake rested his hands on his hips.
“I still can’t believe you’re friends with Blake Collins,” Lily said. “That boy is hotter than hot. And Tanya said he’s the best kisser in the entire middle school.”
“And why would your friend Tanya know how all the boys in the middle school kiss?” Mom asked, staring hard at Lily in the rearview mirror.
“It’s not like she’s actually kissed every boy in school. She has standards.”
“That means he’s the best kisser out of the popular guys at school,” Georgie explained.
“He better not be trying to kiss you, Amanda. You know our rule about dating.”
No dating until sixteen and only after Mom and Dad met the boy. Peyton had yet to subject some poor kid to that torture.
“Oh, my gosh. We’re just friends, Mom. There’s no kissing going on. Please never talk about it again.” Amanda didn’t want to think about Blake kissing her, Tanya or anyone else. Their friendship wasn’t about kissing. It was about having the same interests and volunteering at the animal shelter. Kissing at this age would definitely just ruin their friendship. No one married their middle-school boyfriend.
Lily and Georgie both opened their doors and got out. Amanda jumped up, nudging Fiona out of the way ever so slightly.
“Please tell me you did not find another stray dog to wash in my bathtub, Mr. Collins,” Mom said. “I’m positive they do that at the shelter.”
“I did not come here with a stray dog, Mrs. Harrison.” His gaze flicked to Amanda. He wasn’t lying, but he was sure leaving something out.
“Do you like my new earrings?” Fiona asked, pushing her earlobes out with her fingers.
“Um, they’re nice.”
“Just so you know, getting these is a big deal.”
Blake nodded but looked confused. “Cool.”
Amanda touched her own naked earlobe. It didn’t matter, she told herself. Blake didn’t care about earrings. She grabbed his hand and pulled him away.
“What’s going on?” she asked when she got farther from her family.
“I wish you had a cell phone, Harrison. I would have called you and told you to hurry.”
Blake was one of the only kids in school with a cool new flip phone. Benefits of being an only child.
“Well, I’m right here. You don’t have to call me. You can tell me.”
“I found something. I had to hide them.” Them? Behind Amanda’s house there was a shed. Her dad kept his lawn mower in there and other tools. Blake grabbed the door handle. “Are you ready?”
Amanda could feel her heart pounding in her chest. The excitement was almost too much. “Open the door!”
Inside the shed was a box with a cat and three little kittens. The mama was busy cleaning her babies.
“Triplets!” Amanda felt connected to the kittens instantly. “They’re so cute!”
“Kyle found them under his deck and called me,” Blake said. “I would have taken them to the shelter, but it’s closed for the night. You know my dad is allergic or I would take them home. It’s supposed to rain tonight. I’d hate to leave them in here. What if they get scared? You think your mom would—?”
He was so adorable. Sweeter than all three kittens combined. “We’re going to have to sneak them in. We’ll hide them in my room.”
“What about your sisters? Will they tell?”
Amanda shook her head. She and her sisters could argue, but when it mattered, they were there for one another. “They’ll help us. We might have to bribe Peyton, but she should have our backs.”
“I’ll grab the box. You go ask your sisters to cause a distraction.”
Not a problem for the Harrison girls. Amanda rallied the troops. She found Lily first because she was the only one not doing chores. She got Fiona up to speed while Amanda brought Georgie on board.
“I’ll have Mom come inspect my work in the kitchen. That should give you enough time to get them inside,” Georgie said.
“Perfect.”
Blake came in through the back door. “We have a problem.”
“What?”
“I brought the box out of the shed and they all hopped out,” he whispered. “And scattered in four different directions.”
Fiona and Lily came in the room. Amanda looked at Georgie.
“I got Mom. You guys get the you-know-whats,” Georgie said.
“You two, come help,” Amanda told her other sisters.
“What are you guys up to?” Peyton appeared and there was no way they could lie. They needed her to help.
“Peyton, I need you to think about how much you love us and not how much we annoy you right now.”
Her older sister narrowed her eyes. “What did you do?” She focused her glare on Blake. She knew there could be only one reason he was here and that it had to do with a helpless animal. She softened immediately.
“It’s a rescue mission. Are you in or are you out?” Lily asked.
Peyton took a deep breath and tightened her ponytail. “I can only imagine what I’m getting involved in. I’m in.”
Georgie went to distract Mom, and the rest of them went out to find the kittens and their mama.
The four girls and Blake went on a kitten hunt. Peyton found the first one under their mom’s rosebushes in the far corner of the backyard. “Oh, my gosh, it’s so cute!”
“Found one!” Fiona had snatched up the mama cat.
“Here’s one,” Lily said as she chased a kitten out from behind the air conditioner. Blake and Amanda both tried to corner it by the side of the house.
Amanda thought they had it, but it managed to run right through Blake’s legs.
“Blake!”
“I got her!” Lily and her broken wrist dived for the kitten and somehow caught it.
Amanda thought her heart stopped. If Lily hurt herself again, Dad would be so mad. Her ever-resilient sister jumped up like it was nothing.
“The last one is all yours, Amanda,” Lily called out.
“Come on, Harrison. We’ve got this,” Blake said. His belief in her meant everything.
Where could the last one be? Blake spotted it hiding under the table they had on the patio. Amanda didn’t want the kitten to be afraid. She tried coaxing him to come to her.
“Hey, little buddy. It’s okay. We’re here to help. We want you to be with your family. Don’t you want to be with your family? Your mom is missing you. Come on. I promise I’ll take care of you.”
Without hesitation, the kitten came scampering into her arms.
“You’re the kitten whisperer,” Blake said. “So cool.”
No one called Amanda cool. No one but Blake.
“Let’s get these guys inside before Dad gets home,” Peyton said.
The five of them sneaked back in the house with the four cats and the box. They would have to hide them in Amanda and Lily’s closet. Once they got them all settled, Georgie came in with a bowl and a cup of water.
“For the mom. She’s going to need to stay hydrated so she can keep up feeding the babies.”
“Hello!” their dad called out when he came in the house.
Amanda closed the closet doors and thanked her sisters for getting them this far. She tried to ignore the fear that was coursing through her veins. If her dad knew about the kittens, he would make them sleep outside.
Her dad appeared in the doorway. He was quite the imposing figure, dressed in his naval uniform. He crossed his arms against his broad chest. “What are you all doing in here?”
Georgie sat on the bed like there was nothing unusual to see here. “We’re hanging out.” She giggled awkwardly. She hated lying.
Dad didn’t care what the girls were doing in there. He was much more interested in Blake. “Mr. Collins, I thought we had an understanding. Amanda, you know boys aren’t allowed in the bedrooms.”
“We were practicing this thing we need to do for drama class. Peyton and Fiona were giving us some feedback,” Lily lied.
One of the kittens meowed and the girls froze.
“What was that?” their dad asked.
“Me,” Amanda said. “Meow. Meow.”
“We have to play cats in the skit we’re doing for class,” Lily added.
The cat meowed again, so Blake started meowing over it. Lily joined in, too. Georgie acted like she was a cat swatting at something invisible dangling in front of her.
“I think you need to meow a little deeper,” Peyton said, critiquing Blake. She showed him how to do it.
Dad looked suspicious but started to back out of the room. “Is this really what they’re teaching you in school?”
Everyone nodded.
“Okay, well, you can practice your little cat routine in the family room. No boys in the bedrooms. Ever.”
“Yes, sir,” they all said at the same time and followed him out.
Amanda and Blake slyly high-fived. They had done it. Thanks to the help of her sisters. She and Blake were an awesome team. Always would be, she hoped.
“I wish I was a Harrison,” Blake said. “You guys are awesome.”
Amanda’s heart swelled in her chest. As chaotic as it was sometimes, she was proud to be a Harrison. There wasn’t anything she’d rather be.