The Angel Tree Page 5

  “Please say yes,” Cami said, laying her hand on Lucy’s arm. “I know you want to.”

  She did, she really did. And so, despite all the reasons not to, Lucy agreed to meet up with Cami and Max after school the next day to begin coming up with a plan.

  Dinner was ready by the time Anya had walked Lucy home and Lucy was famished. The smell of vegetable curry made her mouth water as she pulled off her snowy boots and Valentine came to greet her. Lucy was used to spending the whole day with her dog, so she took a minute to hug her tight. She’d missed her today. Valentine panted happily and licked Lucy’s cheek.

  “I’m happy to see you too, girl,” Lucy told her.

  Valentine thumped her tail on the wood floor, clearly feeling the same way.

  Lucy heard her mom’s footsteps padding in. “How was your day?” she asked.

  “Good,” Lucy said, her voice slightly muffled by Valentine’s fur. She lifted up her head so that her mom could hear her. “How was yours?”

  “Busy,” her mom said, and Lucy could hear the tension in her voice. “But I did find the time to go by the drugstore. Mr. VonWolf already placed the order for Valentine’s next round of meds and he said it’s been covered by the Angel Tree, so that was helpful.”

  “Great,” Lucy said, another wave of gratitude for the Angel Tree flowing over her. “How’s Valentine?”

  “I took her to Dr. Lazarus today,” her mom said. “And she’s very pleased with Valentine’s progress. She should be able to take short trips by the weekend and ready for school on Monday.”

  “Great,” Lucy said, bending over to give Valentine another hug. “Are you getting better?” she cooed. Valentine answered with another kiss on the cheek, this one extra slobbery, which made Lucy laugh.

  “Your dad’s on the phone but I think he’ll be off soon and we can eat,” her mom said, heading back toward the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready.”

  At the sound of the word dinner, Valentine trotted for the kitchen, toenails clicking on the wood floor. “Okay, girl, it’s dinner time for you too,” Lucy said as she followed behind. She got out a can of food and attached it carefully to the can opener while Valentine whined eagerly. Lucy removed the lid with a fork the way her mom had taught her, then scraped the food into Valentine’s dish. She was rewarded with the snuffling sounds of Valentine inhaling her meal.

  Lucy slid on her fleece slippers and returned to the dining room.

  A minute later Lucy heard her dad’s steps, not his old-man shuffle but steps that were quick and light. She hoped this meant that his phone call was good, or at least not another bill collector or membership that had to be canceled.

  Once they were all around the table Lucy’s dad served her. “Curry’s at one o’clock, rice is at six,” he said. “And I put a bit of that mint chutney you like over at nine.”

  “Thanks,” Lucy said, picking up her fork. It was much easier to eat when she knew where everything was on her plate, which she treated as the face of a clock. A moment later she felt a wet nose on her ankle. Valentine always tried to sneak in when they were eating, hoping for some scraps from the table. Usually her parents shooed the dog out but tonight they didn’t notice she was there.

  “I just had a very interesting call from Kira Cutler,” her dad said.

  Lucy recognized the name of one of the local architects her dad sometimes worked with and she paused, fork in midair, to hear what Ms. Cutler wanted.

  “It turns out she’s part of a big building project that started out as a wish on the Angel Tree,” her dad went on. “She asked if I’d be willing to volunteer my time to help out. It’s going to be a community undertaking, with a whole group of folks pitching in.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Lucy’s mom said. “And it’s great they asked you to help out.”

  “It is,” her dad said, his fork scraping along his plate as he scooped up a bite of curry. “It’ll be good to have somewhere to go every day. And to be part of something meaningful.”

  “Absolutely,” her mom said.

  “Do you know what kind of building it is?” Lucy asked.

  “She didn’t say,” her dad said. “But I’m up for anything.”

  It was terrific to hear her dad sound so excited about something, and it reminded Lucy of her talk with Cami. “Dad,” she asked. “Did Ms. Cutler say anything about the person behind the Angel Tree?”

  “I asked who was organizing the building project, actually,” her dad said. “Because it’s an awfully big thing to pull together. But even Kira has no idea who’s behind it. Everything is communicated through a general email and no one has any idea who’s pulling the strings. It’s very Bond-worthy actually.” Her dad loved James Bond, so this was a true compliment. Though unfortunately it did not help Lucy at all.

  Still, it was something to tell the others when they met the next day, and even though she was feeling worried that her presence wouldn’t help, she had to admit she was looking forward to the meeting.

  The halls were crowded as Cami made her way to her locker after school on Wednesday. She’d taken the long way to avoid passing the orchestra room, which still made her throat tighten every time she walked by. Her arms felt oddly empty without her violin case, and keeping distance from her music friends to duck their questions about her missing rehearsals was getting harder and harder. All of which had made Cami decide that she needed a second project.

  Joe was stuffing books in his backpack when Cami finally made it, his cheeks a healthy pink, the corners of his mouth turned up just slightly. On Monday when he had first gotten whatever news that made him so happy, Cami had heard him whisper the words Angel Tree. Which totally made sense. What else would bring such happiness to someone as sad as Joe?

  And that was why Cami had come to the decision to make Joe her other project. Reaching out to an isolated student was just the sort of thing Willa would do and it would make a very nice story at dinner for her grandmother. And right now she needed as many nice stories as she could get, because so far her attempts to help had fallen short or gone totally unnoticed. So even though Max was going to fight her on it, Cami’s new mission was to convince him to let Joe join them in her bigger quest, the one to find the person behind the Angel Tree. And the time to do that was now.

  Cami gave Joe a big smile, grabbed her stuff out of her locker, and hurried to meet Lucy and Max before Joe left the building. Cami had noticed he often lingered after the last bell, so she figured she had about ten minutes to talk Max into her plan.

  “Hi, Cami,” Lucy said when Cami was still more than ten feet away.

  “Hi,” Cami said as she came closer. “How did you know it was me?”

  Lucy’s face, which was a frown of concentration as she put her books into her bag, slipped into a brief grin. “Your bubble-gum lip gloss,” she said.

  Cami was impressed. “Really? You can smell it that far away?”

  Lucy nodded, twining a beautiful maroon scarf around her neck. “Blind people’s other senses get really good, to compensate for not being able to see, I guess.”

  “That seems like a good thing,” Cami said.

  Lucy wrinkled her nose. “Not in the cafeteria,” she said, and Cami laughed, thinking of yesterday’s meat-loaf special that was anything but special.

  “Hello, ladies,” called Ms. Marwich. She was walking down the hall, looking calm despite the chaos of running and yelling kids all around her.

  “Hi,” Cami said, smiling like she always did when she saw the friendly librarian. Her hair was falling out of its bun and her comfortable old sweater had a few bits of cat hair clinging to it. Ms. Marwich kept a picture of her cat, Tango, on her desk and sometimes entertained students with stories of his adventures chasing mice in the backyard.

  “What does Ms. Marwich smell like?” Cami asked Lucy after she’d passed.

  “She wears a rose lotion,” Lucy said, but then her brow creased slightly. “And she smelled like something else today too. Lavender, I think.”
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br />   Max was walking toward them, his backpack half open and a hat falling out of his coat pocket. “Let’s go talk at Cinnamon’s,” he said. “I’m dying for one of their doughnuts.”

  “Sounds good,” Cami said, and took a deep breath. “And I had an idea. I think we should ask Joe to come too. I want him to help us find out who’s behind the Angel Tree.”

  At that, Max’s whole body went stiff. “What?” he asked.

  “I just — Max, he looks so lonely all the time,” Cami pleaded. “And the other day I think he got a wish granted because it was the first time all year I saw him smile and he said the words Angel Tree so I think he’d —”

  “No way,” Max said firmly.

  “Sometimes people have a story,” Cami said, thinking of her violin and how her music friends probably thought she was being a jerk when in fact she’d do almost anything to be back practicing with them.

  “That’s a good point,” Lucy said thoughtfully.

  They both turned to her.

  “I mean, we all have reasons why we do things,” Lucy went on. “And they’re not always obvious.”

  “He didn’t have a good reason for punching me,” Max said, though Cami could tell he found it harder to argue with Lucy than he did with her.

  “Lucy’s right,” Cami said, jumping on that. “Let’s give him a chance.”

  “It would be the Christmassy thing to do,” Lucy added.

  “He’ll say no,” Max said. “He’s not going to want to do anything with me.”

  “So then we just ask,” Cami said, feeling that victory was close. “And if he says no, that’s the end of it.”

  Max shrugged. “Whatever,” he said, but his easy smile was gone.

  “Thanks,” Cami said gratefully. Then she headed down the hall. “I’m going to see if I can catch him at his locker. I’ll meet you guys at the front door in five minutes!”

  “I love how it smells in here,” Cami said to Lucy and Max as she pushed open the door of Cinnamon Bakery, the warm air swirling around them, thick with chocolate, butter, and, of course, cinnamon.

  Max just shrugged, his face sullen. Joe had agreed to meet them after he finished a project in the computer room and Max did not seem happy about it.

  “Yeah, it’s pretty heavenly,” Lucy agreed as Cami led her over to a table by the window.

  Max followed, his steps exaggeratedly heavy, like he was walking to an execution. Cami tried not to roll her eyes. She got that Max didn’t like Joe but it was time to put their fight in the past and move on. They had bigger things to worry about now.

  The wooden tables and chairs of Cinnamon Bakery were painted a cherry red that stood out against the snowy white walls. Black-and-white photos of the original Cinnamon, a fat dachshund, dotted the walls. She was the childhood pet of Syda and Clementine Wilson, the sisters who owned the bakery. Like all the other stores in town, Cinnamon’s was decked out for Christmas. A Christmas tree stood in the corner decorated with ornaments in the shape of baked goods, its lights blinking on and off. Matching lights were strung around the ceiling and small ceramic angels sat on the windowsill and next to the cash register on the counter.

  “Hey, guys, what can I get for you today? Cinnamon doughnuts?” Syda asked as she walked over to their table, her long hair held back with rhinestone clips. The sisters did everything from baking to mopping up at night and knew pretty much everyone in town by name and favorite baked good.

  “Perfect,” Cami said. “We’ll take a dozen.” She glanced out the big glass windows. Through the steam from the ovens in back she could see Joe coming down the sidewalk, hands jammed into his pockets, his head down.

  “Joe’s coming,” she announced as he pulled open the door. Lucy smiled but Max’s mouth pulled tight, as though he had just eaten a bad piece of sausage.

  “Hey,” Joe said, sliding into the seat across from Lucy. He hunched down a bit, clearly trying to warm up from the chilly walk. Cami didn’t understand why Joe didn’t have better winter clothes but she certainly wasn’t going to ask. It did not take a genius to guess how that conversation would go.

  “We ordered doughnuts,” Cami said.

  “And here they are,” Syda said, coming up and setting a heaping platter of fluffy cinnamon-and-sugar-coated twists on the table. She looked closely at Joe. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Syda, one of the owners of this crazy place.” She stuck out her hand and, after hesitating for a moment, Joe reached out and shook it.

  “Joe,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Are you visiting?” Syda asked, setting a small plate in front of each of them.

  Joe shook his head, frowning slightly. “No,” he said.

  They all waited but he didn’t offer more.

  Feeling awkward, Cami jumped in. “Joe moved here at the beginning of the school year,” she said. She was about to say where he’d come from but then realized she had no idea.

  “Well, welcome, Joe,” Syda said gently. “I hope to see you again soon.”

  “Um, thanks,” Joe said as she walked away.

  “Let’s get started,” Cami said as everyone dug into the doughnuts. They looked scrumptious but she didn’t want to risk having her mouth full if the guys started fighting, so she waited to take one. “How are we going to find the Great Benefactor?”

  Max’s eyebrows scrunched up. “The what?”

  “Well, Head Honcho Angel isn’t right. And Santa’s Angel just sounds dumb. So: the Great Benefactor,” Cami repeated. “I think that’s what we should call the person behind the Angel Tree.”

  Max was nodding. “A code name,” he said. “I like that. But it should just be the initials. GB.”

  Cami couldn’t help grinning. She’d come up with the name for Max, knowing his obsession with anything spy related. And sure enough he was looking more cheerful as he reached for his third doughnut.

  “So what’s our plan to find the — GB?” Cami asked.

  “I had an idea,” Max said. “In the movies they sometimes make a profile of the person they’re searching for, like a list of traits that serial killers have or whatever. It helps narrow down the search.”

  “So we should make a list of traits that serial givers have?” Cami asked, laughing.

  “Something like that,” Max said. Cami could tell he was getting excited about the plan when he didn’t even pause to acknowledge her joke. She began to relax just the littlest bit. “Like one obvious trait is that GB probably has money. I mean, you’d have to be rich to be able to get the tree and take care of all the leftover wishes.”

  Things were going well, so Cami risked picking up her doughnut and biting through the crisp outer layer to the fluffy insides, the sugar and cinnamon melting on her tongue.

  Lucy was nodding as she wiped some sugar off her chin. “That’s smart,” she said. “Also, GB is probably really into Pine River. What’s the town equivalent of school spirit?”

  “Town spirit,” Cami said, smiling.

  Max laughed. “Totally. And I was thinking that GB might not have a full-time job or young kids. Because organizing the Angel Tree and all the wishes would take tons of time.”

  “That’s a good point,” Cami said.

  “Not necessarily.” Joe spoke up for the first time. “It might just be someone who’s incredibly dedicated to something they believe in and who finds the time to make it happen.”

  “In a profile you’re just going for the most likely scenario,” Max said irritably. “And GB not working is the more likely situation.”

  Joe looked like he was about to argue, so Cami dropped her doughnut back on her plate and spoke up quickly. “Okay, this is a great profile,” she said. “Who do we think fits it?”

  “I have some ideas about that too,” Max said, glaring at Joe.

  “Who?” Lucy asked.

  “I think our first suspect is —” Max beat a drumroll on the table. “Mr. Pink!” Max looked around the table proudly. “It’s obvious, really. He has money and a lot
of workers in his store —”

  “The Handyman Hardware Store, on Main Street,” Cami broke in, realizing Joe probably didn’t know who Mr. Pink was. “And by the way, you can’t call possible GBs suspects. They didn’t commit a crime.”

  “— so Mr. Pink would have the time,” Max continued, ignoring Cami’s remark. “He definitely has town spirit. And he’s generous, always giving people discounts when they don’t have enough money to buy the things they need.”

  “That’s true,” Cami said. “Mr. Pink is worth checking out.” She thought back to the time Mr. Pink had announced a one-day sale on screwdrivers when her grandmother had been short a dollar on the one they needed. Then someone else occurred to her, someone just as generous as Mr. Pink. “I have another name to add. I think we should check out the VonWolfs.” Cami looked around eagerly to see how the others reacted to her idea. “They fit the profile: They’re always helping at town festivals, and they live in a huge mansion.”

  “They own the drugstore, right?” Joe asked.

  “Yeah, but they’re mostly retired,” Cami said. “So they have time.”

  Max was nodding. “Good call. We’ll definitely check them out.”

  Cami’s cheeks felt warm with pleasure at the compliment as she reached for another doughnut.

  “I think we should add Alma Sanchez,” Lucy said. “Her husband left her a lot of money when he died. Plus she organizes a lot of events around town like the Christmas Gala.”

  “She should definitely be on the list,” Max agreed.

  Lucy was feeling her watch, which had really cool Braille dots and hands that Lucy could touch. “You guys, I have to go in a minute,” she said. “We’re actually going to get our Christmas tree today.”

  “Sounds fun,” Cami said happily. The meeting had been a huge success and she was certain they’d find GB in no time. She waved at Syda and asked for the check, then pulled out her phone so she could keep track of their list. “Okay, we have Mr. Pink, the VonWolfs, Alma Sanchez. Anyone else?” she asked as she typed in their names.

  “At first I was thinking of Dr. Lazarus,” Lucy said. “But she doesn’t totally fit the profile. She’s super busy, and I don’t think she actually lives in Pine River.”