Diamonds Are Forever - Brooke St. James Page 0,12

idea of giving the ring to someone else—finding a way to do something good with it. But I was already attached to the other idea… the one of me hiring an illustrator. I had thought of that before my mom mentioned it.

My parents weren't jewelers, but they had thrown around the word "thousands" several times when they were looking at that ring. I felt excited at the possibility of approaching an illustrator with a budget. My parents didn't charge me rent, but I had other bills, and I worked to buy food and gas and pay my way in the world. I had a little saved, but it would have taken me a long time to save thousands.

I thought maybe this was my big ticket. I thought that maybe if I had Garden City illustrated the way I liked, it would be easier to pitch to a publisher.

I was excited about keeping the money from the ring, and I really hoped it would work out where I could.

Chapter 5

Two months later

King's Hardware

Bank Street

"Lucy King, come over here, girl!" Samantha whisper-yelled to me as soon as I walked in the door of the hardware store. "Come here and let me talk to you before you even go put your purse in the breakroom." She was glancing around shiftily as if we were on some sort of secret mission. I couldn't imagine what it was so important. I had seen her only thirty minutes ago, before I left on my lunch break.

"What is it?"

"Somebody came in for you!" she said.

"Who?"

"A guy. A fine, fine, fiiiiine guy. I'm talkin' fine." She was still whispering urgently. "And your dad's not gonna tell you about it. I bet he's not because he looked all wigged-out."

"Wigged out? About what?"

"The message."

"What message?"

"Back up, back up, back up, and I'll tell you." It was a little busy in the store, and Samantha pulled me down an aisle so we could be alone. "He came in just after you left. He was asking for you. He talked to Belinda, but you know how she is. The first thing she did was run and tell your dad." Samantha was so intense, that I could hardly keep up.

"Who was it?"

"He said his name was Captain Drew. A Captain. Can you believe it? Already a Captain at such a young age. Anyway, so he was asking if you were here, and Belinda said you had gone to lunch, and he told her to give you a message. He said to meet him at seven o'clock tonight at the normal place, and to dress nice!"

Samantha was so overcome with excitement about the whole thing that she spoke slowly and her voice became about three octaves deeper with dramatic emotion. It was like she breathed the words out of her chest. Her eyes were still huge and she wore a serious expression.

"And you better believe that Belinda went straight to your dad and told him everything."

"What'd my dad say?"

She shook her head. "He asked if the guy mentioned his last name, and Belinda said he hadn't, and then he thanked her and told her not to tell anyone what happened. But I saw his face after that, and he did not look happy."

"Did you hear the guy say this stuff with your own ears, or did you just hear Belinda repeat it to my dad?"

"No, I heard both. I heard the guy say it, and then I went and listened to Belinda telling your dad. I could see him when he walked in. He's seriously so fine, Lucy. Who is he? How do you know him? What's your secret spot? What's he talking about?"

"I have no idea," I said, shaking my head and acting confused.

She had asked me about ten questions at once, so I got away with being vague. Samantha could not keep a secret, obviously, so I wasn't going to tell her anything. I was thankful, however, that she had told me he came in.

"Thank you," I said. "Thanks for telling me that. I'll have to think about it. Did you say he said his name was Drew?"

"Yes. Captain Drew. Can you believe that? I thought he must be in the military, like your dad. Captain sounds high-up. How do you know him? I bet your dad knows him."

"No, no, I'm going to have to think about it," I said vaguely. I made a face like I was really considering it, even though there was no puzzle to solve.

I only knew one