Chapters (62)
- Cover
- A PENNY
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- A Sample Chapter of Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels
- About the Author
- Other Books by Mindy Starns Clark
- About the Publisher
He had just turned to leave when I heard a distinct crack beneath me. In time that felt like slow motion yet was only a split second, the shelf under my feet split in two, causing me to lose my footing and tumble forward, through the clothes, onto the floor. Nick yelled, backing away as I landed at his feet on the ground. My heart pounding, I looked up at him in fear.
“Callie!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing? Are you okay?”
He leaned over to help me. I let him lift me to my feet, and then I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
“You scared me to death!” he said. “Are you alright?”
“You scared me!” I said, my mind already racing for an explanation. “You know I’ve been borrowing Judith’s clothes, so I came in here to find something to wear, and then I heard someone in the hall. I guess I just panicked. I hid.”
To cover my burning face, I bent down and examined the shelf that I had broken. It wasn’t a real shelf, I realized as I looked at it, but just a plastic box, filled with heavy sweaters. The lid was pushed in where I had been standing and I pressed it back out with a snap.
“I am sorry I frightened you,” Nick said. “Marion wanted me to come back and check on you because you never showed up. She was worried.”
I looked at my watch, startled to see that over an hour had passed since they left the house.
“I…I fell asleep!” I said stupidly. “I thought I’d rest my eyes for just a minute, and I ended up falling sound asleep. Then when I woke up, I came looking in Judith’s closet for something to wear. You know, because I don’t have many clothes here.”
I made myself stop talking, knowing that whenever I lied I always ended up babbling. You know a person’s lying, Eli always told me, when they give you too much information.
Nick studied me for a moment, an odd look on his face.
“Well,” he said finally, “that explains it.”
“Yeah.”
“Sorry I frightened you.”
“Sorry I frightened you.”
He waited as I hastily gathered an outfit suitable for the wake. Then we walked together back through Judith’s bedroom and living room and into the hall. When we reached the top of the stairs, Nick paused.
“I will just wait for you down here, in the foyer,” he said. “You can ride with me.”
“Sure,” I said, heading for my room.