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Back A Penny for Your Thoughts
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. A PENNY
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. Twenty-Three
  28. Twenty-Four
  29. Twenty-Five
  30. Twenty-Six
  31. Twenty-Seven
  32. Twenty-Eight
  33. Twenty-Nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-One
  36. Thirty-Two
  37. Thirty-Three
  38. Thirty-Four
  39. Thirty-Five
  40. Thirty-Six
  41. Thirty-Seven
  42. Thirty-Eight
  43. Thirty-Nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-One
  46. Forty-Two
  47. Forty-Three
  48. Forty-Four
  49. Forty-Five
  50. Forty-Six
  51. Forty-Seven
  52. Forty-Eight
  53. Forty-Nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-One
  56. Fifty-Two
  57. Fifty-Three
  58. Fifty-Four
  59. A Sample Chapter of Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels
  60. About the Author
  61. Other Books by Mindy Starns Clark
  62. About the Publisher

This was more of Judith’s handiwork, I felt sure, another act of vandalism against Sidra. I told him to go ahead and take the test, I read, noticing the numeral 2 scribbled in the upper right hand corner. I think he probably made about a C, but I have a feeling I aced it. Say a prayer that I did!

I skimmed the entire page. The letter wasn’t full of romantic platitudes by any means, but at the end, it was signed, Counting the days, hours, weeks, minutes until I see you again, I remain faithfully and forever yours, Derek. A love letter.

I exhaled slowly, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I would have to confess to Sidra that I had taken these letters and that they had then been stolen from me and ultimately dumped out here. As a sort of penance, I put down my stuff, removed the net from its hook beside the cabana, and dipped it in the pool until I had scooped every last letter out. Then I gathered up the entire soggy pile and knocked on Sidra’s door. It was 7:20 A.M.

To my surprise, Derek answered. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans with no shoes, and his hair was wet. He smelled pleasantly of soap and shampoo.

“Derek?” I said, unable to hide my surprise.

“Hey, Callie,” he replied. “You looking for Sidra?”

“Who is it?” I heard in a soft voice, and then Sidra appeared next to Derek, her hair wrapped in a towel, wearing a peach-colored terry cloth robe. I felt my face flush in spite of the fact that they were married, in spite of the fact that this was a wonderful new development to their previously estranged relationship.

“We need to talk,” I said to them both. “I just found these in the pool.”

They both looked confused when they saw the dripping mess I clutched in my hands so I explained further.

“Letters,” I said. “Old love letters. From you to you. It’s a long story.”

Sidra gasped, but Derek put a calming hand on her arm.

“Don’t let it get to you,” he said to her. “We know who’s doing it now. The whole ball game has changed.”

Sidra pulled the towel off of her head and held it out for me so I could drop the glob of letters onto it. I then grabbed my own things and came inside.

“We need to keep our voices down a bit,” said Sidra as she motioned me toward a chair. “Carlos is still asleep. He doesn’t get up for school until 7:30.”

“I was just getting ready to head back over to the house,” Derek said. “We don’t want to…confuse him.”