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    Who'll Pick Me?: Adventures at Bell Buckle Inn, #1
    Who'll Pick Me?: Adventures at Bell Buckle Inn, #1
    Who'll Pick Me?: Adventures at Bell Buckle Inn, #1
    Ebook122 pages1 hour

    Who'll Pick Me?: Adventures at Bell Buckle Inn, #1

    By Janice Alonso

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    About this ebook

    Peri is afraid no one will pick her as a friend in her new town of Bell Buckle, where she and her father move into a dilapidated house they are turning into an inn. To make matters worse, she's always losing or forgetting things. By caring for a litter of puppies, Peri hopes to earn back her father's trust; unfortunately all she gains is trouble when things she is responsible for start to disappear.

    With the help of Lynn Ann, the girl who lives across the street, and Squirt, an eight-week Labrador, Peri conducts her own investigation to track down the stolen items. Could there be a burglar among the residents of Bell Buckle? More important, why is he stealing her things? During her probing into the mystery, Peri finds more than just the stolen items. She discovers the love of the people in Bell Buckle, and she finds a renewed faith in God's ability to answer seemingly impossible prayers.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJanice Alonso
    Release dateSep 3, 2012
    ISBN9781476237374
    Who'll Pick Me?: Adventures at Bell Buckle Inn, #1
    Author

    Janice Alonso

    Janice Alonso's work appears regularly in Christian, mystery, and children's publications.

    Read more from Janice Alonso

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      Book preview

      Who'll Pick Me? - Janice Alonso

      Good-bye

      Peri Hardy wandered through her bedroom. The soles of her pink flip-flops slapped softly against her heels, the sound bouncing through the emptiness. Today was moving day. Peri’s eyes moved from corner to corner. The scene seemed to play out in slow motion, like the pan of a movie camera at the climax of a story. Her mama had painted the walls a soft blue and sewn the white, fluffy curtains. Each tiny thread had been stitched with care and love for the arrival of their baby girl. She’d heard the story a hundred times, no a thousand times. Her eyes brimmed. She would never hear her mama tell the story again. Her mama was gone. Peri’s vision blurred. If God could answer one prayer, it would be to have her mama with her everyday just like before. She wrapped her arms around her chest, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply. If she tried really hard, she could still smell her mama’s scent that seemed to reach out and embrace her from all sides.

      Peri entered the bathroom, the one next to her bedroom. Her mama had decorated it with periwinkle-patterned wallpaper. She ran her hand along a seam that was pulling apart, her finger coming to rest on a torn piece that she’d loosened when she was a toddler. Peri wiped away a tear with the back of her other hand. She hooked a long strand of blonde hair behind her ear and gazed at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. The white areas around her dark brown eyes were red, red from crying herself to sleep knowing this was to be her last time in this room. When she joined her daddy downstairs, she didn’t want him to know how hard she’d been crying. He was sad too, after all, that they had to leave their home, the only house Peri had known in her nine years.

      You ready, Peri? Joseph Hardy called from the bottom of the stairs.

      Everyone called her Peri, but her real name was Periwinkle: Periwinkle Claire Hardy. Periwinkles had been her mama’s favorite flower and that’s how she’d gotten her name. Only her mama had called her Winkie. That had been her special name for their only child.

      Peri cleared her throat, walked out to the banister on the landing, and leaned over. She forced a smile and said, Just a minute, Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom.

      We need to get a move on, urged Mr. Hardy. He tapped the face of his watch with his finger and then adjusted his glasses where they had slid to the tip of his nose. A thin smiled tugged downward on his trembling lips. It’s getting late. He turned to leave but then stopped mid-step. He looked back over his shoulder and upward to Peri. Don’t forget to turn off all the lights in your bedroom.

      She nodded and then returned to the bathroom, turning the handle of the faucet to on. A spindly stream flowed into the basin, little droplets splattering onto her T-shirt as she leaned over the sink. Cupping her hands, she scooped up some water and splashed her face. Then she looked in the mirror again. If her daddy questioned the red in her eyes, she’d just tell him it was the cold water. It would only be a part-lie, and she felt God would forgive her for not telling the whole truth. She didn’t want to make her daddy sadder than he already was by knowing how unhappy she was about the move.

      Ever since they’d gotten the contract on their house, Peri’s heart hung heavy in her chest. Leaving her familiar room was one reason, and leaving her friends was another. But the worst reason would be leaving a house filled with the memories of her mama. What if she forgot? What if her mind couldn’t recall their special garden, their special cup of cocoa by the fireplace, their special . . . God, please don’t let me forget, ever, she prayed.

      Peri braced herself in the doorway that led to the hall. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the wood casing. Twisting her body around, she looked one last time. She shut her eyes, squeezing them tightly and praying that God would etch this picture of her bedroom, like a photograph, in her mind forever.

      As she trudged down the stairs, Peri could hear the rumble of the car engine. She eased the front door closed behind her, the familiar squeaking of the hinge calling to her one last time. As she slid into the car, her daddy looked at her.

      All set? he asked.

      She nodded.

      Did you remember to turn off the lights?

      Peri thunked her forehead with the heel of her hand. I forgot!

      Mr. Hardy sighed. Peri, you’ve got to keep your mind on what you’ve been told.

      I’m sorry.

      I know you are, but this has gone on too long. Her daddy placed a hand on her knee. And I know you’re not forgetting things on purpose. Still, he paused as a weak smile formed. You simply have to get your mind back on track.

      I will, promised Peri.

      * * * * *

      Want to pull over at the next exit and grab a bite to eat before we get to Aunt Susan’s? asked Mr. Hardy.

      Sure, said Peri.

      Because they’d left Knoxville late, they had a ways to travel before they reached Bell Buckle, a town at the foot of the Smoky Mountains in northeast Georgia. That’s where her Aunt Susan lived. Susan Hardy was her daddy’s only living relative and she’d never married. She had worked for a large corporation, but last year it went out of business, leaving her aunt without a job. Peri wasn’t sure what her Aunt Susan did at the company, but she thought it had something to do with computers. When she lost the job, her aunt had sold everything she owned in Atlanta and bought an old Victorian house in desperate need of repair two blocks off the town square in the heart of the small town.

      Time for a change, she’d told her brother Joseph the night she bought the ramshackle place. I’ve always had a dream of owning a bed and breakfast when I retired. Guess I just get to start my dream early!

      One thing about Aunt Susan, she always looked on the bright side.

      Aunt Susan wasn’t like Peri’s mama, Anne. Not that her Aunt Susan wasn’t nice, she was just more of a businesswoman, more practical. She’d owned a condo in Atlanta and traveled most of the time. She’d been all around the world. Anne had been a stay-at-home mom, taking care of Peri and her daddy, who was a handyman in Knoxville. Her mom had thought nothing of going on a picnic on a rainy afternoon or forgetting the housework to spend a day working in her flower garden.

      Anne had also been an artist. She sold most of her paintings to make extra money for the family, but she said she’d never sell the one of the field of periwinkles that hung over the fireplace in their house, their old house. That one was Peri’s picture. The thought of the painting made Peri want to cry all over again.

      The painting had been the first thing to go when they’d had their garage sale. When they moved in with Aunt Susan, there wouldn’t be enough room for all their things. The old Victorian house she bought to start a bed and breakfast had been filled with furniture. Peri and her daddy didn’t even know who’d bought the painting. That morning a man had showed up about thirty minutes before the sale was to start. When he asked Mr. Hardy how much he wanted for the picture, her daddy had said it wasn’t for sale.

      The man kept raising his offer until it was so high her daddy couldn’t possibly say no. After all, they needed all the money they could get. While her daddy was helping Aunt Susan fix up the bed and breakfast so people would want to stay there, they would have to make do with the money they made from the garage sale and the sale of their house.

      The man had given them cash, took the painting off the wall, and then left. As she watched him load the painting into the trunk of his car, Peri knew she’d never see the periwinkle picture again.

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