Read Best Friends for Free Online Page A

Edwards made for Mrs. Willet last fall. She calls the bear Sweetie, which is the name of the Willets’ cat, and even though she doesn’t know where it came from, she likes it very much, as Robby knew she would. Mrs. Willet herself is not in the room right now. She’s down the hall in the Activities Center, making a collage under the direction of Dee, whom Mrs. Willet also likes very much. Her days at Three Oaks are busy. She is especially happy whenever that man who might be her husband arrives for a visit.
    Now leave Three Oaks and drive east toward town but turn left onto Aiken Avenue before you reach Main Street. Park your car and study the Row Houses for a moment. There’s no other structure like this in Camden Falls. The Row Houses were built in 1882, which was more than fifty years before Min was born, and they consist of eight nearly identical adjoining homes, a solid granite structure almost a block long. The first people to live in these homes were wealthy, and the small rooms on the third floor of each house were occupied by maids. Butlers answered the door, and gardeners tended the yards. Today the houses are still occupied by eight families, but these people tend their own gardens and answer their own doors. The third-floor rooms have become offices and playrooms and nurseries.
    Take a peek in the windows to see who lives here now. The house on the left end belongs to the Morrises. They have four children. The oldest are twins, and Lacey is one of Ruby Northrop’s good friends. Then there’s Travis, who’s six, and Alyssa, who’s the youngest kid in the Row Houses … at least until the Fongs, who live at the other end of the row, have their baby. On this weekday, all the Morris children are in school, Mr. Morris is at work, and Mrs. Morris is answering her e-mail.
    Next door to the Morrises lives Mr. Willet. He’s been alone since Mary Lou moved to Three Oaks. At first he felt relief when his wife was safely settled into her new home. For more than a year she had been unable to dress herself or take care of herself, and Mr. Willet had been having more and more trouble doing these things for her. Now he misses his wife of fifty years desperately, and his days seem very long and lonely. He’s getting ready to visit Mary Lou, which he does nearly every day.
    Dr. Malone and his daughters live in the house to the right of Mr. Willet. There’s not much to see through their windows just now because Dr. Malone is at his dental office on Main Street, and Margaret and Lydia are at Camden Falls Central High School. Margaret is a junior this year, thinking about going to Mount Holyoke College or maybe Smith College, and she’s working hard, especially in her language classes. At the moment, Lydia is supposed to be in her algebra class, but she has allowed herself to be talked into leaving campus (which is forbidden unless you’re a senior) and is now walking across the street with her friends to where Bud the hot dog vendor has brought his cart. She can think up an excuse for her math teacher later.
    Min, Ruby, Flora, and (for the time being) Aunt Allie live in the house to the north of the Malones. On this morning the only one at home is Aunt Allie. She had intended to spend the hours before lunch revising her latest short story but has abandoned her computer and is on the phone with a real estate agent. Min is working at Needle and Thread with Gigi, and Flora and Ruby are at Camden Falls Elementary. Neither Flora nor Ruby is concentrating on her schoolwork just now. Flora’s mind is on her research project, the one she’s working on for the town birthday celebration, and Ruby is lost in the world of witches and Alice Kendall. Despite the tears she was able to shed at the rehearsal, she’s wondering if her performance was really as good as she thinks it was. Is she truly a good actor, or is she just good for a nine-year-old?
    Next door to Min’s house is