Amy Meets Her Stepsister Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Big, Exciting News!

  Chapter 2: A Lunchtime Mystery

  Chapter 3: Dinner with Dad

  Chapter 4: Chloe

  Chapter 5: A Messy Beginning

  Chapter 6: Fashion Disaster!

  Chapter 7: Amy to the Rescue

  Chapter 8: A New Friend?

  Chapter 9: Heart-to-Heart

  Chapter 10: More Big, Exciting News

  ‘Ellie’s Lovely Idea’ Excerpt

  About Callie Barkley

  Big, Exciting News!

  Amy Purvis’s mom grabbed a potholder. She lifted the pot lid. Amy took a sniff.

  “Mmmm,” Amy said. “That smells so good!”

  Inside the pot was a big batch of their famous chicken noodle soup. They had made it together. “The perfect dinner for a cool night,” Amy’s mom said with a smile.

  Amy giggled. “Mom, this batch will last us all year!” It was a lot of soup for just the two of them.

  Amy set the table. She put out two napkins and two soup spoons. Meanwhile, Amy’s mom ladled soup into bowls.

  Just as they sat down to eat, the phone rang.

  “Start without me!” said Amy’s mom, popping up to answer it.

  Amy slurped up some broth and noodles. Right away, she felt warm all over.

  “Oh, hi, Eliot!” she heard her mom say into the phone.

  Amy’s face lit up. Eliot was her father. He lived in Orange Blossom, a big town near Santa Vista. Even though her parents were divorced, Amy got to see her dad a lot.

  “Uh-huh,” her mom was saying into the phone. “I bet she would love that!” She looked over at Amy and smiled. “Why don’t you ask her?” Her mom held out the phone to Amy. “Your dad has a question for you,” she said.

  Amy jumped up and took the phone.

  “Hi, Dad!” she said excitedly. “What’s up?”

  “Hey, kiddo,” came her dad’s voice through the phone. “How would you like to spend this weekend at my house?”

  “Really?” said Amy. She loved her weekends with her dad. “But I thought that was next weekend.”

  “I know,” her dad said. “But I’ve got some really big and exciting news to tell you.”

  News? “What is it?” Amy asked.

  “You know what? I want to tell you in person,” her dad said. “Oh! And Julia is going to come visit on Saturday too.”

  Julia was Amy’s dad’s girlfriend. He had met her about a year ago. Amy really liked Julia. She still kind of wished her mom and dad were married. But since they didn’t want that, Amy was happy her dad had met someone as nice as Julia.

  “So I’ll pick you up tomorrow. Okay?” her dad said.

  “Okay! Bye!” said Amy, and she hung up the phone. She was so glad she wouldn’t have to wait too long for the weekend. Tomorrow was Friday!

  Then it hit her. Friday. It was sleepover night with her three best friends: Marion, Ellie, and Liz. They had one almost every week.

  With a pang of disappointment, Amy flopped down into her chair. “Oh, no. This means I can’t go to the sleepover at Marion’s.”

  Amy’s mom patted her on the back. “You’ll have fun with your dad, sweetie. And when we host next week’s sleepover, we can make it extra special.”

  Amy nodded. And besides, she thought, we have lots of sleepovers. But how often does Dad have big, exciting news?

  Now she was really curious. What was the big news?

  A Lunchtime Mystery

  Amy couldn’t wait for school the next day. She wanted to tell her friends about her weekend with her dad—and the mystery news! Lunchtime was their first chance to talk.

  “Maybe your dad is going to run for president!” Ellie said excitedly. Her brown eyes twinkled. “Or he is going to Hollywood to be in movies! Or he found out you’re related to the Queen of England!”

  Amy giggled. Ellie just loved the idea of being famous!

  Marion slurped the last of her chocolate milk. “Maybe he will take you on a shopping spree!” she suggested.

  Then Liz spoke up. “Maybe your dad wants to write about The Critter Club in his newspaper!”

  Hmmm . . . , thought Amy. That was a possibility. Amy’s dad was the editor of a newspaper called The Coastal County Courier. He knew all about The Critter Club. It was the animal shelter that the girls ran in their friend Ms. Sullivan’s barn.

  “That could be it,” said Amy. “My dad did say one time that it would make a good story—how the club got started.”

  And it actually was a good story. Before the four girls really knew Ms. Marge Sullivan, they had helped her find her missing puppy, Rufus. Then Ms. Sullivan had a great idea. She decided Santa Vista needed an animal shelter to help lost and stray animals. Ms. Sullivan had an empty barn, and the girls had a love of animals, and that’s how it all began!

  It helped that Amy’s mom was a veterinarian. Dr. Purvis taught the girls how to take care of the different animals that had been at The Critter Club so far: bunnies, kittens, dogs—even a turtle and a tarantula!

  “Well, I am sorry I won’t be around this weekend,” Amy said. “I wanted to help out with the eggs.”

  They were incubating a dozen chicken eggs at The Critter Club. A local farmer had dropped them off a week before. His family had to move. They had sold or given away most of their farm animals. Then, before their move, their best hen had laid a clutch of eggs. But she didn’t want to sit on them. Amy’s mom said sometimes hens did that.

  Luckily, the farmer knew about The Critter Club. He had brought the eggs and the incubator. The girls were so excited to help them hatch. Then they would find the chicks new homes!

  “Don’t worry,” said Liz. “We can handle the eggs. They’re not due to hatch for another week.”

  “But we will miss you at the sleepover tonight!” Marion said. She put an arm around Amy’s shoulders.

  “Oooh! And call one of us when you get the good news!” Ellie begged. “I can’t wait to hear it!”

  Dinner with Dad

  The drive from Amy’s house to her dad’s only took about twenty minutes. But in that time, Amy had asked him the same question ten times.

  “Now can you tell me the big, exciting news?” she asked again. They were pulling into his driveway.

  Her dad shook his head for the eleventh time. “Nope! You’ll have to wait until dinner!” he said. “First let’s get you settled in. Then we’re going out.”

  We’re going out to dinner? Amy thought. This is a big deal.

  Amy walked into her dad’s house, thinking once again how cool it was. The walls were painted bright colors. The furniture was simple and square. Her dad said the style was called “modern.” His house was so different from her mom’s house, which was very cozy but not as colorful.

  The art on her dad’s walls was also really bright. I’ve got to bring Liz here sometime, Amy thought. Liz was an amazing artist. Maybe she can tell me what these are.

  Amy loved that she had her very own room at her dad’s house. She plopped her heavy backpack down on her bed. Then she unpacked. She had a huge pile of books. She had brought the newest Nancy Drew mystery, plus The Wind in the Willows, Black Beauty, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

  “Hungry?” her dad asked as he poked his head into Amy’s room.

  Amy nodded.

  So off they went to dinner. It was a short walk to Amy’s favorite restaurant in Orange Blossom—The Library. The walls were wallpapered with old book pages. The menu was Amy’s favorite part.

  Amy and her dad ordered. When the waiter had gone, her dad smiled across the table.

  “I have a pile of old newspapers we can cut up,” he told her.

  “Cool!” Amy
exclaimed.

  Amy and her dad loved creating poems together. They cut words out of newspapers or magazines. They moved them around until they had a poem they liked. Then they glued the words to a piece of paper.

  “And, hey! What’s going on with The Critter Club?” her dad went on.

  Amy told him all about the eggs that were going to hatch. But she really wanted to talk about something else.

  “Dad, wasn’t there some big news?” Amy said. She looked at him and squinted. “It’s dinnertime. Can you tell me now?”

  Her dad smiled. “Okay, you’re right,” he said. “Well, Julia is going to come over tomorrow.”

  “Right,” said Amy. “You told me on the phone.” She and her dad and Julia always had fun together.

  “And Julia’s going to bring someone with her,” her dad went on. “Do you remember that Julia has a daughter? Her name is Chloe.”

  Amy nodded. She remembered. Julia talked about Chloe a lot. Amy had never met her because Chloe was often away visiting her dad in Arizona. Amy felt the slightest flutter of butterflies in her stomach. Amy was shy about meeting new people. But Julia is nice, she thought. I bet Chloe will be nice too.

  “She’s eight years old, just like you are!” her dad continued. “And . . . here’s the really big news: the reason we’d love you and Chloe to finally meet is that Julia and I are engaged!”

  Engaged? Amy’s face flushed a little. “Like, getting married?” she asked.

  Her dad nodded. “That’s the idea,” he said. “We haven’t set a date yet. But we’d like to get married someday—maybe next year.”

  “Oh,” was all Amy could think of to say. Her mind was racing. If Dad and Julia get married, will Julia be my stepmom? And what about Chloe? Will she be my . . . stepsister?

  Now there were a million butterflies in Amy’s stomach. They were fluttering around like crazy. She was really nervous about meeting Chloe.

  What if we don’t have anything in common? Amy thought. What if I don’t like her? Or worse: what if she doesn’t like me?

  Chloe

  The next morning, Amy woke up to the smell of pancakes. Yum! She got out of bed and put on her slippers. As she did, she remembered part of a dream she’d had. In it, she had been getting ready for a big fancy ball. Her dress was perfect. She was all set to leave. Then three mean stepsisters appeared and tore her beautiful dress to shreds.

  Stepsisters, Amy thought. I guess I really am nervous about meeting Chloe!

  Down in the kitchen, her dad was flipping pancakes. There was a place set at the table for Amy. Next to it was a stack of newspapers.

  “Breakfast, coming right up!” her dad said. “Have a seat. I wrote you a poem.”

  Amy found the paper on the table, next to her fork.

  Amy giggled. “Thanks, Dad,” she said. It was like he could read her mind.

  Her dad came over and gave her a kiss on the head. “Don’t worry,” he said. “You and Chloe will get along great.”

  Amy had two pancakes—then one more. She and her dad cut and pasted some poems together. Then Amy went to her room to get dressed.

  As she put on her shoes, she heard the doorbell. Ding-dong!

  Amy took a deep breath. Then she walked toward the front hall.

  Her dad was already at the door. At first, Amy could only see Julia on the front stoop. She looked the same as Amy remembered: shiny, straight black hair, sparkling brown eyes, and a big, friendly smile.

  “Amy!” Julia said, spotting her. She breezed in and greeted Amy with a hug. “It’s so good to see you. And I’m so happy for you to meet Chloe.”

  Julia stepped aside. Amy realized Chloe was standing right behind Julia. In fact, Chloe was holding on to the back of Julia’s blue coat. Then, quickly, Chloe let go. She smiled at Amy.

  Amy’s first thought was: She looks so much like her mom! Chloe had the same shiny dark hair, but hers was in braids.

  Her second thought was: Ellie would love that outfit. She had on a dark green dress and shiny black patent leather shoes. It reminded Amy of the pretty costumes Ellie liked to wear.

  “Hi,” said Chloe with a small wave.

  “Nice to meet you,” Amy said—and tried hard not to blush. It happened every time Amy felt shy or embarrassed. And at that moment, she was feeling both.

  A Messy Beginning

  Julia held up a plastic container. “It’s not too early for cookies, is it?” she asked, smiling. “I was hoping you girls could help me by decorating them.”

  Amy thought that sounded fun!

  Amy’s dad set the girls up at the kitchen table. Julia had made sugar cookies that were shaped like hearts and stars. There were tubes of icing, sprinkles, and colored sugar. Julia put out a glass of water.

  “For smoothing the icing,” she explained.

  Chloe sat down. Amy took the seat across from her.

  “Julia and I are going to do some gardening out back,” Amy’s dad told the girls.

  “Just give us a call if you need us. Okay?” added Julia.

  Chloe smiled at her mom. Amy nodded and took a cookie. Chloe did too.

  Then, as their parents went out the back door, both girls reached for the tube of yellow icing.

  “Oh!” said Amy. “It’s okay. You take it. I’ll use the blue.”

  Chloe didn’t say anything. She just took the yellow. Then she scooted her chair a little farther from the table.

  Why did she do that? Amy wondered. Maybe she just needs more room to decorate. . . .

  She glanced over at Chloe. Chloe had her eyes locked on her cookie. For a few minutes, the kitchen was silent. Is it possible? thought Amy. Someone who’s even shyer than I am?

  As shy as she was herself, Amy wanted to be a good hostess. “So, what school do you go to?” she asked Chloe.

  At first, Chloe didn’t answer. She was still staring at her cookie, squeezing out the yellow icing. But then she blurted out: “Orange Blossom School for Girls.”

  “Oh,” said Amy. “I know where that is.” She waited to see if Chloe had more to say.

  She didn’t.

  So Amy said, “I go to Santa Vista Elementary.”

  Chloe didn’t look up.

  “My three best friends and I started an animal shelter,” Amy went on. “It’s called The Critter Club. We take care of strays and lost or hurt animals.”

  Chloe still didn’t say anything.

  “Do you like animals?” Amy tried.

  For the first time since their parents had left, Chloe looked up. “Ew,” she said. Her face scrunched up, like she smelled something gross. “Animals are dirty and smelly. Why would you want to be around them so much?”

  Amy felt her cheeks flush hot. She had no idea what to say to that.

  Just then, Chloe reached for the pink icing. Her elbow knocked over the water glass. Water spilled onto the cookie plate, soaking the cookies.

  Quickly Amy reached for a towel. “Oh, don’t worry,” Amy said. “It’s not a big deal.”

  Then Amy’s dad walked in the back door. “Forgot my gardening gloves,” he said with a smile. “How’s it going?”

  Chloe jumped out of her seat. She pointed at Amy. “She did it!” Chloe shouted. “She knocked over the water! The cookies are ruined!”

  Fashion Disaster!

  Julia and Chloe cleaned up the cookies while Amy helped her dad pull some weeds in the garden.

  “Hey, is everything okay, kiddo?” Amy’s dad asked her. “You’re being awfully quiet.”

  Amy nodded. But everything wasn’t okay. Chloe really doesn’t like me, Amy thought. Why else would she say I spilled the water?

  “Okay, change of plans!” Julia said, walking outside. Chloe was behind her. “Amy, Chloe and I were talking. How about we three girls go shopping?”

  Amy looked at her dad. She gave him her I-hate-to-shop face. He gave her his Oh-come-on-it-might-be-fun face.

  “I’ll meet you all at the park afterward,” her dad said.

  “Ther
e’s a great new bookstore in town,” Julia went on. “We could walk there.”

  “Yeah!” said Chloe. She was smiling. “That’s right next to my favorite store. We could go to both!”

  “Oh!” said Amy. Shopping for books? That was fun. And it kind of seems like Chloe wants me to come. “Okay,” Amy said. She smiled back at Chloe.

  Maybe I was wrong. Maybe she doesn’t hate me, after all.

  • • •

  They went to Chloe’s favorite store first. It was a clothing store called Threads. As soon as they stepped inside, Chloe disappeared in the clothing racks. Julia waved to the lady at the register. They seemed to know each other. Julia went over to chat.

  Amy was left alone. She felt like she was frozen in her spot. It was the kind of store that made her feel . . . lost. Minutes crept by.

  Then Chloe came rushing over. She already had an armload of clothes. “Amy! Come on! Let’s try some things on,” Chloe said.

  “No, that’s okay. You can go ahead—” Amy started to say.

  But Chloe grabbed her hand. She pulled Amy to the back of the store. “Look! These would look so, so good on you!” Chloe said.

  She handed Amy some items on hangers. Then she shooed Amy into a dressing room. “I’ll try some things on next door,” said Chloe. “Meet out by the mirror in five!”

  Before Amy knew it, the door was closed.

  Amy sighed. She really didn’t like trying things on in stores! But Chloe was being so nice. How could she say no?