Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 041

Just as I was wondering what could possibly be wrong - and just as I was growing a teeny bit scared - the front door creaked open. Shadowed against a dim light from the kitchen down the hall stood Logan. He was wearing a tux and holding a box containing a wrist corsage.

Oh, this was just too much. A wrist corsage (an orchid) for Olivia? I half expected Logan to say, "Oh, it's just you," and to look over my shoulder to see if Olivia was arriving yet.

Instead, Logan smiled slowly and shyly at me. "Hi, Mary Anne," he said. Then he added, "Happy Valentine's Day." "Hi, Logan," I replied.

"Come on in." Logan held the door open for me, and I slipped past him, into the hallway. "Where are Hunter and Kerry?" I asked as I took off my jacket. "I've never heard your house this quiet." "Oh, they're here," Logan told me. "They're down in the rec room with Mom and Dad. I made them promise to stay there all evening." "I thought your parents were going out tonight," I said, puzzled and somewhat apprehensive. "That's why I - " Logan interrupted me by putting his finger to my lips. "Shh," he said. "Come see." He took my hand and led me to the dining room. There I saw the table set for a romantic dinner for two. Candles burned in silver holders. A white cloth covered the table. The Brunos' best china gleamed next to crystal glasses and sparkling silverware.

Torture.

Logan was making me see how he and Olivia were going to spend Valentine's Day evening. How low could a person get?

I was about to say something when Logan spoke up first. "Surprise," he said softly. He opened the box and slipped the corsage onto my wrist.

"Huh?" I asked brightly.

"This is for us, Mary Anne. You're not here to baby-sit. That was . . . well, it was a trick. It was the only way I could give you this present, this evening. Anyway, like I said, everyone's in the rec room. They won't bother us. Tonight is our night." My jaw dropped open. "1 thought we were going to cool our - " "We did," said Logan. "And now I'm ready to try warming it up again. Here, have a seat. My family helped me make this special dinner just for us." I was completely overwhelmed. So I sat down. I think that if Logan had said (as gently and as sweetly as he had spoken just now), "Here. Shave your head, get each of your ears pierced four times and your nose once, and go be a sheepherder in the mountains," I would have done it.

"Are you hungry?" Logan asked. He was standing at my elbow, like a waiter.

"Yes," I admitted.

"Good. We'll be eating soon. But first I have some things for you. Just a minute. Stay right here." Logan disappeared into the kitchen, swinging the door shut behind him. When he returned, his arms were loaded. Grinning, he set a small gift-wrapped package by my plate, and then a red heart-shaped box. After that, he handed me a single red rose. "For you," he said.

"But you already gave me a flower," I replied, looking at the orchid on my wrist. I was completely bewildered.

"Red roses are traditional on Valentine's Day." I wasn't sure what to do with the rose (its stem was very long; also thorny), so I just laid it next to my plate on the white tablecloth.

Logan was nudging the present and the heart-shaped box closer to me. (He still hadn't sat down.) "Go ahead. Open them," he said.

"Only if you'll sit down, too," I said with a nervous smile. I just could not believe what was going on. It had happened too fast. I was supposed to be baby-sitting, but here I was in a candlelit room, a world of romance. And Logan, all dressed up, was presenting me with gift after gift, while I sat dumbfounded, feeling guilty because I hadn't even bought Logan that card I'd seen.

Logan sat. I looked at the boxes in front of me. "Which one first?" I asked.

"Mmm . . . that one." Logan pointed to the heart-shaped box.

In all honesty, I must say that the box was pretty gaudy. It was adorned with a gigantic pink plastic rose and tied with red voile. (Or toile. Whatever that stuff wedding veils are made of.) I slipped off the voile or toile. Inside the box were five pounds of chocolate candy. "Yum," I said. "Thanks, Logan." "Any time. Let's save them for dessert. Open the other present." I reached for the small silver-wrapped box and unwrapped it. When I lifted the lid I saw ... a bracelet made of tiny gold hearts linked together.

I gasped. And Logan leaned over and kissed my cheek.

At that moment I still felt overwhelmed. But I felt something new, too. It was a gnawing sense of dread.

I was in over my head with Logan. This was not at all the way things were supposed to be working. And I didn't know what to do, how to fix them. " "Logan, this is beautiful," I ventured.

"I knew you'd like it," was Logan's answer. He fastened it around my wrist.

It really was beautiful - but now I had to say sheepishly, "Logan, I didn't get anything for you. I saw this card, but ..." My voice trailed off.

"That's okay," he said. "Eating dinner with your is enough of a gift." I wanted to cry.

Logan went back into the kitchen then, and returned carrying two plates of food - lasagna, broccoli with some sort of sauce on it, and a serving of salad.

"Wow!" I couldn't help being impressed.

"Just remember," said Logan, as he set one of the plates in front of me, "I had a little help with this." "And now you're forcing your family to ·spend the evening in the rec room?" "Under penalty of death," replied Logan.

We began to eat. For awhile, we ate in silence. When the silence became excruciating, I said, "Logan, I feel really bad that I don't have anything for you. You've given me flowers, candy, a bracelet, and dinner." "Don't worry about it. I've been planning this as a surprise. How could you have known about it?" I just shook my head.

We made it through dinner. We made it through dessert (chocolate cake and chocolate candy - Claudia would have been in heaven). As soon as dessert was over, I looked at my watch.

"Logan, I better go," I said.

"Okay, I'll ask Mom or Dad to drive us to your house." "Wait! Before we leave I have to say something." My heart was pounding but I was determined to speak up. "Logan -Logan, when I said we should cool our relationship, I meant it." "I know. And we did cool it. But like I said, I'm ready to start it up again." I'm not, I thought. Logan had not understood at all.

The bracelet on my wrist felt as heavy as an iron chain.

Chapter 13.

As you can tell, Jessi was ecstatic over her unexpected sitting job. Jenny is not one of her favorite sitting charges, but new babies are exciting, and besides, Mr. P. really did need someone to come over quickly.

So Jessi's Aunt Cecelia drove her to the Prezziosos'. Jessi knew that accepting this job without consulting Kristy or the other club members was okay. It was an emergency. Besides, Mr. P. had said over the phone, "Your friends are either out already, or their lines are busy." "Well, I'm free," Jessi had told him. Two minutes later, she was sitting beside Cecelia in the front seat of her aunt's car.

Before she knew it, her aunt was pulling to a stop in front of the Prezziosos'.

" 'Bye, Aunt Cecelia!" Jessi called, as she scrambled out of the door. "I'll call when I hear any news. If I don't call, I'll be home by six. Mr. Prezzioso said that either he would come home then or, if he needed to stay at the hospital, Mrs. Frank from down the street will come spend the night with Jenny." Aunt Cecelia smiled. "That's fine," she said. "I can't wait to hear the news." Jessi closed the door then, and her aunt drove slowly and carefully down the street, pausing once to let a squirrel cross the road.

Jessi, however, literally sprinted to Jenny's front door. She didn't even have to ring the bell. The door was flung open by Mr. P. Sitting nearby, on a bench in the hallway, was Mrs. P., a suitcase next to her. Both Mr. and Mrs. P. looked pretty tired. I guess you don't sleep well when you're expecting a baby.