Angels in Pink: Holly's Story (Lurlene McDaniel (Mass Market)) by Lurlene McDaniel Page A

never seen Chad.
    “Are you a volunteer at the hospital too?” Evelyn asked.
    “Not exactly.” Chad shook his mane of curly hair, as if clearing his head. “Let me back up. I got hold of her e-mail address at the hospital. It was an accident; no one gave it to me. Someone named Kathleen e-mailed Holly some stuff from the medical library last year, and I just happened to see the address when I was doing some research at the same terminal.”
    “I did a report for biology, and Kathleen e-mailed me some articles,” Holly explained. “She was assigned to the medical library then.”
    “I already wanted to know her better but didn’t know how to approach her, so I just started e-mailing.”
    “Seems devious,” Mike said.
    “There were large time gaps between your e-mails,” Evelyn said. “Why was that?”
    Holly squirmed because now he knew that her parents had read
every
word of their exchanges, yet she was glad her mother had asked the question. Holly burned to know the answer. This whole scene could have been avoided if he’d only met with her ages ago.
    “Everybody uses the computer at my house. No privacy.”
    “Why was privacy necessary?”
    Chad looked miserable. “I didn’t want her to know everything there is to know about me.”
    That’s honest,
Holly thought.
But scary.
    “Sounds strange,” Mike said. “What are you hiding?”
    Chad took a deep breath. “I—um—I have CF, cystic fibrosis. That’s why I go to the hospital so much. It’s a lousy disease. All my life, I’ve wanted to be normal. I’ve wanted a normal girl to
like
me. A pretty girl.” He cut his eyes to Holly. “Pretty like Holly. Someone who won’t be turned off or freaked out by coughing and respiratory therapy and all the medical stuff that goes along with CF. I had hoped that Holly would like me through my e-mails enough to not be grossed out when she met the real me.
    “Instead I got her into a ton of trouble, and so I’ve probably made her hate me instead. I’m sorry, Holly. Very, very sorry.”
    “The summer has passed so quickly,” Carson’s mother, Teresa, told Kathleen in her lilting Spanish accent. They were standing in the magnificent kitchen washing vegetables for the cook-out that Dr. Kiefer was setting up on the back patio. Carson was outside with his father.
    “I guess this is the last picnic of the summer,” Kathleen said. It was the Saturday before Labor Day, and the Kiefers were having a few couples over for dinner. Carson had asked Kathleen to come so he wouldn’t be stuck in a crowd of boring adults. He’d said, “We’ll watch some movies, maybe get in some lip-lock time.” Of course she’d agreed.
    “Yes, Christopher and I are on call on Monday, so we had to move our party up. We’re very glad you could come.”
    “Me too.” Kathleen thought back to the previous Labor Day, when Stephanie had shown up uninvited, and she hoped there wouldn’t be a repeat appearance.
    “So you’ve been in school a week. How is it going?”
    “There’s a ton of freshmen and everybody looks lost. Cummings is huge. Carson says Bryce Academy is a whole lot smaller. The difference between public and private, I guess.”
    “That and a wheelbarrow full of money,” Teresa said with a laugh. “I must tell you something.”
    Kathleen braced herself.
    “You have been good for our son, Kathleen.”
    The compliment took Kathleen by surprise. “You think so?”
    “Do not be modest. It is true. Carson has always been, how shall I say? Not totally manageable. Since the two of you have been dating, he is less wild. More centered. I give you credit for that.”
    The flattery made Kathleen blush deeply. “H-he’s kind to me.”
    “Ah, this is good to know. Kindness is a good trait. I would not put up with anyone who was not kind to me.” Teresa glanced out the window, let her gaze rest on her husband and smiled. “Like father, like son.” She turned back to Kathleen. “What do you think of Carson’s idea