What's Going On?

Now I had a whole week before I would go back to school. Normally Momma and Daddy liked to go away for Fall Break, but this year things just didn’t work out.

I sat up in my bed. Noises like car doors slamming made me curious. I hopped up and trotted down stairs.

“Hey Sweetie, how about some of your favorite chocolate cereal?” Momma said.

“Sure.” I jumped up onto the kitchen stool. “I keep hearing car doors or something outside.” I scratched my head.

“Oh, Mrs. Smith and Mr. Brooks are having a yard sale.”

“They’re selling their yards?” How in the world did that work?

Momma chuckled. “No, they have things they want to get rid of, so they set them on their lawn and people come by and buy them.”

“Like what kind of things?”

Momma shrugged. “Like furniture and dishes. Stuff like that.”

“Well, why don’t they need them anymore?”

“Um, well, they just don’t.” Momma flipped around to the sink. “When you’re finished, get dressed, and we’ll go see if they need any help.”

“Okay.” I finished the rest of my cereal and drank down the milk that was left.

***

Momma held my hand as we crossed the side yard into Mrs. Smith’s front lawn. Mrs. Smith and Mr. Brooks sat at a small table set up on the driveway. Several people milled around.

“Chloe, I haven’t seen you in a while,” Sara, Mrs. Smith’s daughter, hugged me.

“Are you helping your momma?”

“Yep, sure am.” She knelt in front of me. “I hear that you are still making sure Rosy gets her exercise.”

I nodded.

“Well, pretty soon, I’ll be living right across street. It will be fun to see you more often.” Sara pointed toward Mr. Brooks’ house.

“You’re moving in with Mr. Brooks?”

Momma patted my shoulder. “We haven’t told Chloe about all of this yet.”

Sara stood up. “Oops, sorry.”

“That’s all right. It’s time we let her in on it.”

My head was bouncing between Momma and Sara. Finally, I crossed my arms. “What is going on?”

“Honey, this week Mrs. Smith and Mr. Brooks are getting married. Mr. Brooks will move into Mrs. Smith’s house and Sara is moving into Mr. Brooks’ house. Sara needs a place to live here because she is doing her student teaching.”

I know my face looked shocked because my mouth fell open and I had to cover it with my hand.

Sara winked and smiled. “So what do you think?”

“That sounds amazing.”

“And here’s another thing I’m stoked about. I’m going to be at your school.” Sara’s eyes bulged.

“Really?”

Sara nodded.

“Chloe. Hey Chloe,” Mrs. Smith called. She waved her hand, motioning me over.

I ran beside her and was immediately greeted with a wet tongue lick on my hand. I squatted and petted Rosy’s head.

“Do you think you could take Rosy to the back yard and exercise her a little early today? She is really bored and quite fidgety,” Mrs. Smith said.

“Sure.” I took the leash but stopped. “I’m really happy about you and Mr. Brooks getting married and Sara moving here.”

“Thank you, Chloe.” Mrs. Smith smiled. She actually smiled at me.

“Of course, I tried to show you that you should go together and be boyfriend and girlfriend. I guess you had to figure it out yourself.” I shrugged.

Mr. Brooks chuckled. “That we did. But we do thank you for caring.”

“Any time.” I looked down at Rosy. “Come on, girl. Let’s play.”

 *****

Why do you think they didn't tell Chloe sooner about Mrs. Smith and Mr. Brooks getting married?

What do you think about what Chloe learned about Mrs. Smith and Mr. Brooks getting married and Sara moving in across the street?