Emma Jean Lazarus Fell in Love by Lauren Tarshis

said. “I expected—”
    â€œYou are not thinking clearly,” Emma-Jean explained. “You are madly in love with my mother. Your judgment has become clouded.”
    â€œClouded?”
    â€œThe plan is misguided,” Emma-Jean said. “To move to California. To teach at Stanford. I heard you speaking on the phone to Dr. Markt. I have already written to him. I have explained the situation. I had hoped—”
    â€œYou wrote to Dr. Markt?” Vikram interrupted.
    Emma-Jean nodded.
    â€œWell, that explains a few things,” he said, shaking his head.
    And then Vikram did something quite peculiar. He began to chuckle. And it occurred to Emma-Jean that perhaps Vikram’s mental state was even more unbalanced than she had feared.
    â€œDid you by any chance tell him I liked to cook with curry?”
    â€œYes,” Emma-Jean said.
    Vikram’s laughter grew stronger until it seemed to fill the room around them and spill out the open window to echo through the streets.
    Emma-Jean watched in alarm, wondering if she should call her mother at work.
    Finally Vikram stopped laughing. He patted his chest and cleared his throat.
    â€œEmma-Jean,” he said. “I am not moving to California. I have been invited to lead a seminar, over the summer. Your mother and I thought you could both join me for a couple of weeks. We were waiting to tell you, until we had it all planned. It was to be a surprise.”
    Emma-Jean opened her mouth to respond, but somehow all of her words had disappeared. Perhaps they had been carried out the window by the force of Vikram’s laughter.
    â€œI had wondered why Dr. Markt was so curious about my cooking . . . and about you.”
    â€œMe?”
    Vikram nodded. “He will be in Connecticut next week, visiting his mother. He asked if he could come here, for dinner. He specifically asked if you would be here. And he said something very peculiar . . . He said to let you know that he would wash his hands very well before dinner. He hung up before I could ask him what he meant by that.”
    Vikram looked searchingly at Emma-Jean, and his expression grew stern.
    â€œYou should have spoken to me,” Vikram said quietly. “It is not a good idea to be writing letters to people you don’t know. Dr. Markt obviously has a good sense of humor, but you could have . . .”
    But then his eyes softened. He picked up Emma-Jean’s hand and held it to his chest.
    â€œWe can discuss that another time. What I wanted to tell you has nothing to do with California or Stanford,” Vikram said. “I’m selling the bat because I plan to buy your mother a ring.”
    Vikram held her hand tighter.
    â€œEmma-Jean,” Vikram said. “I want to ask your mother to marry me.”

Chapter 24
    C olleen had always dreamed that one day she would go to a fancy ball in a pink dress with the nicest boy in the world. Dreams really do come true!
    Well, maybe not exactly true. At her dream ball, Colleen’s mom hadn’t been a chaperone.
    But when your dream came true, you shouldn’t be picky about the details. They needed chaperones at the Spring Fling, and her mom seemed excited to be coming along. She’d even bought a new blouse, with pink flowers on it, and put on lipstick. She looked pretty! Colleen was happy they were going out together, that neither one of them was home alone with the sock puppets.
    She was nervous that her mom would hover around her all night, but as soon as they walked inside she gave Colleen a little kiss and went off to help set up the refreshments.
    Colleen could see her friends on the dance floor. But she didn’t see Will. They never said where they would meet. What if he didn’t come? What if he ignored her? What if her breath smelled like egg salad?
    She started to get her old panicky feeling. But then someone seemed to be right there with her telling her to calm down.
    Her boy! He was here! Even