Chapter 10

Ned and Nancy finished making their rounds around the house. They sat as dinner was being served. Ned sat between Nancy and Burt, Dave on Burt's other side. The four of them were laughing and talking when a four boy came and asked if he could sit next to Nancy. They all nodded.

"Nancy, this is Phil Roberts," Ned introduced.

"Hi, I'm Nancy Drew," she said with a smile, shaking his hand and he smiled.

"Phil's dad is actually the head of the post office in Stanford," Ned said, giving Nancy a little look.

Nancy looked at Phil again. "Really? That's an interesting job."

"Eh," Phil moaned, shrugging, "but he does come home telling some funny stories."

He went on to tell some stories about a crazy old lady that came in everyday thinking that the post office was a McDonald's. They people at the table were all cracking up, but Nancy was interested.

"So, do you know anything about the mail and stuff?" Nancy asked casually, taking a bite out of her dessert.

Phil shrugged again. "A little I guess."

"Hey Phil, why would someone not have their mail delivered? Like they're supposed to get mail, but it's just not coming?"

Phil thought for a second and shook his head. "I can only think of the obvious answers. Either, one, someone's not writing to them or, two, their mail is being stolen."

Nancy and Ned looked at each other, a flash of realization going through both of them. Of course! Stolen mail! Why hadn't she thought about that? They tuned back into the conversation.

"So, let's say I wanted to ship a shoe to Thailand…" Dave was asking.

"Wait, one shoe or a pair of shoes?" Burt asked.

"I don't know, one."

"Why would you want to ship only one shoe?"

"Hypothetically."

"Okay, hypothetically, why would you want to ship only one shoe?"

Ned rolled his eyes and grabbed Nancy's hand. "Come on, let's dance."

Nancy almost choked on her last bite and nodded dumbly. Ned pulled her close as the music churned a slow rhythm. She closed her eyes, fighting an involuntary shiver that threatened to creep up her spine as she felt his warm breath on her neck. She clutched at the fabric of his white shirt more in a desperate attempt not to fall then anything else.

"You really look gorgeous tonight," Ned said softly in her ear.

Nancy blushed against his cheek. "Thank you."

"I'm glad you came with me tonight. It's kind of hard to concentrate on anything when you're not around. Then again, it's kind of hard to concentrate on anything else while you're around."

Nancy gave a twinkling little laugh and met his gaze. He was smiling. They barely had time to realize that the slow dance had ended when the couples around them started dancing to a faster beat. Like a train wreck, Burt slid between Ned and Nancy and began to dance spastically. Dave had joined them and Ned gave a devilish grin as he and Nancy kept up with the pace.

After a while of dancing, Ned went to go get the pair of them something to drink. Nancy was sitting at the now nearly empty table. Phil sat beside her suddenly and she smiled at him.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he repeated. "Having fun?"

"Tons. This is great."

Phil nodded. "Can I ask why you and Ned were asking about undelivered mail?"

Nancy thought of a diplomatic answer for a moment before responding. "The truth is, I have a friend that is kind of in that situation. She's expecting something, but she's just not getting it. Why do you ask?"

Phil looked around conspiratorially and leaned closer, lowering his voice. "See, my dad's been telling us about a couple of people that have had the same problem as your friend. Were the letters… do you mind if I ask if the letters contained checks or money orders?"

"They probably did. Why?"

"Because my dad has been having this problem. But it's not just him. There have been a couple of other postmasters in the same deal. The Postal Inspectors Division said they'd look into it, but they haven't given it too much importance."

"My friend might be the victim of some mail fraud? Makes sense," Nancy said.

Phil nodded. At that moment, Ned came back with the drinks and Phil changed the conversation. The rest of the night went well. Ned and Nancy left at around ten thirty. The boys made her promise that she'd come again. Burt and Dave walked them to the car and then Ned headed back to River Heights. Along the way, Nancy told him about the conversation with Phil. Ned thought it was likely that Mrs. Swenson could be a fraud victim.

"The first thing I have to do is talk to Joe Swenson," Nancy said, more to herself than anyone else.

Half an hour later, Ned pulled up to the Drew driveway. It was about twelve when Nancy looked at the clock on the dash.

"It's half an hour before my curfew, we could've stayed a little longer at the party," she said.

"I didn't want to risk it," Ned replied, shutting off the car.

"What do you mean, you know we were going to get here early. You're just trying to suck up to my dad."

He shrugged. "A little kissing up never hurt anyone. Besides, now we have some time to linger."

"Linger? Why would I want to linger?" Nancy asked, confused.

For a moment, Ned didn't say anything. Nancy took in a sharp little breath as she noticed that he was suddenly a lot closer than he was a second before. She felt his breath sweep over her mouth enticingly as he spoke and she stopped breathing for a few seconds.

"Because," he whispered, his lips so close she could almost feel them as they formed the words. She gulped and her eyes fluttered. "Lingering is good."

Torturously slow his lips met hers in an electrifying kiss. He held his mouth to her for just a few seconds and pulled back a millimeter. Nancy's eyes were still closed and her mouth was dry.

"Lingering is good," she repeated hoarsely. "Lingering is-"

She cut herself off as she closed the gap between them, bringing her hands through his hair and holding onto the nape of his neck. The kiss deepened, wonderfully deep, and his hands splayed against her back, pulling her into him so that their bodies met and clung. When they finally parted, he placed two small, sweet kisses on her lips gently and then pulled back to be able to look at her.

She licked her lips and sighed. "I love lingering."

He smiled at her. "Me too." She laughed and kissed him again. "Come on, you should go in."

She moaned. "It's still only twelve ten. We have twenty more minutes to linger."

"I don't want your dad to give me primo spot on his black list on our first date," Ned said, hoisting himself out of the car with a small grunt.

"Wait, first date?" Nancy said, but he didn't hear her.

He opened her door for her and she unhappily obliged. Ned waited beside her as she looked for her keys in her purse. When she opened the door, the lights were on.

"Nancy? That you?" Mr. Drew called.

"Yeah, I'm home daddy," she called back.

"Is Ned still here?"

"I'm here, sir," Ned called in.

"Well, come on in, boy. Have something to drink before you head back."

Ned complied and he talked with Mr. Drew for a while. After a while, he said he had to go because it was getting late and Mr. Drew nodded.

"I'll see you around again. Soon, right?" Mr. Drew asked.

"Cross my heart," Ned said with a smile.

"Good. Good. Nancy, see him to the door. I'm going to bed."

Nancy gave Ned a look that her father couldn't see and he managed to keep a straight face. Nancy walked him back to the door and shut it behind herself, leaning on the wood. Ned slid his hands down her arms until his fingers intertwined with hers and kissed her for a minute.

"Your dad is a really cool guy," he commented when they broke apart.

Nancy nodded. "Glad you think so. He's a really good judge of character and when he likes someone, he likes someone."

"That's good."

"I'm sorry you have to drive all the way up to Mapleton again."

"Don't worry about it. I'll stay with my aunt. She lives really close."

"Does she know you're staying with her?" Nancy asked.

"No, but she will. I have a key and she stays up until like two in the morning watching her shows."

"Hey, listen," she said, looking down at the hand that was curled in hers and shyly playing with his fingers. "I didn't want to be desperate and everything, but seeing as you were talking about this being our first date, this led me to believe that you were planning for us to have a second date, right?"

"Right… I think," he replied, a little confused.

She gave a small, nervous laugh. "Good."

"Well, I would ask you out for tomorrow, but I have this thing with my dad."

"That's okay. Prom's coming up anyway and I'm on the committee, so tomorrow I kind of have to go to some stupid meeting to wrap up the loose ends. And then Saturday I have to help set up and stuff and then Sunday is prom. I'm sorry. If I'd met you two weeks earlier I would've made other plans."

His face fell and his grip loosened a little. When he spoke, his voice was kind of tight. "Oh. Okay. Don't worry about it. Have fun at prom."

"Well, that's kind of hard to do when you don't have a date," she said.

"Oh! Well, that's different. Wait, why wouldn't you have a date? The guys at your school must have been asking you left and right."

Nancy shrugged. "I got asked, I just never said yes. No one had really seemed special enough… until now."

Ned grinned, more at himself than at her. "In that case, no one should go stag to their own prom. Do you think I can take you?"

"Well, if you insist," Nancy laughed.

He bent and kissed her. "So this whole setting up on Saturday thing…"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Nothing. Just wondering… do you need some help?"

Nancy laughed and leaned up to bring her mouth to his for a long moment. He took that as a yes. After a few more kisses, Ned detangled himself from her and said a real goodbye, getting into his car and driving away. Nancy stared after him for a minute, biting her lip and smiling to herself. She opened the door and stepped into her house feeling warm all over.