"What happened after that?"
Twenty pairs of expectant eyes peered at the trio. And one pair of slightly more skeptical eyes.
It was one week after Nancy Oken had picked up her son and his girlfriend. One week that had been full of household chores, like sweeping out rain gutters, painting garage doors, mowing lawns, cleaning ovens, washing cars, and making the insides of the houses shine from top to bottom. And, of course, no one was allowed to visit Lola.
"Well, nothing. That's it. We found the guy my aunt was looking for. We located the missing person." Lilly nodded, expression innocent, cheeks pink. If she hadn't been so wired for the last seven days, she would have been exhausted.
"You expect your classmates and I to believe that with some googling and a couple of simple phone calls you managed to locate someone your aunt couldn't for the last fifty years? And then you just left him?" It was Lee. The one with the skeptical eyes. The substitute who had revealed that he would be finishing out the semester with them at the start of class. Lilly was beginning to not like him very much.
"We-el," she began, tucking some hair behind her ear and looking to Miley for help. Oliver hadn't looked like he would be much assistance, expression blank, hands in his pockets. Kind of his usual front of the classroom stance, actually.
"Well, there was the road trip and the interrogation and the grounding," Miley added, wincing when Lilly elbowed her in the side. "I mean, yep, that was it," she gasped, rubbing her ribs gingerly.
"Road trip?" Lee echoed. "Explain." He crossed his arms over his chest, leaned back in the chair he was seated in at the far end of the classroom.
"Um, you see," Oliver took over when neither of the girls opened their mouths, "the thing is, it was kind of a long drive to where the mystery man was. And the car broke down on the way there, and you know, there were a couple of issues, but they aren't really related to the actual investigating." He pulled one hand out of his pocket and scratched his chin awkwardly, his cheeks reddening as well.
"You're sure none of it's related?" Lee pressed, not liking how all three of them were avoiding one another's eyes.
"Yep." Miley was the one to nod the affirmation while she gathered their papers together and then pulled the DVD they had made out of the player. "I mean, Lilly and Oliver did other stuff on Lola's list, but none of that had anything to do with finding Ma- the mystery man."
"Miley!" Lilly chided.
Oliver shook his head in exasperation. When had Miley stopped being able to keep her mouth shut? She was the one with all of the secrets!
"There were more things for you to do? Did you solve a couple more mysteries?" Lee winked, and Lilly wasn't entirely sure if he was serious. It was more like he didn't believe them.
"Yeah," she snapped back. "There were two other people that my aunt wanted to find. Stuff she wanted to tell them. We found them too." She crossed her arms now, glaring at the new teacher, but unable to keep the information from him. "There was a woman who owned a bakery that she worked at a long time ago and she wanted to apologize to, and a soldier she wanted to return something to. That's all." Lilly shrugged. "No big deal."
"Alright... Nice job."
The bell rang so they were saved from answering anymore questions right away as everyone scrambled for their bags and their books, intent on getting out of the classroom and into the hallway. Lockers were opened and slammed shut and voices echoed along all of the metal in the corridor. It was practically deafening after the near silence during their presentation.
"Man, come on, you can totally tell me. Who's the mystery man? What's his real name?" Todd questioned Oliver as he followed the friends into the hallway.
"Sorry dude, we gotta protect the privacy of our clients," Oliver joked, clapping Todd on the shoulder and throwing an arm around Lilly.
Lilly ignored them. She had expected the teasing of her classmates when they gave Max the title of Mystery Man. She had a feeling it might get them a few points docked off their grade because she wasn't willing to tell Lee just who Max was so that he could check their work. But she didn't care. What she cared about was getting through the school day and over to see Lola at the center. She was allowed exactly two and a half hours after school to do what she wanted. Then, she had to be home to watch her brother or her mom would know. And Lilly couldn't afford anymore trouble.
So, she kept her head down, and her mouth shut, letting Oliver and Miley field the questions while they walked, and then she impatiently waited for Oliver to unlock his car in the parking lot. She was practically bouncing on her toes, feeling as though she could jump right out of her skin. Oliver was just not moving fast enough for her. She had been shocked when her mother agreed that it made sense for Oliver to drive her home from school since he did live right next door. And she had been even more shocked when Lola's nurse, Genie, had called to inform her that someone had scheduled a visit with Lola this afternoon. A Mr. Maxwell. And Lilly wanted to be there when he left.
When Oliver finally turned the key in the lock and the click sounded that allowed her to jerk the handle for the door up and climb inside the car, Lilly moved as quickly as possible to do just that. She crossed her legs, backpack clutched in her lap, but Oliver was still standing outside talking to Miley and Todd, and the line of cars in the parking lot was stretching longer and longer.
"Great," she muttered to herself, the fingers on her left hand absentmindedly sliding the zipper across the small pocket at the front of her backpack. As she did so, the corner of a little blue envelope poked out, the back stamped with the brown outline of a cartoon-like cupcake. Smiling to herself, Lilly pulled the envelope free from the pocket and withdrew the letter it held. She unfolded the pages and read over the page again for the fifth time that day.
Miss Lilly Truscott,
You have no idea how excited I was to receive your letter! I know an awful lot about Lola, though I have to admit, her story, as told to us kids by my grandmother was always so mysterious that I wish I could meet her. She always seemed like a character from a book to me instead of a real person. We actually keep a drawing that she made for my grandmother framed up on the wall in the bakery, right behind the register. It's a sketch that she did that ended up being the logo design for the sign and the menu.
Anyway, I'm glad you told me the truth about what happened between them. My grandmother always made it out like Lola must have gotten some big movie role or something and that was why she up and left. I always wondered if maybe I'd see her in a movie and be able to tell everyone I knew that one of our most famous cupcakes was actually a star.
And yes, the Lola is one of our most popular cupcakes. I whipped up a batch of them with the correct recipe though, just to see how different it would be. Honestly, it isn't even that noticeable. Your great aunt must have too good of a heart, or at least felt a little too guilty, to really change it up. If it had been me, I probably wouldn't have even left the recipe. My mother tells me it's the Irish temper that I get from my father. But, thank you. The tiny little improvement to the batter will probably make the cupcake even more popular. And if it's okay with your family, I think I might add the legend behind the dessert to the history of the bakery on our website, and maybe in one of the frames we have up inside.
You might have noticed that a very large box came with my letter. Or, at least, I hope it arrived in tact. I sent you a sample of the cupcake you've helped us perfect... as well as every other cupcake we offer on the menu. A pair of each. I'm overnighting it, so they're practically fresh. I really can't think you enough for giving me the inside scoop on Lola, or the new recipe, and I want you to know that if you or your aunt ever come to New York again, anything you want is on the house.
Thanks again,
Sammy Lewis
Lilly could feel her grin stretching impossibly wide across her face. She couldn't be happier that one of the items that she had helped Lola with had been such a success.
And really, it was mostly Oliver who had found the bakery and the family that she had to send the recipe to. So, she had made him check his bloodsugar about five times at lunch before she presented him with his very own Lola and shoved the letter in Miley's face to give them the good news. Oliver had been awarded the first taste for all of his hard work, and he had easily proclaimed Lola to be the sweetest thing in the cafeteria, next to Lilly of course. Which had produced a few "blahs" from Miley, right before she asked to try the cake herself.
Sighing, Lilly stopped in her reflecting, carefully folding the note back up and returning it to her bag. She zipped the pocket with an air of finality and glanced back out the window. Oliver was, thankfully, turned to the car, yelling something she couldn't really understand across the hood, his hand on the door again. A bit impatiently, Lilly slid across her seat to wrench the window down with the old manual handle and hissed, "Are you coming or are you going to give me your keys?"
Oliver rolled his eyes and hopped into the driver's seat. "Would you chillax, Lils? We've got plenty of time."
They stared at one another for a moment, the muscles in Lilly's face frozen, and Oliver's smile dropping.
"Did you just tell me to chillax?"
"Who? Me? I would never!" He feigned innocence, one hand to his chest, then winked at her.
She couldn't help it. She started to smile, and then simply shook her head. "Just start the car!"
It was a long and impatient ride for Lilly. She was beginning to despise cars, and thought that her goal in life might be to wind up living somewhere where she would never need one again. Sitting in a car, just waiting, while the scenery passed you by was definitely not relaxing. It made your toes tap and and your fingers itch, and every nerve was just screaming to be out and about, not confined to the vehicle.
She was so sick of cars.
Oliver tried to distract her the closer they got to the center. He started babbling about music, but Lilly kept giving him shorter and shorter answers until she was basically just making noises that didn't sound like affirmations or negations. Changing tactics, he asked about the other cupcakes that had been delivered to her house that morning, just before she had to meet him to leave for school. But she was thinking it was not a good idea for him to stuff himself full of frosting and sugar. She refused to tell him about any of the other flavors. She wouldn't even describe what they looked like.
"Come on! You can't even tell me what kind you have?"
She crossed her arms and didn't answer him.
"That's not fair! You have two of each."
"And I have a mom and a brother that I live with. And I'm supposed to see my dad this weekend." She gave a small sigh and added, "Mainly because my mom thinks me spending the weekend with him will keep me out of trouble... And I'm taking the other Lola to Lola."
"Well, obviously, Lola should get to try the cupcake named after her. Jeez! I'm talking about all of those other ones." He waited, but she didn't say anything as they pulled toward the gates for the center. "I thought your mom was off sugar and caffeine again because she said you stressed her out enough that she didn't need the headaches."
"She is. Or she was. I don't know." Lilly shook her head and gave a slightly more dramatic sigh. She pulled her ID out of her bag and handed it over to Oliver as he pulled a car length closer to the guard at the gate.
They checked in with no problem, but when they walked to the main building at the center, it was Genie who greeted them, not Lola, letting them know that Lola was having a surprisingly good day, and that Mr. Maxwell and Lola were currently walking the grounds.
"Oh," Lilly faltered. She had been sure that Max would be gone by now. "Well, um, we'll just wait at the car for a little bit, if that's okay?"
Genie assured them that was fine, and Lilly scuffed the front of her sneakers along the pavement as she walked ahead of Oliver back to the car. She plopped down in the passenger seat, holding the plastic container with Lola's cake in her lap.
"Do you think the frosting will melt in the heat?" Oliver asked after a few moments. He was eying the container with more than simply idle curiosity.
"I'm not giving you Lola's cupcake," Lilly told him quickly.
"It was worth a try."
"I'm surprised you didn't try before now."
He laughed lightly, then tapped her arm quickly. "Look, it's Max and Lola!" He gestured ahead of them, and Lilly immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him down further in the seat.
"Oliver, you have to slouch!"
"Slouch?"
"Do you want them to see us?"
"Why wouldn't I want them to see us?" Oliver knit his eyebrows in confusion. "Lilly, why are we spying on them? You said you were coming here to see Lola!"
"I was!" Lilly huffed, then peaked over the dashboard. "I don't want to visit her while he's here though. It could be weird."
"It wouldn't be weird."
"Yes, it would."
"You're being ridiculous."
"I'm not ridiculous!" She protested loudly.
"Fine." Oliver sighed and waited.
"Don't you want to see if it all works out?" Lilly questioned more quietly.
"Well... yeah..."
She gave a small smile and gestured with her chin to the windshield. They both edged their heads forward so that only their foreheads and eyes were visible over the dashboard.
Lola and Max stood on the sidewalk outside her room. There was a black car parked a few spaces down from them, and a man stood there, politely holding the door to the back seat open. It must have been Max's driver. Lola's face was bright, more animated than Lilly had seen her in a long time. And Max was smiling as well, holding the journal out in front of him. Lola hesitated, but only for a second before she took it back from him. He bent slightly, laying a kiss on her cheek and putting his arms around her in a firm hug.
"Awww," Lilly cooed.
"I told you it would be fine," Oliver said.
"Yeah, you did," she agreed, sighing wistfully.
"Since everything's good now... that means we can go up there now, right?" he waggled his eyebrows at her, even though he already knew what she was going to say to him.
"Just a few more minutes," she muttered, eyes not leaving Lola and Max.
The older man had pulled his arms from around the small woman, his hands resting on her shoulders while he spoke to her. Lola nodded her head hesitantly, appearing as though she was blinking back tears, the fingers of one hand clutched protectively around the journal. Max gave one of her shoulders a last gentle squeeze, then walked toward his car and driver at an even pace. Before he settled into the car, he held his hand up as a way of saying farewell. Lola blew him a kiss in response, then smiled, moving her hand to her cheek and turning her head away.
Lilly watched as the driver maneuvered the car around the edge of the lot, and then to see the guard at the gate before heading out onto the road. She grinned and sat up straight, bounding out of the car, letter and cupcake in hand, to talk to Lola.
It took a while to steer the conversation around to Max. Lilly didn't want to admit they had been spying, and Oliver wanted to know whether or not Lola liked her cupcake. Lola, of course, wanted to hear all about them actually locating the bakery, and then she wanted to know about Sandy as well, and whether Lilly had been able to get his lucky baseball card back to him. Lilly didn't have the heart to tell her the truth, so she just left it at "yeah, and he was so surprised. He had forgotten all about the card."
It was Oliver who couldn't take it though. After the play by play for the last two items on the list, he finally burst out, "Have you talked to Max lately?" At Lilly's glare, he added, "I mean, cause, you know, we did find him, and I just know he was excited to get to talk to you again."
"He was, was he?" Lola asked, the same look of skepticism on her face that Lilly usually aimed at him.
Oliver nodded swiftly, trying not to laugh.
"Well, I suppose since you two have been so helpful, I could tell you about what happened before you got here."
The three of them sat down at one of the picnic tables outside the main building, Lilly with wide and expectant eyes, Oliver tapping his fingers on the surface of the table, and Lola with an expression of joy on her face.
"I do expect you two to tell me exactly how you found him, you know. He wasn't entirely sure about that."
She nodded at the teens and Lilly agreed.
"We'll tell you all about it. But you go first."
So they stayed and listened to Lola until Lilly had no choice but to tell her aunt they had to head home. Lola explained how confused she was when she had a visitor, how nervous Max was to come see her, and how surprising their conversation was. Max had been extremely concerned since Lilly told him about her list and that she was sick. In fact, he had decided to pay for the surgery that Lola had been putting off for her hip. And he wouldn't take no for an answer.
"I though you said your hip was just fine," Lilly teased, a smile on her face.
"Well, it is fine. But there's no point in arguing with him now." Lola paused, sharing Lilly's smile. "Besides, once I'm fully recovered, he wants me to go with him."
"With him where?" Oliver asked curiously, leaning forward on his elbows.
One of the women that Lola had identified as one of the biggest gossips in the center hobbled by with her silver cane, her ear cocked none too subtly in their direction, so Lola waited until she was safely out of earshot.
"He just found out from his agent that his books are flying off the shelves in Europe, so he's going to do a promotional tour in a bunch of different countries." She folded her hands over her journal and tried to contain her excitement. "I've never been to Europe. And you know I've always wanted to go to Greece and Ireland and Italy."
"Italy," Oliver mumbled. "I hear they have good pizza there."
Lilly elbowed him in the side. He was still bitter that Miley's Hannah travels had never included Italy. At least, none of her travels that had included her friends.
"I hear that too," Lola responded.
Lilly didn't want to be the one to rain on Lola's love-parade, but she couldn't help but feel worried for her aunt. Lola was sick. And she had been sick for a long time. It was impossible to avoid the upcoming question. "But what about all of your doctors? I mean, they have you on a schedule here. And I think you're Genie's favorite resident."
"In other words, what happens when my brain stops working while I'm looking at the Eiffel tower?" Lola nodded again, but the smile stayed on her lips and she reached over to give Lilly's hand a reassuring pat. "Don't worry. Max said he was going to have a nurse travel with us... Can you imagine? I get to go to Europe with my boyfriend and I have my own personal nurse to come with me!"
"That's awesome," Oliver whispered in awe. Traveling around Europe with his own personal entourage sounded like perfection to him.
"Well..." Lilly finally said, swallowing her protests, after all, Lola was an adult, and she had been waiting her whole life to get Max back, "you better send me postcards... and take lots of pictures!"
Nine weeks, Three days later
Waiting impatiently, Lilly had to practically sit on her hands to prevent herself from opening the box in front of her. It had all kinds of stickers and stamps all over the brown paper wrapping, including the words "Air Mail" stenciled on every side. She pulled her hands from beneath her thighs and tentatively took hold of the edges of the box, tilting it from side to side carefully, listening to the contents shift around. But it told her nothing. Sighing, she allowed the box to settle in her lap, resting above the fabric of her jeans. She squinted at the stickers, hoping they would tell her something. All she got was that it originally came from Italy.
"I thought you called because you were going to wait for me to get here!"
She jumped, almost upending the box as Oliver jogged into the room.
"Ollypop," Lilly said, trying to placate him, "I am waiting. You're taking forever."
"Forever? I ran over here as soon as you called. I had to come from all the way upstairs, to all the way downstairs, and across the backyards, and through your kitchen. You know how I feel about running." He was panting, but only a smidge. And then he winked.
Lilly gave him a wry small and patted the cushion on the couch next to her. She retrieved a pair of scissors from coffee table and set to work slicing open the seams of the box and the string crossing the packaging, pulling apart the paper wrapping, and opening the tabs while Oliver took his offered seat.
"Did she send us any pizza?" He wanted to know, only half joking, leaning his head over her shoulder to see inside the box. All he could see were those little white bits of styrofoam in the shape of peanuts. There were tons of them.
Lilly giggled and sifted through the packing peanuts to find the contents of the box. "Somehow, I don't think she would have sent us pizza."
She almost ate her words though as she found a postcard with the words "For Oliver" written in blue ink on the back. It was a recipe for homemade pizza.
"Huh, this doesn't look that hard. I could do this," Oliver mused, looking over the instructions.
"Sure you can," Lilly shot back, still digging around in the package. She pulled out a thick envelope full of photos, a postcard of the Lover's Wall in Verona with a note for Miley on the back, and another postcard of a small villa with a note to Lilly. At the very bottom of the box was a tiny snowglobe showing Italy from the air, complete with little green fields, yellow coast line, and brown mountains. The boot-shaped country was almost completely surrounded by glittering blue paint, simulating the water. Nestled so within the packing peanuts that Lilly almost didn't see it was a bag of candy as well.
"Awesome," Oliver remarked, plucking the bag from the styrofoam before Lilly could get her hands on it.
"I don't think that's for you," she teased, trying to take it from him.
"What makes you so sure?"
She reached over, ripping a piece of paper that had been taped to the back of it.
Lilly, don't let Oliver eat all of the candy. Make sure to give some to your brother and tell everyone I say hi. I'll send you sketches next time. We're on our way to Greece!
"Huh. That Lola, she thinks of everything."
Lilly just snatched the bag back from him and set it next to the snowglobe on the table, admiring them for a minute before pulling the post cards back into her field of vision. Miley's was all about how badly Lola felt for the women who left notes in the wall, but never received an answer to their question. Oliver's, in addition to the pizza recipe, gave him a list of restaurants he just had to try if he ever made it to Italy. Lilly's was about the adventure Lola and Max had while trying to get to an autograph signing in the back of an Italian taxi cab. Lola swore they almost died five or six times. Beside her, Oliver sighed.
"What?"
"Now I really want pizza."
"You're such a doughnut." She shook her head, but then smiled indulgently. "Come on, let's go give Miley her postcard and show her all the pictures. We can get pizza with her."
And like clockwork, every week, a new box arrived from a different delivery service. Sometimes Max wrote up short stories for them about different things that happened. Other times Lola sent sketches. But there were always postcards and at least one tourist-loving souvenir accompanied by a few photographs.
Until one week when there wasn't. Instead, a padded envelope arrived with a new journal. It was a deep purple color with pale green pages. And inside was a new list. But it wasn't full of Lola's regrets. A different note was on the first page.
Lilly,
You know I never had any children, or grandchildren for that matter. And that might have been a regret on my part if I didn't have such a fun life. And I've had so much fun. Which is why I started this journal for you. The first set of pages is full of the things I found most interesting about this book tour with Max. (But I also included all of the things I think a much younger person would enjoy.) I hope you get to come here one day. I hope you get to do all of these things. But I also want you to fill the book up with your own memories, those moments in life you find most enjoyable. I have a feeling your Olly will be included in a lot of those moments :) Write them down. Don't forget them.
Love,
Lola
Smiling to herself, eyes a bit misty, Lilly ran one finger along the edge of the page, but instead of turning it and starting to read a new list, she thumbed through until she found a blank page, and she started writing.
A/N: That's it. It's finally done. I admit, it took me forever to end this chapter. I couldn't find a way to come to a stop that I really liked at first. But I'm happy with this one. I hope you all have enjoyed my first novel-length fanfiction. I never thought I would write one, but there you go. Let me know what you think now that it's all over and done with. Any comments are appreciated. And if I left anything out, let me know.
I think I'm going to make a return to one shots. See if I still remember how to write them. Just kidding. I still remember. I already started one. Haha.