Amber's Song Read online

  Also by Olivia, Camryn, and Kaitlyn Pitts

  Ansley’s Big Bake Off (Book 1—The Daniels Sisters Series)

  Ashton’s Dancing Dreams (Book 2—The Daniels Sisters Series)

  And check out these titles by Alena Pitts!

  The Lena in the Spotlight Series

  Book 1—Hello Stars

  Book 2—Day Dreams and Movie Screens

  Book 3—Shining Night

  ZONDERKIDZ

  Amber’s Song

  Copyright © 2021 by For Girls Like You

  Requests for information should be addressed to:

  Zonderkidz, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

  ISBN 978-0-310-76963-7 (softcover)

  ISBN 978-0-310-76964-4 (ebook)

  Epub Edition February 2021 9780310769644

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  Zonderkidz is a trademark of Zondervan.

  Zondervan titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email [email protected].

  Art direction: Diane Mielke

  Interior illustrations: Lucy Truman

  Interior design: Denise Froehlich

  Printed in the United States of America

  * * *

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  From Olivia:

  To my mommy for always helping me find my happy place. And to all of my big sisters for being there for me.

  From For Girls Like:

  To our team for continuing to create, inspire and shape girls in the love of Jesus.

  To our support family for being God’s wind in our sails.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 1

  And there you go! Voila!” From her seat on the couch, my big sister, Lena, pronounced my hair done. “Take a look,” she said. She passed her cell phone down to me.

  I sat on the carpeted floor of my aunt’s living room with my back to Lena. Taking the phone, I looked at the photo she’d snapped of the back of my head. Pretty braids covered my head in neat rows and flowed down my back.

  I turned my head from side to side. “Wow!” I grinned. “Nice job, Lena.”

  Our Aunt Trini, who was sitting next to Lena on the couch, smiled proudly at both of us. “You’re good with your hands, Lena. Maybe it’s from all that guitar playing. It looks like you’ll be an expert at braiding hair in no time.”

  Lena shook her head. “I only did okay because you were right next to me. Without you showing me what to do—or fixing my mistakes—her hair would never have come out this nice.”

  “Well, I am a professional hairstylist,” Aunt Trini reminded her. “I have had years of experience. But that’s why you should believe me when I say you did a good job.”

  “Okay,” Lena said with a small smile.

  Springing to my feet, I handed the phone back to Lena just as Aunt Trini gave me a hand mirror to look into. I checked my braids out again and flipped some with my free hand. “Even though I’m not a professional,” I said, “I think they look great too. Thanks, Lena! I really love them!”

  “And while they’re very pretty,” Aunt Trini said, taking the mirror back from me, “they will also be practical for camp. The braids will keep your hair out of your face when you’re doing sports. But remember what I told you about washing your hair and protecting it with conditioner before going into the pool.”

  “I will,” I promised.

  Aunt Trini sifted through my braids playfully. “And you can always tie them in a long—not to mention fabulous—ponytail when you want to.”

  “A ‘fabulous ponytail!’” I laughed and jokingly did a small runway walk in front of the couch. I ended it with a toss of my head that flipped my braids behind my back. “Fabulous!”

  I heard laughter from my other two sisters who were sitting on the other couch. I looked over at them. But something about the way they giggled made me know they weren’t laughing at my goofing around. They were laughing about something else.

  Then I saw the reason! Middle-sister Ansley and my twin, Ashton, were sitting side-by-side on the couch just like Lena and Aunt Trini were. Only they were weaving tiny, funny-looking braids into our dad’s short, curly hair. They were also clipping pink, sparkly barrettes on the end of each braid. Dad didn’t know. Because even though he was sitting on the floor, like I had been, his eyes were closed and he was taking slow, deep breaths. He had fallen asleep! I clapped both hands over my mouth and giggled.

  Dad, my sisters, and I were all staying at Aunt Trinity’s house in Texas for a few weeks that summer. She had spent a lot of our visit showing us sisters how to style each other’s hair in different ways. We needed to learn because our mom knew lots of ways to style our hair but sadly she died last year. We really missed not having her around to love us and to teach us about God. But we also missed the smaller things she used to do—like our hair. Dad’s sister, our aunt Samantha, lived with us now. And she did our hair most of the time when we were home in Tennessee. But since it was Aunt Trini who had first taught Mom how to do hair, she decided that she was going to teach us girls too. At least as much as she could during our visit. The braids on my father’s head, though, made it look like some of us needed more practice!

  Trying to be as quiet as possible, I waved in Lena’s face, held a finger up to my lips, and pointed over at Dad. Lena and Aunt Trini both caught sight of his new hairdo just as the doorbell rang.

  Dad’s eyes flew open. He scrambled to his feet. “I’ll get it,” he mumbled.

  We sisters squealed with laughter.

  Aunt Trini stood up. “Um, wait, why don’t I . . .?”

  But in a few long strides, Dad had already made it to the front door. “Hello, Gio!” we heard him say.

  “Hi there . . . Mr. . . . Daniels,” a familiar voice replied. The surprised quiver in her voice made it sound like she was trying not to laugh.

  Ashton and I gasped. “Giovanna!” we said together and ran for the door.

  Giovanna Rossi was an old friend of ours from when we used to live in Texas. Since we moved away right after our mother died, we hadn’t seen her in person for a year. She had come to stay over at our aunt’s house for the night so we could all get an early start to camp the next day. Dad was going to drive us all there.

  When Ashton and I reached the front door, we saw Gio grinning widely as she stared up at our father’s hairdo.

  “Oh!” Dad brought a hand up to the top of his head and he began touching the barrettes. He burst out laughing. “As you can see, I just came from the salon.”

  “It’s really you,” Mrs. Rossi said in an amused voice.

  “I like to stay on trend,” Dad joked. “Come in, come in.” He opened the door wider.

  “Oh, is it okay if I don’t? I have Mr. Rossi waiting in the car.” Mrs. Rossi gestured behind her.

  “No worries.” Dad took Giovanna’s trunk from her mother’s hand. “Come on in, Gio.”

  After giving her mother a quick kiss and hug goodbye, Gio ran toward me and Ashton. She squealed. I squealed. Ashton squealed. Then we all took each other’s hands, jumped up and down, and squealed some more.

  When we stopped jumping and squealing, Gio panted. “I’ve missed you guys so much!”

  “We’ve missed you too,” I said, still holding her hands and swinging them back and forth. “Come on! We’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.”

  We brought Gio to a little study on the ground floor that had a daybed with a pullout bed underneath it. “You can sleep on the top or the bottom, or on the inflatable mattress.” Ashton pointed to the cardboard box that was leaning against the wall near the doorway. “It’s just not inflated yet.”

  “It doesn’t matter to me,” Gio said, flopping herself down on the floor. “I can sleep anywhere. Sleeping is like my hobby.” She laughed.

  It was true. Last year at camp, Gio was always the first to fall asleep, the last to wake up. Ashton usually fell asleep pretty easily too. I know because I was usually the last one to fall asleep. I didn’t like the dark. And I couldn’t sleep unless I kept a night-light on.

  My night-light! Did I remember to pack it? I wondered. I’d better check. I had meant to bring my night-light from home. It was shaped like a little cat and gave off a warm, cheerful glow when it was plugged in. I hadn’t checked to make sure I had packed it before because I hadn’t needed it the past few days. Once Ashton and I were in bed, Aunt
Trini always left our bedroom door open a crack and a dim light on in the hallway for us.

  I dragged out my trunk from under a nearby desk and began to look through its compartments. Hmm. Not in the front pocket . . . not in the side pocket . . . not in the other side pocket. Gosh, I hope I didn’t leave it back home! I felt my heart begin to thump fast. I unzipped the small pouch that held my toothbrush and toothpaste with shaking hands and began to search through it. No night-light. Maybe it’s somewhere under all my clothes. I sighed deeply. The only way to make sure was to take out everything Aunt Sam had neatly packed and what I had secretly packed. I tried to hide what I was doing from Ashton, who was busy chatting with Gio, but it was impossible. I took out a stack of T-shirts, some pairs of shorts, some sneakers . . .

  Ashton stopped talking to Gio and frowned. “What are you do—?” Then she let out a tiny gasp as she caught sight of something soft and white in my suitcase. “You packed your kitty coat? In the middle of summer?”

  My “kitty coat” was a fluffy, white, fake-fur jacket that had been the last present my mother had given me. When it was new, I wore it practically every day and Mom started calling me her “fluffy little kitty” whenever she saw me with it on. She would even pet me by stroking my “fur” as I snuggled up against her. Soon “fluffy little kitty” got shortened to just “kitty.” And it became Mom’s special nickname for me. Nowadays “Kitty” was the nickname that my whole family called me privately at home.

  “Yes . . .” I said. But seeing the look of disbelief on Ashton’s face made my face burn. I turned away from her and suddenly noticed my cat night-light tucked in the side of the suitcase, protected by some rolled-up socks. Feeling a wave of relief pass over me, I snatched it up and gave it a little hug. Then I began covering up my kitty coat with the T-shirts and shorts I had just taken out of the suitcase.

  “When do you think you’re going to get the chance to wear it at camp?” Ashton went on. “Plus, it’s going to get so dirty if you do!” She turned to Gio. “Can you believe that? She packed a coat for a Texas summer!” Then she turned back to me only to shake her head. “Did you already forget how ridiculously hot it gets here in the summertime?”

  I felt my heart give a pang. I knew everything she said was right, but I didn’t care. “But our cabins are air-conditioned,” I said, still not looking at her. “You know how cool they can get. I can wear the coat like . . . a kind of robe.”

  From the corner of my eye, I could see Ashton shake her head again. “You should have just brought a robe then.”

  Even though we were twins, Ashton and I were not the identical kind. We didn’t look alike and our personalities were quite different.

  For instance, Ashton was more serious than me. She could also be very practical, which is why she didn’t understand why I would want to bring my fluffy coat to camp. She probably even thought it was silly of me. (I could be silly sometimes! It made life more fun!) But I wasn’t bringing the coat with me to be silly. It was just that sometimes wearing it made me feel like I was getting hugs from my mom. Plus, Mom had given me the coat more than a year ago. I had grown since then. And although I wasn’t much bigger than I was the year before, I was taller than Ashton now—and even Ansley—so I had the feeling that it wouldn’t be much longer before I grew out of my coat. I wanted to wear it every chance I could. Even if I had to sleep in it!

  Suddenly Gio laughed. “I really did miss you guys!” she said. She tucked a lock of hair that had slipped out of her ponytail behind her ear as she looked back and forth from me to Ashton.

  “We missed you too!” Ashton and I said together. We got on either side of her and hugged her.

  “Twin cuddles!” Gio said. She wrapped an arm around each of us and gave us a squeeze.

  When we broke apart, Gio jumped up and pointed to the small, curvy case that leaned against the wall near the door. “What is that? A tiny guitar or something?”

  “It’s a ukulele,” I said. I snatched it up and brought it over to show her. After I unzipped the case, I showed it to her and plucked a few strings. “See?”

  “So basically, yeah, a tiny guitar,” Gio said, with a grin. She looked me over with wide and shining eyes. “I didn’t know you could play!”

  “Yeah, well, Lena’s been teaching me.”

  “Maybe you’ll get the chance to be a leader of song or something,” Gio said, running a finger lightly over the ukulele strings. The theme at camp this year was “All Creation Sings Praise,” which, according to the brochure, meant that there would be singing classes as well as outdoor sports and nature activities. “You know,” Gio continued as I put the uke back in the case, “since you got to sing that solo at the talent show.”

  I kind of wanted to just curl up in a blanket and hide when she said that. I mean, actually at first it felt like my heart grew wings and zoomed up my chest at her words. Part of me loved-loved-loved the idea of singing on stage. And wanted to do it again as soon as possible. But another part of me froze up inside at the very idea of having to perform in front of a lot of people. On the day of the school talent show that she mentioned, I had been so nervous I thought I was going to throw up before I sang! (I didn’t.) What ended up helping me a lot was that Ashton was on stage with me that day. Although she didn’t sing, she danced. But at least I hadn’t been all alone up there. I just shrugged at Gio’s suggestion. “Maybe.” I put the ukulele back in the case and then on top of the desk. “I’m not bringing it with me. It’s Lena’s,” I explained.

  “Girls!” Aunt Trini called from the kitchen down the hall. “Anyone for some freshly popped popcorn?”

  Gio, Ashton, and I all exchanged glances. ‘Anyone’? Make that all of us! “Coming!” We all yelled together, and we ran out of the room.

  Chapter 2

  The next morning, before heading off to camp, we all ran around the house making sure we hadn’t forgotten anything. We looked like blurs streaking through the rooms. And even though Lena was staying behind with Aunt Trini, she helped us get ready by helping with breakfast and carrying our bags to the minivan.

  When Lena took my duffel, Ashton whispered to me, “I hope you remembered to leave your kitty coat here.”

  I said nothing. I just watched as Lena safely tucked my bag in the back of the van and I smiled a tiny smile. My coat was still inside of it.

  After enjoying a noisy and excited breakfast and packing a lunch to eat on the road, we all stood in front of the car and formed a circle. Then, taking each other’s hands, we closed our eyes and listened to Dad as he led us in prayer.

  “Heavenly Father,” he said, “thank you for this day and the opportunity to be a part of this adventure. We don’t take your kindness for granted. We ask for your protection and your guidance as the girls head off for camp. Speak to their hearts, Holy Spirit, and use their time to grow them closer to you. In Jesus Name, Amen.”

  Then, as he settled into the driver’s seat and went over a few last-minute things with Aunt Trini, Lena gestured for us girls to gather together.

  “It’s been a while since we’ve done this,” she whispered to Ashton, Ansley, and me. “But since we are going to be separated for a little bit, I think it’s a good time for it.” She stuck out her right hand in the middle of the circle we had formed and began to say, “Even in times when we’re apart . . .”

  Ansley placed her hand on top of Lena’s, Ashton placed her hand on top of Ansley’s, and I placed my right hand on top of them all. Then we joined Lena in saying, “The Daniels sisters promise with all our hearts that we’ll always be . . .” And we began to chant, “Together Four-ever! Together Four-ever! Together Four-ever! Together Four-ever!”

  Then we broke our hands apart and cheered and hooted, “Woooooo!” as we jumped up and down.

  Finally it was time to go!

  Ansley, Ashton, Gio, and I all got in the back seats of the minivan and buckled in.

  “I just want to make one stop before we get on the highway,” Dad told us as he adjusted his rearview mirror.

  “You need to get gas?” I guessed.

  “Right.” Dad chuckled. “Then make that two stops!”

  So our first stop ended up being at the gas station. But the second one turned out to be at our favorite old donut shop! When he pulled up to the store we all cheered. And when he bought a dozen donuts we cheered again. When we set off on the road again, Dad gave us permission to each have a donut immediately if we wanted, and we cheered a third time.