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“I don’t think so.”

“I see. Well, Donald really wanted you here for dinner. He was adamant about it.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. He’ll be home soon.” She thought a moment and then said, “I’m surprised you didn’t ask for an autographed picture or something, or did you?”

“No, but maybe I will next time I see them, if you want one.”

“Me? No, I thought you would want one. Bradley Garfield is almost everywhere you look these days. Why, last night on Entertainment Tonight, they did a good ten minutes on his growing career.”

I didn’t want to say it because I could see she would take it wrong, but I thought that the more I made of his parents’ fame, the more annoyed Ryder would be with me. Probably all of his former friends, including prospective girlfriends, were gaga over them, which I’m sure made him uncomfortable. Anyone in his place would have to wonder if his friends were friends with him solely because of who his parents were.

I

nstead of saying all of that, I said, “Whenever we saw movie stars in the street, my mother would say they put their underwear on one leg at a time, just like us.”

Lately, I hadn’t been mentioning my mother or our lives in the street, but it just seemed to fit.

“Oh, she was right. Of course. We’re too celebrity-crazy in this country.”

I glanced at the miniature grandfather clock on the fireplace mantel.

“I’d better get a start on my homework,” I said.

“You didn’t do any schoolwork there? I thought you shared classes.”

“I wasn’t there that long. Maybe we would have if I had stayed for dinner.”

“Are you going to see him again?” she asked before I could turn to leave. “I mean, like on a date or something?”

“I think so. We didn’t have a chance to talk about doing anything this weekend. I know we’re going to dinner Friday night.”

“That’s right.”

“I might invite him here next Tuesday. We have a day off because of teacher conferences. As long as it’s all right with you, I mean.”

“Oh. Yes. Fine, fine. I’d rather know whom you were seeing and when than see you sneaking off like Kiera used to do. However, I do hope he has a more pleasant demeanor next time,” she added, and rose.

I didn’t respond. I headed out and up to my room really to start my homework. A little more than an hour later, Mrs. Duval told me that Mr. March was home and dinner would be served in about an hour. He sent her up also to tell me that I should wear something more formal than my regular school outfits. That request puzzled me. Unless we had guests, he never asked me to dress for dinner these days.

Immediately, I went to the closet to find something. While I was looking, my phone rang. I was hoping it might be Ryder, but it was Kiera.

“I followed your advice,” she said, “and called my father today.”

“Oh, good.”

“It wasn’t good. He barely spoke to me. He said he was in the middle of a meeting.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“He was supposed to call me back after the meeting, but he hasn’t.”

“Maybe he will now?”

“Why? Is he home?”

“Just got home. I know he’s going to be here for dinner.”