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Jake liked her too, and he enjoyed handicapping Grandmother. Hudson's newly hired servants.

"This one might last," he told me. "She's just old-fashioned enough to please the queen."

I laughed and then asked him if Mrs. Hudson knew how often and how much he made fun of her.

"Oh, I don't make fun of her, princess. I kid her a bit now and then, but she knows I admire her. She knows," he said, his voice trailing off as his eyes grew distant and misty.

"You knew her when she was younger, Jake. Was she always so strong and independent?"

"Yes," he said without hesitation. He gazed at me and smiled. "She was always someone who knew what she wanted and got what she wanted when she wanted it. Defeat and disappointment just aren't in her vocabulary. I pity the fool who gets in her way," he added. "Why?" he asked, suddenly thinking about my question. "Is she threatening to put you in the dungeon again?"

"No," I said. I smiled to myself. If Jake only knew that Grandmother Hudson had put me in her will, wouldn't he be shocked? Or would he? I wondered. He seemed to know a lot more about everyone in this family than I'd expect a chauffeur to know.

He stared at me for a long moment and then shook his head with a smile. On the way home from school, we stopped to look at his horse. There was such a sense of contentment about him when he looked at the colt. Surely he would have been a wonderful husband and father, I thought.

"How come you never married and settled down, Jake?" I asked him.

"I don't know, princess," he said. "It just wasn't in the cards, I guess."

"You think things happen because they're destined to happen, Jake?"

He turned to me with that half smile on his face again.

"I know you're a pretty smart young lady and you read a lot and think a lot, Rain, but I just don't think about it all that much. I take it as it comes, sort of like that leaf there blowin' in the wind," he said nodding at a leaf that had leaped off a branch and danced its way toward the tall grass. "Wherever 1 land, that's where I am."

"Maybe that's the best way to be," I said.

He shrugged.

"Don't know. Like I said. I don't think about it," he told me and with his eyes filled with awe and amusement, he continued gazing at his beautiful horse.

I really didn't know how old Jake was, but from what he had told me and from what he had described, I figured him to be as old or even a little older than Grandmother Hudson. They were so different and yet, when they looked at each other, I saw something between them, some little acknowledgment, some special exchange of understanding that only they could hear. How I wished I could someday tell Jake the truth about myself and this family and listen to what he had to tell me about it all. Perhaps I was looking at him as I wished I was able to look upon the father I never had.

Just another dream, I thought. Just another dream. I put it away and went on with my days and nights, concentrating on what was real and what had to be.

Toward the end of the week, I was surprised by a phone call from Brody. Since I hadn't heard from him or heard Grandmother Hudson mention him, I forgot about his possible--visit. He phoned early in the evening. As soon as I heard his voice, my heart began a mad pitter-patter. He sounded very nervous, too.

"How's the terrible play going?" he kidded.

"Terrible. Everyone, including our director, is getting anxious about it. Some of the actors still don't know their lines well enough," I told him, which wasn't a lie.

"At least you don't have to worry about scenery, right?"

"Yes, but Mr. Bufurd is trying to do some special things with lighting and it's not working as well as he'd hoped it would," I said. "I really don't think you should bother coming. It's not worth the trip."

"I'm really coming to see my grandmother," he offered. "She's getting along in her years and after this recent scare, I feel guilty about not being there more often. I mean, I've got my own car. It's not a problem."

"Don't you have studying to do too? Your mother said you were battling to be the valedictorian next year."

"I don't really care about it. I've been offered a full scholarship to play football at U.S.C. after I graduate next year if I want," he said. "You know where that is, right?"

I was too nervous to think.

"That's Los Angeles."

"Oh."

"Pretty far away. Where do you think you'll end up going to school?"