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Without doubt the three of them understood that, I thought.

"Anyway, he turned to me and said, 'Why don't you come over for dinner tomorrow night? I make a great frozen pot pie.'

"'Frozen? Some cook. I'm a cook, too,' I said. 'Not as good as Granny, but a lot better than my momma. I'll prepare the salad and Granny will let me bake an apple pie to bring.'

"His eyes looked like Rodney's when Rodney set them on the fun park.

" 'Really? You'll make an apple pie and come?'

" don't say I'm gonna do something if I don't mean to do it,' I told him with my eyes fixed as hard and firm as his could be.

"'Okay,' he said, smiling, 'Okay. It's a date,' he said.

"I laughed, but I was more than just happy about it. I was excited. Funny, how little things like that can give you so much hope," I muttered and reached for my water.

No one spoke. They all watched me drink.

"Granny got a saying for hope," I told them. "She says hope is what you cast out like a fish line and hook, hoping to pull in some happiness, but if you cast it too far or too often, the line snaps and you watch it all float away:'

"What's all that supposed to mean?" Misty asked, scrunching up her nose.

"It means if you spend all your time dreaming and hoping, you'll be disappointed. You've got to work hard at being happy and not expect it'll just come floating along and bite your hook," I said.

Doctor Marlowe smiled.

"Maybe we should be sitting around with her grandmother," Jade offered dryly.

"It hasn't hurt Star," Doctor Marlowe said.

Jade pulled in the corner of her mouth. She looked like her eyes were tearing up.

Suddenly, I realized something about her. She has nobody, I thought. That's it. That's what makes her so mean and nasty sometimes.

Maybe she'smot so rich after all.

7

"At first, Granny wasn't going to let me go to Steve's house for dinner.

"'What do you mean you and this boy are going

to make dinner for yourselves and you want to make a

pie? Where's his momma? Why doesn't she cook?' she

wanted to know.

"I explained what had happened to Steve's

mother without telling her about his father and his

drinking. I knew that would spook her, but she started

to ask more and more questions about his father until I

had to admit that I didn't know very much about him. "'You are going over to that man's house to eat

his supper and you don't know anything about him?