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Chapter 6

I’ve Had Dinner Guests Before, Dear

Gwen’s parents were darned near giddy with excitement when she asked them if she could have dinner at Claire’s house the next day.

“You made a new friend? That’s wonderful, Gueneviere! What’s she like?”

“I don’t know, Mom. She’s like me. She likes to read, and she’s teaching me to play mah-jongg.”

“Mah-jongg? I’ve never met anyone who can play mah-jongg,” chimed in her dad, for once interested in the conversation.

“Yeah, it’s a cool game. Hard. You have to really pay attention and plan out your strategy.”

“It’s like bridge, right?” asked her dad.

“I think it’s more like rummy,” corrected her mom. Gwen thought that this would be when they cut her out of the conversation, but Mom turned back to her. “Well, I think this is just wonderful.”

“We also want to have a book club. It’s only two people, but that’s okay because we can talk about books we like. If anyone else joined, they would want to talk about stupid books. We like history and books about real life. Today, while we played, we talked about The Diary of Anne Frank. She’s read that one too, so we talked about it. Claire has a great memory too. It was fun.” Gwen was visibly excited now, talking about her day. “She also lent me two books. Both are World War II era too. We thought we would stay with that theme for a bit. I’m going to start one tonight so we can talk about it tomorrow.” Her mom and dad listened and looked at each other, smiling. They were so happy to see their Gwen so happy. They worried so much about their daughter, and it bothered them that she seemed to have no friends. This was a good omen.

“Well, Claire sounds like a wonderful friend,” beamed Gwen’s mom. “I would like to call her parents though. I don’t like you just going to someone’s house if we don’t know them.”

“Okay, Miss Ann figured you would want to talk to her.” Gwen reached into her pocket and pulled out the little slip of paper Miss Ann had given her with their number. “And don’t ask about Claire’s dad. He died.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Mom.

“Yeah, so don’t ask to talk to her dad, please.”

“I got it. Anything else?”

“No,” answered Gwen. “Yes, please don’t make a big deal over this. I don’t want them to think I’ve never been to a friend’s house before.”

“Got it. What is Miss Ann’s last name?”

“Lambertson, but she prefers Miss Ann.”

“That’s fine, but the first time you speak to someone, you should be respectful, so I will call her Mrs. Lambertson.”

Gwen rolled her eyes. “She asked me to call her Miss Ann.”

Gwen’s dad joined the conversation again. “Well, I just think this is wonderful! I’m so happy for you, Gwen.”

“I’m not getting married, Dad. It’s just a new friend.” Gwen rolled her eyes, but inside, she was happy too. She smiled at her dad to soften the eye roll. This was all new to her, and she didn’t know how to act.

As Gwen cleared the table, her mom picked up the kitchen phone to call Miss Ann. Gwen hung around so she could hear her mom’s end of the conversation.

“Hello, Mrs. Lambertson? This is Dr. Marsh, Gueneviere’s mom…Okay, Ann, and you can call me Madeline…Well, thank you. She is a sweetheart.” Gwen smiled. She knew Miss Ann had just said something nice about her. “Gwen had wonderful things to say about Claire as well…I am too. The girls seem to have a lot in common…Yes, Gwen mentioned that you had invited her to dinner. That was very kind…No, she has no allergies and is not a picky eater at all…Well, thank you so much for having her over. We would love to have Claire visit with us soon as well. If you don’t mind, I would like to pick Gwen up after dinner tomorrow so you and I have a chance to meet…That sounds wonderful. Thank you again.”

When her mom hung up, Gwen immediately said, “Why did you have to do that?”

“What?” Gwen’s mom started rinsing the dishes and placing them into the dishwasher.

“Say you wanted to come and pick me up. It sounds like you don’t trust her!”

“Gueneviere.” She stopped what she was doing and turned toward her daughter. “If I didn’t trust her, I would not let you go there in the first place, which you did today without giving me a chance to make their acquaintance, I might add.”

“Sorry, it was spur-of-the-moment, and I didn’t think you would mind.” Gwen knew she was supposed to ask permission before doing anything after school but seldom did anything, so she hadn’t even thought about it.

Returning her attention to the dishes, Madeline responded, “From now on, if you go anyplace after school, please find a phone and call me.”

“You’re never in your office, Mom,” said Gwen, still trying to defend herself.

“Actually I am, but I also have a secretary. You know that. Leave a message with Mrs. Connor.” Madeline looked at her daughter. “I’m your mother, Gwen. I need to know where you are.”

Gwen rolled her eyes. “Okay.”

“Be sure to invite Claire here for dinner soon, okay?” Madeline thought for a second and knew that Gwen would not do as she asked. She closed the dishwasher and continued as she dried her hands. “Actually let’s plan on this coming Tuesday, okay? I can come home a bit early that day and make a nice dinner. How does that sound?”

“That sounds great, Mom. But I want you and Dad to relax, okay? Please don’t make a big deal in front of Claire.”

Now it was Madeline’s turn to roll her eyes. “I’ve had dinner guests before, dear. I know how to behave.”