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When she and Landry finally made their goodbyes and were able to get out of the house, Calla was too relieved to even remember how nervous and jittery she’d been about going on this date.

Landry walked beside her as they talked about the weather. The sunny afternoon had turned into a very chilly evening, but Calla enjoyed the warmth of male-female companionship. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed it.

They took the L, the elevated train, into a downtown neighbourhood. After they got their tickets Landry bought a huge bucket of popcorn.

In the darkness of the movie theatre, they sat close together. As previews played, Landry leaned closer and asked her, “Should we see that one, too?”

“Okay,” she replied.

“It’s a date then,” he said. “What about this one?”

The next trailer was even better than the previous.

“That looks good.”

“Then it’s a date,” he said.

When the final preview came on, he leaned close once more. “Third time is a charm,” he told her. “Why don’t you agree to see this one with me, too.”

“It’s not showing until spring,” she pointed out.

“I’m still going to be on Canasta Street next spring,” he said. “Are you still going to be available?”

Fortunately the movie started and

Calla turned her attention to it without answering.

Like the book, the movie was filled with wrenching emotions and anger. Yet Calla didn’t think the movie was as powerful as the author’s written words had been, and she told Landry so as they filed out.

He took her hand in his own. “Our minds can capture a scene much more completely than the most sophisticated camera,” he agreed. “But at least the movie was mostly true to the spirit of the book.”

Outside the theatre the night had a surprise waiting for them. The sky was filled with big, fluffy snowflakes that drifted lazily toward the sidewalk.

“Would you like to do something else?” he asked her. “We could go to a club and listen to some music?”

“I don’t really feel like a lot of noise,” she said.

“How about we stop in here,” he said.

She glanced at the glass-fronted building. “Ice cream? You want to stop for ice cream while it’s snowing?”

He shrugged. “I know we’ll have the place to ourselves. And it fits in perfectly with my evil plan of getting you alone.”

He added a melodramatic chuckle.

Calla laughed. “You’re a lunatic.”

They sat in a table near the window.

“So Nathan didn’t seem all that comfortable with the idea of you dating,” he said.

Calla shrugged. “I think it caught him off guard. Things are challenging for him right now. His future is coming at him headlong and he’s very stuck on his girlfriend and she doesn’t want him going anywhere.”

Landry nodded.

“They have hit a rough patch, and to be honest, I hoped they would break up. But he believes there is something special in this girl. So I’m trying to think that way, too.”

“What’s her story?” Landry asked.

Calla shook her head. “I don’t really know,” she said. “Just lots of rumours. Her mother’s been bad news for a long time. I think Jazleen’s been passed around among her relatives.”

Landry nodded. “There’s a lot of that going on.”

“Jazleen doesn’t have any friends,”

Calla said. “She has no one she can count on, except Nathan. I keep thinking about that young woman from your school, the one with the book group. I wish Jazleen had something like that.”

“Well, she could have if she came back to school.”

“She could?”

“Sure, we’ve got a new group just getting started. I could have a place made for her, but she has to come to school.”

Calla shook her head. “She sure doesn’t seem interested in school.”

“Maybe the book group could spark her interest,” he said.

“What would it be like?”

“Most of the girls are young moms who were out part of last year either having their babies or caring for them. This is their chance to get back into school. A lot of these young women are as isolated as Jazleen.”