Laura said. “Fifteen months had passed since I’d last been home, so I was surprised by how much she’d grown. She’d always had Marilyn’s body type, but what had been willowy on Marilyn was lanky on Tiffany. She was twelve now and nearly as tall as I was. “We enjoyed a splendid first day together. I took her to the shopping mall near my apartment and Tiffany was awed by the size and number of stores. I threw off all Fergus’s teachings about healthy food and treated us to drinks at the Orange Julius stand and doughnuts and caramel corn. We spent ages in the pet store watching the puppies and the tropical fish and pondering who would want a tarantula for a pet. Tiff said she might, but she’d rather have a chameleon. Or a grass snake. In the toy store we fondled the stuffed animals and admired the expensive, imported dolls. In the bookstore, we browsed languidly. “I didn’t want to go home. I was worried Fergus would be there, waiting, because I knew he’d stop our fun. So, instead I took Tiffany to a pizza place for dinner and afterwards we went to the drive-in to see Star Wars.
