He had been put in a really bad position and it was all her fault. She had practised over and over what she would say to him. She would ask him home to supper in Chestnut Street. Everything would be all right again. But she didn’t get a chance to speak to him. Every time she approached him there seemed to be some reason that he had to hurry away. Finally she tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. ‘Shouldn’t you be back at your counter, Star?’ he said, and she saw that his face was very cold. Star felt as if she had swallowed a lot of iced water. Kenny was avoiding her. Kenny who had said he loved her. She returned to the pastries and scones with her heart heavy. * There was a postcard from Michael when Star got home. It was addressed to the Sullivan family and it said that he was travelling for a bit and would be in touch later when things got clearer. A friend of his was posting this in Poland. It did not mean, of course, that this was where he was. ‘God, that boy is getting harder to understand every day,’ Shay said.
