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Chapters (54)
  1. Cover
  2. Colophon
  3. ALSO BY RICHARD PAUL EVANS
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  7. Dedication
  8. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  9. Epigraph
  10. Grace
  11. THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL
  12. CHAPTER One
  13. CHAPTER Two
  14. CHAPTER Three
  15. CHAPTER Four
  16. CHAPTER Five
  17. CHAPTER Six
  18. CHAPTER Seven
  19. CHAPTER Eight
  20. CHAPTER Nine
  21. CHAPTER Ten
  22. CHAPTER Eleven
  23. CHAPTER Twelve
  24. CHAPTER Thirteen
  25. CHAPTER Fourteen
  26. CHAPTER Fifteen
  27. CHAPTER Sixteen
  28. CHAPTER Seventeen
  29. CHAPTER Eighteen
  30. CHAPTER Nineteen
  31. CHAPTER Twenty
  32. CHAPTER Twenty-one
  33. CHAPTER Twenty-two
  34. CHAPTER Twenty-three
  35. CHAPTER Twenty-four
  36. CHAPTER Twenty-five
  37. CHAPTER Twenty-six
  38. CHAPTER Twenty-seven
  39. CHAPTER Twenty-eight
  40. CHAPTER Twenty-nine
  41. CHAPTER Thirty
  42. CHAPTER Thirty-one
  43. CHAPTER Thirty-two
  44. CHAPTER Thirty-three
  45. CHAPTER Thirty-four
  46. CHAPTER Thirty-five
  47. CHAPTER Thirty-six
  48. CHAPTER Thirty-seven
  49. CHAPTER Thirty-eight
  50. CHAPTER Thirty-nine
  51. EPILOGUE
  52. A LETTER FROM RICHARD PAUL EVANS
  53. JOIN THE RICHARD PAUL EVANS MAILING LIST, GET A FREE GIFT AND HELP A CHILD
  54. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This is the standard reply millions of schoolkids every day give to their parents and one that no parent has ever questioned, even though this was probably one of the few times it was technically true.

“Look at that,” my father said. “Next year’s Buick Electra. That is the future of the automobile.” He spoke like he’d just had a religious experience, which might have been the case.

“Do you think you could cash my check tonight?” I asked my mom.

“It’s too late. The bank’s closed. I’ll have to do it tomorrow on my lunch break. You don’t want me to just put it in your savings account?”

“No.”

“How come?”

“I don’t know. It’s just good to have some cash around.”

“You’ve been such a good saver, don’t get out of the habit.”

“You should save for one of those babies,” my father said, still ogling the Buick. “What a head-turner.”

My mother shook her head.

I took the check out of my pocket and gave it to my mother. “I’m gonna go,” I said.

“Do you have homework?”

“Uh, no. Not today.”

I went into the kitchen and made myself a glass of Ovaltine, then headed to my bedroom. The lights were off. As I climbed under the covers, Joel, who was always asleep by eight, asked, “Where were you today?”

“Work.”

“Before that.”

I hesitated. “School.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“Yeah, I was.”

“Liars go to the devil.”

“I’m not lying.”

There was silence, then Joel’s voice softened. “I’m not going to tell anyone.”

I breathed out. “Okay, I played hooky. You satisfied?”

He didn’t say anything.

“How’d you know, anyway?”

“I waited for you at the bus stop. I wanted to get a malt or something.”

“Oh.”

“You spend all your time with that girl.”

“You have a problem with that?”

“No,” he said.

The sadness in his voice made me feel bad. “I’m having a birthday party for her tomorrow. She wants you to come.”

“Really?”

“She said so.”

“I’ll think about it.” Neither of us spoke for a minute, then Joel asked, “Do you want me to come?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“I’m buying a chocolate cake from Heller’s.”

“Okay. I’ll think about it.”

CHAPTER Twelve

I don’t know why we’re
celebrating my birthday.
It would have been
better that I’d never been born.

GRACE’S DIARY

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 17