Rosalee looked at Dennis’s beet-red face and laughed. “Are you asking me for a date, Dennis, because if you are, the answer is yes, I would love to go to the party with you. No, I have not asked Jason. Even if I did, he would feel obligated to go, and I know him well enough to know he would not be comfortable at such an affair. I don’t even know if I will be comfortable.”

“You would! Really! Wow! This might be a good time to tell you I can’t dance. I have two left feet,” Dennis confessed, his face even redder if that was possible.

Rosalee laughed out loud. Dennis loved the sound, knowing there hadn’t been much laughter in her life these past few years. “That’s okay, I can’t dance either. No time to do things like that growing up. And then, when school was over, I had to get a job. I always thought maybe I could teach myself. Amalie said she would teach me back in the beginning but . . . well, it just never happened. I understand you can fake it on the dance floor if you just shuffle your feet and sway to the music. I read that in a magazine. I think that might work. We could shuffle together, and maybe no one will notice.” Rosalee giggled.

I like this girl, Dennis thought to himself. Eat your heart out, Jason Woods, he thought smugly. Your loss is my gain. He was instantly sorry for his uncharitable thought but not sorry enough that it bothered him. He convinced himself it was a guy thing, and all was fair in love and war.

“It’s definite then, we have a date for Saturday night?”

Rosalee smiled. “It’s definite, Dennis, we have a date for Saturday night. I want to be a nurse!” Rosalee blurted. “When I leave here, I’m going to look into it. I realized when I was taking care of Amalie, or nursing her through her . . . you know, that I want to help people. I have to save up the money for the tuition first, though, so it might take me a while.”

“I only have eighty-eight dollars in the bank, or I’d loan it to you,” Dennis said craftily as he watched Rosalee’s reaction.

“I have $216. I’m frugal. I know how to pinch pennies. I learned that from my parents. And the other thing they taught us all is only buy what you can afford. Sometimes, I wish I had a credit card, and I could just shoot the moon. I don’t like debt.”

“Yeah, yeah, credit cards are good for emergencies but sometimes just knowing you have one and you can use it for something frivolous can get you into a lot of trouble.”

“That’s what my papa said. He’s never wrong. Oh, well, maybe someday I’ll get one. Right now, that isn’t important.”