Lu looked at the crowd again. They were in a mood for fun, and the obvious choice for them would be something jazzy like “Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree.” But maybe there was a way to turn them. After all, this was a wedding, and people got sentimental at weddings. And, as the maestro had predicted, they had been drinking since before noon. So if she could just find a way to make them all a little teary … She turned to look at Miss Gaspari—now Mrs. Benedetto—who was sitting at the head table. She was staring at Lu with a big smile, waiting for the Panis Angelicus. Lu knew what she had to do. She leaned into the microphone and said to the room, “Ladies and gentlemen, on this happy day, my teacher—the new Mrs. Benedetto—has asked me to perform a special song that she taught me. I'm going to ask her to come up here now and we'll do it together for you.” If listening to the bride sing on her own wedding day didn't soften up this house, Lu didn't know what would.

It took very little to persuade Mrs. Benedetto to come to the platform to sing. Almost before Lu knew it, the woman who had been so much more than a teacher to her, who had believed in her more than anyone, even Pop, was at her side. And as they waited for the music to start, Lu realized she wasn't thinking about softening up the house anymore. It hit her that she was going to lose Mrs. Benedetto because she was married now and married women didn't teach. After they left the restaurant today, Lu would never be Mrs. Benedetto's star pupil again.