It had just occurred to her that she was going away, very soon, to college. She was going to live in the dormitory there. She wouldn’t live with Sara and Gabriel again. Her holidays would be spent with fellow students, if anyone even stayed on campus—didn’t the campus close for holidays?

“I can see the wheels turning,” he mused, glancing down at her. “You’ll come to us for holidays and vacations,” he said. “Sara and I will be here. At least until you’re through college. Okay?”

“But Sara has a place in Wyoming—” she began.

“We have a place in Wyoming, and we have a competent manager in charge of it,” he interrupted. “Besides, she likes it here in Texas.”

“I did notice she was up very late last night on the computer,” she said under her breath.

“New expansion on her game,” he whispered. “She and her unknown pal are running battlegrounds together. She’s very excited.”

Michelle laughed softly. “We should probably tell her.”

“No way. It’s the first time I’ve seen her happy, really happy, in many years,” he said wistfully. “Dreams are precious. Let her keep them.”

“I suppose it won’t hurt,” she replied. “But she’s not getting a lot of sleep.”

“She hasn’t slept well in a long time, despite therapy and prescriptions. This gaming might actually solve a few problems for her.”

“You think?”

“We can wait and see, at least.” He glanced at his watch, the numbers glowing in the darkness. “I have some paperwork to get through. You coming in?”

“In just a minute. I do love meteor showers.”

“So do I. If you like astronomy, we’ll have to buy a telescope.”

“Could we?” she asked enthusiastically.

“Of course. I’ll see about it.”

“I would love to look at Mars!”

“So would I.”

“I would love to go there,” she ventured.

He shrugged. “Not going to happen.”

“It was worth a try.”

He chuckled, ruffled her hair and went back inside.

Graduation day was going to be long and exciting. Michelle had gone to the rehearsal, which had to be held inside because it was pouring rain that day. She had hoped it wouldn’t rain on graduation day.

Her gown and cap fit perfectly. She wasn’t going to graduate with honors, but she was at least in the top 10 percent of her class. Her grades had earned her a small scholarship, which would pay for textbooks. She didn’t want Gabriel and Sara to be out of pocket on her account, regardless of their financial worth.

Her gown was white. It made her look almost angelic, with her long blond hair down to her waist, her peaches-and-cream complexion delicately colored, her gray eyes glittering with excitement.