Summary

The narrative returns to Lu’s childhood. It is her seventh birthday, and her father says that she can have a party and invite all of the girls in her class. However, she does not want to because she does not have any friends. Instead, she ends up going ice skating with her father, AJ, and their new next door neighbor, Miss Maude.

One day, AJ and Noel are talking while they watch Miss Maude from AJ’s window. Lu listens in from the room next door. They say things that Lu really does not understand. A week later, Lu’s father goes to see the neighbor and gives her a bottle of wine as a gift. He likes her, and Lu starts going to her house on Friday. Miss Maude starts coming over to...