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Carole exclaimed. “You haven’t made your secret-recipe cookies for ages, Dad!” She stopped to think. “In fact, I can’t remember the last time you made them.”
    “Well, this is a special occasion,” Colonel Hanson said. He pulled out a chair for Mrs. Dana, then quickly poured four glasses of cold milk. Soon all four of them were seated around the kitchen table, munching happily on the warm, delicious cookies.
    “Now this is what I call an after-school snack,” Marie said appreciatively, licking some melted chocolate off her fingers.
    “Actually, I think this qualifies as an after-Marine-Corps snack,” Carole joked.
    Everyone laughed. “I guess that means it’s also a pre-flight snack,” Colonel Hanson said to Mrs. Dana. Then he smiled at Marie. “And a welcome-to-our-home snack, too.”
    Carole took another cookie and dunked it in her milk. She was proud of her father for making Marie feel so welcome.Colonel Hanson had always gotten along well with all of Carole’s friends. It was just one of the many things she appreciated about having him as a father.
    A few minutes later Mrs. Dana glanced at her watch. “Oh, my!” she said, jumping to her feet. “I’d better get a move on if I don’t want to miss my plane.”
    Colonel Hanson got up, too. “We’ll all walk you to the car.”
    Outside, Mrs. Dana turned to Marie. “Good-bye, darling,” she said, grabbing Marie and giving her a tight hug. “Be good while I’m gone.”
    “I will,” Marie said, her voice a little muffled by her mother’s jacket. She pulled back. “Have fun in Europe.”
    Mrs. Dana hugged her again. “I’ll try. And I hope you have a nice time here with Mitch and Carole. Have fun on your birthday, but save some celebrating to do when I get back.”
    “Thanks, Mom.”
    Finally Mrs. Dana let go of Marie long enough to give Colonel Hanson a big hug and a quick kiss. “Thanks so much for taking care of my baby for me, Mitch,” she said.
    “It will be a pleasure,” he assured her. “Don’t worry about a thing. Carole and I have it all under control.”
    Mrs. Dana gave Carole a hug, too. “Many thanks to you too, Carole,” she said. “It’s nice to know Marie will be staying with a friend.”
    “You’re welcome,” Carole replied. “Have a nice trip.”
    Finally Mrs. Dana gave Marie one last big hug and then got into the car. Carole, her father, and Marie waved and shouted good-byes as the car pulled out of the driveway and moved off down the road.
    When it was out of sight, Carole turned to Marie. “Come on,” she said. “I’ll help you unpack.”
    “Good idea,” Colonel Hanson said. “Meanwhile, I’ll start dinner. Marie, I hope you like chicken and rice.”
    “Sure,” Marie replied. “I’ll eat almost anything that doesn’t eat me first.”
    As Carole and Marie went upstairs and started to arrange Marie’s things in the guest dresser, aided by the now wide-awake Snowball, Carole couldn’t help thinking once again how much Marie had changed since she’d known her. The sullen, morose girl she’d first encountered at the hospital was gone. Marie was still direct and honest in her manner, as she had been then. But now she laughed more than she frowned, and she was friendlier and more talkative. Carole knew that all those changes meant that Marie had started to recover from her father’s death and move on with her own life. It was the same process Carole herself had experienced after her mother had died. The fact that they’d both survived such a traumatic loss made Carole feel closer to Marie than anything else—it almost made them seem like
real
sisters.
    Carole glanced over at Marie, wondering if she should share her thoughts. But Marie was looking annoyed. “Ican’t believe this,” she said irritably, peering into one almost-empty suitcase and then the other.
    “What’s wrong?” Carole asked.
    “I forgot my portable CD player,” Marie said, checking the larger suitcase once more. Then she