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the Reeds’ bell right away. Madison pressed it again.
    All at once, the big wooden door flew wide open. Eliot stood there, both hands on the doorknob. He scrunched up his nose and glared at Madison.
    She cracked a bright smile and started to move inside, but then, SLAM!
    The door shut in her face.
    She knocked lightly. “Eliot? It’s Maddie. Do you remember me? Eliot? Could you get your mommy?”
    Madison rang the bell again so his mom would hear it.
    Once again the door flew open and Eliot was there. He scowled this time, but didn’t slam. Madison reached out so the door wouldn’t close in her face.
    “Madison!” Mrs. Reed called. She was huffing, out of breath. “I was upstairs putting Becka back down for a little morning nap. She’s always extra sleepy in the mornings after her bottle. How are you?”
    Madison shrugged. “Fine,” she said.
    Eliot grabbed his mom’s leg.
    “I’m excited to be here,” Madison said. “Should I come inside?”
    “Of course you should come in!” Mrs. Reed said, chuckling. She shooed Eliot off her leg while she guided Madison into the living room. “Have a seat, sweetie,” Mrs. Reed said.
    Eliot lunged for his mother again as she sat on the sofa. Unfortunately, he landed on the floor.
    He started to cry immediately.
    “Oh, Eliot,” Mrs. Reed said. “Come here.” She lifted him into her lap, and he popped his thumb into his mouth. “As you can see,” Mrs. Reed explained, “he’s excited, too. It’ll probably take him a little while to get used to you.”
    Madison didn’t mind. She gazed at his blue eyes, lost in his nervous stare. “How are you, Eliot?” Madison asked.
    Eliot just kept staring.
    “I thought that today we could spend part of this morning here. I can give you a tour of the house and show you where things are. Then later this afternoon we can go over to Lake Dora for a swim at the pool,” Mrs. Reed said.
    “Thwim!” Eliot cried. He sucked hard on his thumb. “Thwim! Thwim! Thwim!”
    “Eliot loves the water,” Mrs. Reed said. “As I’m sure you guessed.”
    “Some friends of mine are actually junior lifeguards there this summer,” Madison said.
    “Isn’t that nice?” Mrs. Reed said. She unclipped a baby monitor from her side pocket and turned up the volume. “I hope she stays down for a nice nap. She has been going through a real growth spurt lately. She’s fussy all the time.”
    “Ussy! Ussy!” Eliot said.
    “Now, Eliot, you don’t talk like a baby, do you?” Mrs. Reed said. “I think that Madison deserves to hear you talk like a big boy.”
    Eliot stared. He said nothing. The thumb fell away from his mouth.
    “Do you want to play with some toys?” Madison asked him.
    Eliot shrugged. “Nope,” he said. The thumb went back into the mouth.
    “Don’t mind him,” Mrs. Reed said.
    “Oh, I don’t,” Madison said. She didn’t know if she was supposed to be doing something—anything—to distract Eliot.
    Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
    A muffled cry crackled over the monitor.
    Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
    “Drat!” Mrs. Reed said. “Let me go get Becka and change her diaper. Will you two be all right down here?”
    Madison nodded.
    Eliot let go of the thumb once again. “Mama!” he cried out.
    Mrs. Reed pushed him away gently. “I’ll be right back,” she said.
    Eliot started to wail.
    “I’ll be right back,” Mrs. Reed said a second time. “I promise.” She kissed Eliot on top of his head and handed him a toy truck.
    He dove onto the floor and pushed it around on the carpet. Madison could see a little tear on his cheek.
    “That’s a supercool truck,” Madison said.
    “No!” Eliot grunted. “No! No! No!”
    “No?” Madison asked. “Why not?”
    “My tuck,” Eliot said. “MY TUCK!”
    “I know,” Madison explained. She got down on the floor with Eliot. “Your truck is nice. … That’s all I was saying. I know it’s your truck.”
    THWACK!
    Eliot hit Madison on the shoulder with the truck and then ran into the