"I don't think you should fold."
He didn't--he raised the bet, which Jenna thought was crazy, because he didn't have any more money. But then Mr. Clifford had to show his cards, and Stuart won.
Mr. Clifford wasn't angry. He congratulated Stuart and said, "Your daughter's got good instincts."
Stuart nodded. "Yes, I think I'll keep her," he said jovially.
When Jenna saw how much money he'd won, she was pleased. "I'm glad I was right," she told him.
"But you knew you were right, didn't you? You read his mind."
She admitted she had. "But I guess that's cheating, huh? I probably shouldn't have done it."
He laughed. "That's one way to look at it."
She wasn't sure what he meant, but he wasn't mad at her, and that was all that mattered.
He insisted on getting her a little gift with some of his winnings, and she let him buy her a T-shirt-- black, of course, with silver glittery stars all over it.
"Thanks," she said. "Have you tried any of those fake tattoos?"
"Not yet. How about you?"
She hesitated. Then, with an abashed smile, she took off her cardigan and revealed her upper right arm, where the word Dad was emblazoned in red.
Stuart put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a little squeeze. "That's my girl."
It seemed as though she'd been waiting for a moment like this all her life. Not that she'd been depressed about not having a father--like her mother, she had never given him much thought. But she had one now, and better late than never.
When they got back to the Devons' house, Mrs. Devon insisted that Stuart stay for dinner. While the adults had their cocktails, Jenna ran up to Tracey's room to show off her new T-shirt.
"Guess what?" she said to Tracey. "I'm happy!"
"You should be,"Tracey said. "It's a great T-shirt."
Jenna picked up her pillow and tossed it playfully at Tracey. "Not just for that. Tracey, I really think he's going to stay! As soon as my mother comes out of the hospital, he's going to talk to her. And they might get back together!"
"Don't get carried away," Tracey cautioned her.
"Your mother doesn't even know he's back in town. She might not want him."
"Are you crazy?" Jenna shrieked. She threw herself on the bed and gazed at the ceiling. "He's handsome, he's funny, he's nice . . . Who wouldn't want a man like that?"
"He doesn't have a job, does he?"
"He can get one. You wouldn't believe all the interesting jobs he's had. He worked on a ship, he worked at a safari camp, he had a job in Alaska--"
"Really? That's what he said?"
Jenna sat up. "You think he's lying?"
"Oh no," Tracey said quickly. "It's just interesting that he's had such a variety of jobs.What did you two do today?"
"We had lunch in a restaurant, and then we played poker. Well, my father played--I just watched. And he won!"
"Lucky him," Tracey said.
"It wasn't luck," Jenna confessed, and she told Tracey about reading the other player's mind.
It probably wasn't the right thing to do--Tracey was big on honesty Jenna wasn't surprised when
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Tracey scolded her.
"That wasn't smart," she said reprovingly. "I'm sure Stuart wouldn't be happy to know you did that."
"He knows," Jenna admitted. "I told him."
Tracey looked at her curiously. "What did he say?"
"He laughed."
Tracey looked appalled. "You're kidding!"
"My father is very cool," Jenna informed her. "He doesn't lecture or give lessons on how to behave."
Tracey murmured something that Jenna couldn't hear.
"What did you say?"
"I just said . . . that doesn't sound very fatherly."
Jenna stared at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
But there was an uneasy silence in the air, which Jenna finally broke. "Don't you like my father?"
"He's okay," Tracey said. "It's just that . . ."
"What?"
"Well, he just shows up out of nowhere, says he's your father, and all of a sudden your whole life is going to change. I just don't want you to be too disappointed."
"Why would I be disappointed?" Jenna asked in bewilderment. Then, something else Tracey had said echoed in her ears. "What do you mean, he says he's my father? Don't you believe he's my father?"
"I don't know," Tracey replied. "Maybe. But your mother hasn't seen him yet. And you believe him because you can't read his mind. Which isn't much to go on."
"My mother could have been at home when he came to Brook side Towers," Jenna pointed out.
"But she wasn't," Tracey said. "And maybe he knew that."
"That doesn't make any sense," Jenna argued. "Why would he lie about being my father? To hang out with me? He's not some kind of sicko!"
"Oh no, I didn't mean that," Tracey said hastily "All I'm saying is that you should take it easy. Don't jump to any conclusions."
Jenna glared at her. "I like my conclusions."
Tracey was silent. Then she offered Jenna a half smile. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk like that about him--it's none of my business anyway. Let's talk about something else."
"Fine," Jenna said. "What did you do today?"
"Practiced disappearing."
"Oh yeah? How did it go?"
"I'm getting better," Tracey told her. "I was able to go completely invisible for a full minute. At least, I think I was completely invisible. It's hard to tell, looking in a mirror. There might have been an outline of me or something I didn't see."
"Try it now and I'll tell you if you're invisible," Jenna suggested.
Traceys brow puckered, and she gazed at Jenna steadily for a moment. "Okay," she said finally. She went over to Jenna's side of the room, by the door. "If I disappear, time me so I'll know how long I can do it." She handed Jenna her cell phone and showed her the stopwatch feature. Then she stepped back a few paces.
Jenna watched. Tracey stood very still with her eyes closed. She breathed evenly and steadily, in a way that told Jenna she was concentrating.
And she began to fade. At first, it was practically imperceptible. Jenna thought it was her own imagination or wishful thinking that made Tracey seem less solid to her. But then she actually began to see through Tracey. She was translucent, and then she was transparent. Jenna couldn't see her at all.
She started the stopwatch. She was still feeling a little annoyed with Tracey for not being enthusiastic about Stuart. But Tracey hadn't had an easy life until now--she'd been ignored at home and tormented at school--so it was probably hard for her to accept people or believe in them. Stuart would work his charm on her eventually.
How long had Tracey been able to stay invisible earlier? A full minute? She'd been gone longer than that already. It was a minute and 19 seconds . . .
A form started to appear, and Jenna stopped the watch. "One minute and twenty-two seconds," she announced as Tracey became solid again. "Why are you so out of breath?"
Tracey was panting, and her fists were clenched. "You think it doesn't take any energy to vanish?"
"1 didn't think it was like running a marathon," Jenna commented. "Hey, I'm starving. Did your mother put out any of those nibbly things with the cocktails?"
"Go look,"Tracey said. "I'll be down soon." She was still breathing a little heavily, and Jenna caught a glimpse of a strange, sort of sickly expression on her face before she turned away.
Clearly, vanishing required a lot more energy and effort than mind reading, Jenna thought as she ran downstairs. On the other hand, invisibility could be a real benefit in playing poker . . .