When I reached the Spiers', I guided my bicycle into the driveway and pulled to a stop. While I was fiddling with the kickstand, Mary Anne burst through her front door and dashed across the lawn.

"Hey, guess what!" she cried. "Great news!"

Chapter 2.

Mary Anne's brown hair flew behind her as she ran to me.

"What? What is it?" I asked excitedly.

"Dad just called. He said not to expect him for dinner tonight."

"So?" I prompted.

"He said not to expect him because he's taking your mom out!"

"Another date!" I squealed. "Fantastic! This is really exciting."

Mary Anne closed her eyes and sighed. "Yeah. The date was spur-of-the-moment, too, which is a good sign. Dad never used to just haul off and do things. He'd plan them for weeks. But he said he got the idea about five minutes ago, called your mother, asked her to join him for a quick dinner, and then called me. I can't believe it."

I checked my watch. "It's almost five-thirty," I said. "We'd better get to Claudia's."

Mary Anne started across the street with me, but she didn't say anything, just sighed again. It was a sigh of pleasure.

I knew one reason Mary Anne was so happy about her father and my mother. It was because my mother took Mr. Spier's mind off Mary Anne. Mr. Spier used to make all these rules for Mary Anne: She had to fix her hair in braids and wear the clothes he bought for her; she couldn't talk on the phone after dinner; she had to be in by nine; she had to put half of her baby-sitting money in the bank; etc. etc. It was awful.

He was already beginning to change when he "re-met" Mom, but now he's a completely different father. He let Mary Anne get contact lenses to replace her reading glasses. He allows her to spend her baby-sitting money if she saves her allowance, and since he no longer buys her clothes, you should see what Mary Anne gets with her money. She doesn't look like Claudia or Stacey, who wear these really wild outfits such as tight black pants and Day-Glo shirts, but, well, for instance, at that very moment as we walked across the Kishis' lawn, Mary Anne had on her first sweat shirt and her first pair of jeans ever. She looked terrific!