“Thanks.” She grinned down at him as they walked. There was something about his stride, upright, with a thin form but a bit stooped in the shoulders, that made her think he’d be very tall one day. He wore a huge blue backpack, and as they walked, he tugged at the cords on the pack, the zip of the material against nylon matching the rhythm of their feet.
At the door to a classroom, he stopped. “I think she’s probably in here. Your granny’s Miss Helen?”
“Yeah. Hey, thanks!”
He scrunched up his face, like he wanted to ask her something. She waited.
“So, you work at the newspaper?”
“I do,” she said. “I’m the editor, which means I run the whole paper.”
He nodded. “Maybe you could do a story on us. The program here.” He gestured to the school around him.
The classroom door opened then, and Granny stepped out, her face lighting up with surprise and joy.
“I see you’ve met one of my favorite people in Dahlia!” Granny grinned, catching Rebecca in a hug. “And yes, I think you should definitely do a story on the program. In fact, your first interviewee should be this young man right here. Devon started the program.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened. “What … ?”
Devon shrug-ducked again. “Sort of.”
“Pfff, sort of.” Granny made a face and elbowed Devon. “It was his idea! He laid it out, and the rest of us ran with it. You do a story, you definitely need to start with Devon here. Though you’ll need to wait till around three o’clock, when the program gets out. Devon’s in the enrichment program, too.”
Wheels began to turn. “Wow!” Rebecca eyed him. “I’d love to interview you. Really. Would you mind?”
Devon tugged at his backpack cords, head down. “Um, sure, I guess it’s okay.”
“I could take you to Harold’s, the diner? Maybe drop you off at home after. Would your parents mind?” Rebecca remembered the paper had a big supply of parental waiver forms above the copy machine. “Could you get them to sign a waiver form saying it’s all right?”
“It’s just me and my grandmother, but I know she wouldn’t mind. She’d sign the form.”
“Great!” She held out a hand. “I’ll pick you up at four. Right out front.”
He shook it, then gave her a small smile. “See ya then.” He turned, gave a little wave back at Granny. “See you in a bit, Miss Helen.”
“Bye, Devon.” Granny gave a wave. “I’m glad you and my Rebecca here got a chance to meet!”
They waited until Devon was in the next classroom and the door had shut before Rebecca gave Granny a look.
“Are you just being nice to make the kid feel good, or did he seriously come up with this whole idea?”
“No, he really did. Girl, that child is something else. You’ll see when you talk to him today.” Granny wrapped Rebecca in a big hug, then put her hand on the doorknob. “Got to get back in class. We’ll talk later, and I’ll give you the whole story.”
And blowing Granny a kiss, Rebecca headed off to work.
CHAPTER 12
Devon
At four sharp, Devon was waiting outside the school. The newspaper lady was right on time. She pulled up in a little gray sedan, tires squeaking.
“Hop in!” She grinned through the open car window, clicked the automatic door locks. “I hope you’re hungry, ’cause I’m starved.”
He was, too.
Twenty minutes later they were seated across from each other in the big plush red booth in Harold’s Diner, the seats that smooth leathery kind that made his legs cold, a huge plate of half-finished fries between them and her notepad before her. He’d already finished a gigantic, drippy cheeseburger, which he’d decided was probably the best thing he’d ever tasted in his life. He’d had burgers before—I mean, who hadn’t—but that burger was in a whole new class. Devon hadn’t done any interviews before, but he decided that if they involved food this good, he was all in.
“So, you don’t talk a whole lot,” the newspaper lady said, studying him.
