CHAPTER FORTY-TWO — THE OLD MOVIE

Years later, Hope became a teenager.

She began having problems of her own.

Friends changed.

School became difficult.

She fell in love for the first time.

And, just like her father had once done, she became afraid.

One evening, she sat beside David.

“Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“What do you do when you love someone but you're afraid they'll leave?”

David became quiet.

He remembered himself as a teenager.

He remembered Marilyn.

He remembered the old tree.

Then he said:

“You don't control them.”

“Then what do you do?”

“You trust them.”

“What if they leave?”

David looked at her.

“Then you let the story continue.”

Hope looked confused.

“That doesn't sound romantic.”

David smiled.

“Growing up isn't always romantic.”