midnight
It occurred to Cade that he 'd made no eliminations of solid or liquid waste since he 'd nibbled on Mandi . That pretty much had to mean that anything he ate or drank was being used fairly completely by the conversion process . He wondered if he could take that to mean that any mass would do in a pinch . If so , a phone book would do as well as a steak dinner as a midnight snack . He put that thought on the shelf as he realized water would do , too , and nobody 'd miss any amount of water he could possibly drink . `` Beth , '' he said , `` How come you were free to make me take you to dinner tonight ? '' `` Make you ?