I didn't have to wait long for my first interaction with Seth to occur. Shortly after we got

to school, as Guthrie and I parted ways inside the front door, with a casual,

"See you," to each other, I could see Seth up ahead, leaning against my locker,

as if he was waiting for me.

"Oh, boy," I said, to myself.

"Hey, pretty girl," he greeted me, with a slow smile.

"Hi."

"So, I was wondering, if tonight after school, if you wanted to take a ride with me."

I knew I should give him a short and curt No! But I was a little curious as to how far

Seth would carry this charming act. I decided to have a little fun, and play a few mind games

of my own on Mr. Seth.

"Like where?" I asked, opening my locker and exchanging my math books for my English.

"Like wherever the road takes us." He leaned in closer to me. "Maybe up to the state park."

"Why there?"

"It's nice and private up there. I can score some beer, and we can talk."

"Talk, huh?" I said. " Like about what all we have in common, you mean?"

Seth frowned a little, and had a puzzled look on his face.

"Well, yeah, sure," he said finally, with a return of his white-teethed smile.

I smiled at him coquettishly, and shut my locker door.

"Well," I said, slowly, "it's such a long way up there."

"Well, somewhere else, then," he said eagerly, obviously mistaking my comment

for agreement to be alone with him.

I knew I shouldn't, but I was kind of enjoying yanking Seth's chain.

"Maybe my house?" I asked, deliberately baiting him.

"Well, won't your family be around?" he asked.

"Oh," I said, managing to act disappointed. "I guess that's right." I looked down at

my fingernails on one hand. "There's so MANY of them, too. You know? There's

Adam, and Brian, and Crane, and Evan and-"

"Yeah," he interrupted, looking impatient. "Let's go somewhere where we can be alone."

I managed to achieve what I thought to be a shy expression.

"I don't know you very well, though," I said vaguely. "I mean-, well, you know,

how do I know you're a nice guy?"

"Pretty girl, I just want a chance to show you how nice I can be."

Holy smokes. It was, as my brothers would say, getting deep in here.

"I'll have to think about it," I said, acting hesitant. "I just can't think of a good

place."

"Okay, I'll look for you at lunch."

"Oh, I sit with my friends at lunch," I said.

"I'm your friend, ain't I?" he asked, leaning even closer, and brushing his lips

across my cheek, reaching the corner of my mouth.

I stepped back as if I'd been burned. It was all I needed for Guthrie to see something

like that! Just when we were working things out between us.

Instead of Guthrie, though, it was Mr. Best, the assistant principal, standing nearby

frowning at us.

"Time to get to class, Harlie," he said, disapprovingly.

"Yes, sir," I said, and when he'd walked away, Seth muttered an obscenity.

"So, lunch, then," he said, making it a statement and not a question.

"I can't talk at lunch," I said.

"Okay, I'll see you after school. We'll decide then where we're going."

The late bell was ringing, and I realized that I'd played my game with Seth

until it was too late now to tell him he was a black-hearted bastard.

"I don't think-" I began.

"Let me do the thinkin' for both of us, pretty girl," he said, and sauntered away

down the hall with a swagger.

"Oh, boy," I muttered to myself again.

7

At lunchtime I sought Kristin Atherton out. She tended to be a loner, and stick to

herself.

"Hi," I greeted her.

"Oh, hi," she said, looking up with a startled expression.

"I was wondering if you wanted to sit with a group of us girls for lunch."

An eager look lit up Kristin's face, but then it was quickly replaced by

the timid, deer in the headlight look in her eyes.

"No, thanks. I have to read this for English," she said.

I looked at her book, and nodded. "I'm reading that, too. We'll have time

to read after lunch. Please eat with us."

"Okay," Kristin said, and walked with me to the table where Lori and Chelsea were

already sitting. They both said hello to Kristin, and we all started eating, except for

Kristin, who didn't have a lunch. Chelsea and Lori were eating school lunches, but

I'd brought my lunch from home, so I offered some to Kristin.

"No, thanks," she said.

"It's alright, Hannah always packs too much," I assured her, and she took a couple

cookies I offered her with a quiet, "Thank you."

"These are really good," she said.

"Hannah makes the best cookies," I said.

"I've met her at Marie's. She seems nice."

"She is."

"Hannah's great," Lori agreed.

"Was Hannah working when you saw her at Marie's?" I asked. Hannah hasn't worked

at the café since she got pregnant.

"Yes. I was working that day, too."

"You work at Marie's?" I asked.

"Sometimes."

I was curious, but I didn't want to be too pushy.

"Hannah's going to have a baby," I told Kristin.

"Marie told me. That's good, right?"

I was going to laugh, but I realized Kristin was seriously asking if Hannah expecting a baby

was a good thing or not.

"Yeah. It's great. We're all really excited."

After that, our conversation was just girl talk, complaints about the new history teacher,

that sort of thing. Kristin seemed to loosen up and enjoy herself, though she was still quiet.

I watched her, trying to do it without being obvious. She was really pretty, but she

looked sort of-worn down, I guess is the word I was looking for. She was even

prettier when she smiled. Which wasn't often, I realized.

As we all headed back to class, I asked Kristin if she wanted to come home with me

after school to eat supper with us.

She looked at me, her big brown eyes widening in surprise. "Really?"

"Sure. One of my brothers will drive you home later. Evan or Crane probably."

Her eyes turned wary. "Oh. I don't know them," she said uncertainly.

I remembered what Guthrie had told me about how Seth had treated her, and

realized she was most likely wary of guys.

"I'll ride along, too," I said, trying to sound casual.

"Oh. Okay," Kristin said, looking relieved. "Well, sure, I'd like to. If you're sure

Hannah and your brothers won't mind."

"Heck, no! Hannah loves company, and my brothers won't care."

"Alright. Thanks."

"Do you need to call home for permission? Maybe you could use the office phone."

"Oh, no, I don't need to call anybody," she said.

I thought that was sort of odd, but it was time to go to class, so we said goodbye,

and I was feeling pretty good the rest of the afternoon. Guthrie and I were patching

things up, and I might have a new friend in Kristin. I felt good, right up until the end

of the day, when I was closing my locker after getting all the books I needed for homework

that night. My good feelings vanished when Seth came walking towards me again.

"Hey, pretty girl."

I sighed. I was already tired of him.

"I can't ride with you anywhere today," I said.

"Hey, why not? I called my brother, and he's going to meet up with us, to

give us the beer."

"You used the school office phone to call your brother for beer?" I asked, staring at

him incredulously.

"Well, I didn't have to say it like that. He knew what I meant. My brother's smart like

that."

"He sounds like a lovely person," I said, with sarcasm, but I guess Guthrie was right

about Seth not being very bright, because he nodded, as if I'd meant what I said.

"Yeah. He's great. So why can't you go?"

"Because," I clutched my books tight against my chest, and stared up at him.

"Cause why?"

"Because my brother says I'm not allowed to date you. That's why."

"How come?"

"He heard from someone that you're a low-life piece of trash," I said calmly,

as if I was sharing the weather forecast.

Seth looked confused. "Huh?"

"He heard you're scum. Trash. A real bastard. So I can't ride with you today,

or tomorrow or any other day."

"I don't know who's talkin' about me, but it ain't right," Seth said, angrily.

"What's not right? That you're scum? That you're trash? Or that you're a

bastard?"

"None of it's right! I swear, I'm a good guy, pretty girl!"

I started walking out of the school, hoping he would take the hint, but

Seth tagged after me.

"Can I call you tonight?"

"I don't see any point to that," I said crisply, and when I saw Kristin just ahead a little

bit, I said, "Goodbye, Seth," and walked even faster. I'd hoped that Kristin wouldn't notice

who I'd been talking to, but she had, because she had a funny look on her face.

"Hi," I said. "Ready to go?"

"Yes." She hesitated. "Harlie, I hope you don't mind me asking you, but are you

dating Seth?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, that's good. I mean, he's not really a very nice guy."

I reached out to squeeze her arm. "I know. He's a jerk. Even before I knew that for

sure, though, my brother told me I wasn't allowed to date him."

"Oh. I used to go out with him, I don't know if you knew that-"

"It doesn't matter. We're neither one going to have a thing to do with his sorry butt from now

on, right?" I linked my arm in hers.

"Right," she said, and gave me a genuine smile.

When we met Guthrie at the truck, Megan, of course, was there, too.

"Kristin's coming home with us to supper," I announced, and Guthrie looked

surprised for a minute, but then he recovered his customary McFadden good manners.

"Oh, okay, that's great," he said. "Hi, Kristin."

"Hi, Guthrie. Hi, Megan," Kristin said.

Megan did not look pleased. "Well, hello there, Kristin," she said, in her syrupy southern

drawl. It was a tight squeeze in the truck, with the four of us. I didn't mind, and it didn't

seem to bother Kristin, but Megan was definitely bothered by it. She kept groaning,

and saying things like, 'It's a good thing that I'm so skinny', and 'Maybe you should have

gotten a car instead of a truck, Guthrie'.

I wanted to tell her to shut up, or something else equally rude, but I remembered

my promise to Guthrie, and I didn't want to make Kristin feel bad, so I kept quiet, only

nudging Kristin in the ribs, and then rolling my eyes towards Megan.

When we got to Megan's house, Guthrie, as usual, walked her to the door. They

exchanged a couple of quick kisses, but nothing like the regular routine. I could see

Megan talking earnestly to Guthrie, and it was obvious to anyone watching that she

was ticked about something.

I took the opportunity without Guthrie present to say, "Don't think anything about

Megan. She's always like this. She wants Guthrie all to herself, all the time."

"Oh."

"She's a real pain in the rear end, but I promised Guthrie I would be nicer about

her."

"She sure is pretty."

"It's a good thing, too, cause she needs something to hide the bitch underneath," I said,

and Kristin looked at me with a shocked expression, and then we both dissolved

into giggles.

When Guthrie climbed back into the truck, that's how he found us, doubled

over with laughter.

"I probably don't want to know what you two are laughing about, do I?" he asked,

and we laughed harder.

"Nope," I said.

"Probably not," Kristin said, and Guthrie shook his head.

"Women!" he proclaimed, but he smiled, too, so Kristin would know he was joking.

7777777

When we got home, and climbed out of the truck, I pulled Kristin towards

the house.

"Come in and say hi to Hannah," I told her, "and then I have to do my chores."

"What are your chores?"

"My outside chores? I feed the chickens usually, and then the goats. I check on my

horse, and then if Adam or Brian say there's nothing else, I go in and help Hannah get

supper ready. Unless Clare's home, and then she'll help Hannah, cause she's trying to learn

to cook. Sometimes that's when I do my homework."

"Who's Clare?" Kristin asked, looking a little overwhelmed.

"Clare's married to Brian. They got married in June. She's about to finish her

nursing classes."

We went into the living room, and I tossed my books on the couch, and told

Kristin to do the same.

"She's probably in the kitchen," I said.

Hannah had her hands in bread dough, rolling and kneading, when we came

into the kitchen. She looked up with a smile.

"Hi."

"Hi, Hannah. Kristin says you two have met before."

"At Marie's, right?" Hannah asked.

When Kristin nodded, Hannah said, "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you, too."

"I asked Kristin to supper," I said.

"Well, good. We're having stew tonight. Crane's cooking. And homemade

rolls." She nodded towards the dough in front of her.

At that moment, Crane came around the corner from the pantry, wearing

a purple apron with little yellow flowers on it, over his jeans.

"Hey, peanut," he greeted me. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Kristin," I said, "and Kristin, this is Crane."

Kristin seemed a little awestruck, but she managed a polite, "Hello."

"Hi, Kristin," Crane said, and smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

"Thank you. I mean, it's nice to meet you, too."

"Kristin's staying for supper," I told Crane.

"Cool. I'm the chef tonight," Crane told her. "I hope that doesn't scare you away."

Kristin shook her head. "I'm sure it will be good."

"I like this girl," he said, and smiled at us both again.

We went upstairs so I could change to my old jeans, and Kristin said,

"Crane seems really nice."

"He is. He's one of the nicest people I know."

"He looks funny in that apron." Then embarrassed, she said quickly, "I mean, well,

you know-"

I just laughed. "Yeah, Crane's a goofball."

"There's seven brothers, right?"

"Yep. But two won't be here tonight. Ford's at college. You remember him, right?"

"Yeah, I remember him. He's nice, too."

"Yeah. Him and Crane are the sweet McFaddens."

Kristin giggled.

"And Daniel's not here. He's in Nashville."

"Really? Wow."

"Yeah," I said proudly, "he's already sold one of his songs. He's coming home for a

visit in a week or so, though."

Kristin tagged after me as I went out to do my chores. She even wanted to help

feed the goats.

"They're so soft," she said, reaching out to touch one.

"That's Elwood."

"Elwood? That's funny."

"Elwood P. Dowd. Have you ever seen that old movie, Harvey? Where the guy

sees the six foot white rabbit, but nobody else can see him?"

"I've never seen that. It sounds funny."

"It is. We'll have to watch it sometime."

After the goats, I took Kristin to meet Petra.

I showed her how to feed Petra an apple. "Just hold your hand really flat, like this."

When we went back towards the barn, we met Brian and Adam coming out.

I introduced Kristin to them, and then we went to the house.

We washed our hands, and then sat down in the living room on the floor to work

on our homework.

"Which brother said you couldn't date Seth?" Kristin asked, sounding curious.

"Adam."

"I wish I'd had someone to warn me off before I got involved with him," she said, sounding wistful.

"None of my brothers would have liked him, anyway." I said. They would have said

he was too cocky. Daniel or Evan would say he was a prick."

"They would have been right about that," she said, and when I grinned at

her she looked surprised.

"What?" she asked.

"You sound pretty spunky right there. Good for you."

Kristin smiled back.

"Yeah. Good for me."

7

Thank you, faithful reviewers!