She was right. Rob was as close to being totally heartbroken as Jess had ever seen him. This was only the second time she'd ever seen a boy cry. OK, she'd seen a lot of boys cry, but it was usually because she'd just injured them physically in some way or another. Well, ok, it was so always their own fault, then I end up in detention for it.

But back to Rob. When I pulled up in front of the little farmhouse he and his mom live in, he was on the porch waiting for me. I knew Mrs. Wilkins didn't want anything to do with her daughter, and I also knew that she was home, (plus I wanted to be alone with Rob for awhile, even if it was to deliver bad news.) so I suggested that we go up to his room to talk about it.

When we got into his room, and the door was securely closed, he just straight out asked, "Where is she?"

I just looked at him for a second, then kinda stared at my hands, because I didn't want to tell him. After a minute, he sat down on the bed next to me, and was like, "Jess, where is she? What's wrong?" I then knew exactly how serious this was for him. I can count on one hand the number of times he's called me 'Jess' instead of the usual 'Mastriani'.

"I don't know," was all I could come up with right then.

"What do you mean 'you don't know'?"

"Exactly that. I tried, I really did, and I now know where Andrew Kirk and Eli McKenzie are, but....... I'm sorry, I don't know where your sister is," I said, finally looking at him.

That's when he started crying. I was shocked. All I could even think to do was skooch over and hug him. When I did that, he totally broke down. Now, don't get me wrong, he didn't break down crying harder or anything. I mean, he mentally broke down. I didn't realize it then, but when, a half hour later, he hadn't moved (thought he had stopped crying), I got worried. So, I said that he should, maybe, lay down for awhile (he really looked tired), he just nodded his head and laid down. I kissed his forehead and left the room, closing the door as quietly as I could, and walked downstairs.

On the kitchen table, there was a note from Mrs. Wilkins saying she'd had to run into town and would be back soon. I sat down in the chair by the window that overlooked their barnyard to wait for her to get back. As I looked out the window, I saw something that I had never seen in their pasture before. Horses. A lot of horses. They were right on the edge of the field, grazing, a couple babies laying down in the sun. What's more, two of the adults looked exactly like the two horses in the picture from last night, the two Rob and his sister were riding. He'd never mentioned having horses, but, then again, there's a lot of things Rob hasn't told me. Example: I just found out yesterday that he even had a sister.

A few minutes later, I heard Mrs. Wilkins's old Chevy bumping up the driveway. So did the horses, apparently, because they all ran back into the woods.

When she came into the kitchen, Mrs. Wilkins took one look at me (probably noticing that Rob was unusually absent in the equation) and knew that there was something wrong. "What happened?"

"I'm still trying to figure it out myself," I said, knowing that I had to tread carefully around the tender subject of her (apparently) long-lost daughter. Sigh. This was getting complicated. "I don't know the details of the situation, but Rob has just about completely shut down." Seeing her worried look, I tried to explain without going into too much detail," We were upstairs talking, yes, talking, that's it (unfortunately), and I said the wrong thing, or something, 'cause all of a sudden, he just looked totally.... hopeless. That was about 45 minutes ago, he hasn't talked since, he's just sitting in his room, staring at a wall."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Twenty minutes later, I was parking my bike in our driveway, fully intending to go upstairs and grill Douglas. And grill him I did.

He was in his room, reading comic books (big surprise). "OK, Doug, I need some questions answered."

"Like..." he said, not even looking up at me.

"Like, how the heck you know Rob's sister, for a start." Only I didn't say 'heck'.

That got his attention. The question, I mean, not my use of swear words. "How did you even find out he had a sister? I thought he never talked about it."

"He doesn't, but I have ways. And stop avoiding the question."

"I'll tell you if you promise not to tell another soul, living or otherwise."

"Yeah, Dougie, 'cause I see dead people..."

He put down his books, heaving a huge sigh, and took the little black box out of his pocket. He handed me the box, and waited for me to open it.

Inside was, to my disbelief, an engagement ring. When I looked back at him, he said, "We were engaged."

696969696969696969696969696969696969696969

heehee.....

I know Rob doesn't really seem the type to cry, but it's my story, I'll do what I want with it.