I would have answered the door when Karissa came up the front porch steps, but Adam got up from his spot beside Hannah, and

went toward the door, reaching it just as she knocked.

"Hello, Adam," I heard her say.

"Come in," Adam said, and stepped aside so that Karissa could pass in front of him.

Karissa stepped in, and my first thought was that she looked, well, for lack of a better word, stunning. Simply stunning. She

was wearing a straight gray below-the-knee gray skirt, and light gray sweater, and a pair of stylishly high heels.

Hannah got to her feet, and stepped forward.

"Welcome to our home," she said.

"Thank you, Hannah," Karissa said.

I stepped closer too, and Karissa smiled at me. "Hello, darling," she said.

"Hi."

Karissa said hello to Guthrie, and then looked at Ford and Evan, who had also gotten to their feet.

"Evan," she said, and then turned to Ford. "And Ford. All grown up."

It was kind of a lame thing for her to say. I winced inwardly. But, giving them credit, both of them showed that

they'd been raised with manners.

Evan nodded, and said, "Hello, ma'm," while Ford said, "I guess there's no way to avoid it. Growing up, I mean." Then he looked embarrassed.

"I guess that's right," Karissa said, with a smile at him.

"Lunch is ready," Hannah said, and began to lead the way to the kitchen.

Karissa followed her, passing in front of Crane and Brian. She said hello to both of them and made some comment about the weather and how

warm it was for this time of the year.

Crane answered that comment, and then Brian put his arm around Clare's waist, and pulled her close to his side.

"This is my wife, Clare," Brian said, and I could hear the pride in his voice.

Karissa took in Clare's appearance, dressed in jeans and a pink shirt with fitted sleeves. Clare looked, as she nearly always does, as if she

could have stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine. Even in blue jeans, she's what my brothers call a "real looker".

"Hello," Clare said, with graciousness, and offered her hand to Karissa. I had to hand it to her. Though only a short while earlier she had been

in a "mood" and acting as though she was tired and fed-up, and irritated at Brian, well, those things didn't show now. She was quieter than normal, but friendly, and like I said, gracious.

"Hello, Clare," Karissa said. "My goodness, if you knew all I've heard about you."

There was something strange about Karissa's voice in that moment. At first I wasn't sure. I thought maybe it was me, hearing something that wasn't really

there. To me it had sounded as though Karissa was suggesting that I'd said something uncomplimentary about Clare. I felt my face flame in embarrassment.

One glance at Brian's face proved that he, too, had heard the innuendo. He was turning red from the neck up.

Clare, bless her, put a constraint on the situation lickity-split. She continued to shake Karissa's hand, and gave a laugh.

"Well, that's gooood," she said, drawing out the last word. "I know you heard all good things then, if it was Harlie that was doing the telling." And then

Clare turned to flash a smile at me. "Right, bestie?" she said.

"Right," I said in rapid gratefulness. "Only good."

"Because, after all," Clare went on, with a sassy finish, "there's only good to say about me." And with that, she took Brian by the hand, and

followed the group. This left me with Guthrie at the tail end of the pilgrimage to the kitchen.

"Whew," Guthrie said, blowing out a long breath. "Clare cut her down to size alright."

I shushed him, thinking he might be overheard. "Maybe she didn't mean it like it sounded-"

Guthrie rolled his eyes at me, just as Brian came back to the living room.

"Come on, you two," he said, sounded irritated.

As we walked over to where Brian was waiting, he said, in a low, low voice, "Table looks as though the President was comin'."

This was, I knew, his pointed reference to our mother's wedding china being on the table.

I shrugged. At the moment, I wasn't any too certain that going to all that trouble for the table had been the right thing, either.

As we went into the kitchen, everybody was sitting down and scooting their chairs up to the table. Hannah had placed Karissa between Crane

and Ford. A fact, I might add, which did not go unnoticed by me. Or Brian, either, from the raised eyebrow look he gave me.

I could feel Brian fairly simmering. Even though I was unsure about this whole dinner thing with Karissa, I didn't want Brian to go all ape-crazy. I didn't

think he would, not really. But still-

I sidled up to Brian before he sat down, and caught his hand, squeezing it. He looked down at me, and met my eyes, and then he smiled just

a little, and squeezed my hand back.

Then, he winked at me, just before turning to the table and saying, "The table looks beautiful. Just beautiful."

Hannah looked towards Brian and I, and her surprise at his words was showing, before she masked it.

"Thank you, Brian," she said.

I, in return, gave his shoulder a pat as I walked around him to get to my seat at the table.

7

Short chapter this time-but more coming soon! Get ready, things are gonna get rocky real quick!