The day was long, predictably. I kept thinking ahead to the weekend, with Daniel and Ford both home, and how it would mean

we were all together. Even though it had only been three weeks, and we usually have longer than that between total group

times, I was just really happy.

I was figuring that I would have to make another batch of no-bake cookies. I knew it was likely that Guthrie had gotten into the

others and eaten a bunch.

I was full of chatter as Ivy and I worked together. There weren't any real appointments in the book, but we had a drop in

of a cat in the throes of beginning labor. Judy Jenkins was eight years old, and worried about her cat, so her grandmother

drove her and the expectant mother cat down to the office.

Ivy took a look at the mother cat, and assured Judy that all was well. The cat actually delivered the litter of kittens

right there, at the office, and Ivy made a comfortable place for them. A wicker basket, and with soft sheets I got from

the shelf.

Judy's grandmother convinced Judy to leave the mother cat and kittens overnight at the vet office, instead of moving them

so soon. It took some convincing for sure, because Judy had a major meltdown, practically throwing herself onto the floor of the

office. She hollered and fussed, even though her grandmother reminded her that they had to go out of town for the evening, and

that the cat and her kittens would be better off at the vet office.

Finally, though, Mrs. Jenkins succeeded in getting Judy into the car, though the grandma looked worse for the wear of it all and nearly getting

kicked in her face by Judy's flying feet.

"Whoo-" Ivy said, as we closed the door behind them, and stood, looking at each other.

"Yeah," I said, in agreement. We were both thinking the same thing.

"My gosh-" Ivy said. "I need a cold drink after that-"

She went to the fridge and took out a jug of lemonade, and turned, holding it up to me.

"I got lemonade for us," she said. "Is that something you can drink?"

"Yeah. I can," I said, thinking how very nice she really was.

"Great," she said, and went to pull two glasses down from the cabinet. As she did that, I saw the coffee cup that had belonged

to Doc G, just to the side.

"Doc G always drank his coffee out of that cup," I said, with a gesture.

"He liked coffee, didn't he?" Ivy asked.

"Oh, yeah, he had to have his coffee, every day."

"Does it bother you, seeing it there?" she asked. "I mean, if it does, we can move it-"

"No, it's okay," I said quickly. I took the glass of lemonade that she handed me. "It's actually kind of nice. Like he's still

here, I mean. I know that sounds foolish-"

"I don't think it sounds foolish," Ivy defended. "Not at all." She sat down on the edge of the desk, high enough that her feet could swing.

"You had an amazing relationship with him, didn't you?" Ivy asked.

"Yeah. He was an amazing person," I said.

"Do you mind talking about him?" she asked.

"Not usually. Sometimes," I admitted.

We both drank on our lemonades, for a few moments, and then I said, "If Doc G would have seen Judy throw a fit like that,

here in his office, he would have-" I hesitated, thinking.

"What would he have done?" Ivy asked, sounding amused.

"Well, he wouldn't have done anything, except he might have told Mrs. Jenkins she should approach Judy a different way," I said.

"Oh," Ivy said, smiling, in understanding.

"He never had any kids of his own," I said. "But, he would have been a great father."

"I'll bet he would have," Ivy said, quietly.

"If I would have acted like that when I was eight, or ten, or any age, I would have gotten spanked right where I was," I said.

"Would you have?" she asked.

When I nodded, she said, "Did they spank you a lot, when you were little?"

"No," I said. "Not a lot. Usually, they didn't have to go that far. Mostly, they could just look at me, and I'd behave."

"Do you think that worked for you, getting raised that way?" she asked.

"I guess it did. None of us have ever been in any real trouble, I mean, not with the law or anything. I think it made the difference,

mostly though, because I knew that they would spank, if they needed to. So, sometimes that was enough of a deterrent to not

act like a brat."

For a moment, Ivy was quiet. Then she said, "Like I said yesterday, your family seems to meet the needs of each other. It's really

quite amazing."

I thought she sounded sort of funny. Strange. I studied her, remembering that she'd told me that her own parents had been

very much older when she was born, and that they'd thought they would never have a child. Therefore, she'd been indulged, for the most

part. I figured that meant she'd never been upended over anybody's knee. Still, she seemed to have turned out just fine.

I didn't want her thinking that the McFadden males were a bunch of child beaters, though. Or thinking that Crane, if they did

end up together, would spank their kids day and night.

"They weren't ever cruel," I said, hastily. "They never crossed a line, or anything. And, Crane hardly ever did any of it, with

any of us. He's talks-and he lets you know that he's disappointed in you. And, with him, that's worse sometimes."

Ivy seemed to know what I was getting at. She smiled at me, and her green eyes were all lit up.

"Oh, Harlie, you don't have to sell me on Crane. I know if he ever did-well, he probably thought it was necessary. He has

the biggest heart, and so much soul and feeling inside of him. He's an extraordinary person."

Her voice was hushed, and sort of-reverent, if that makes sense. I sat there, watching her, and I knew right then,

at that moment, that Ivy was in love with Crane. Deeply in love with him.

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As soon as my time was up at Ivy's, I left promptly at four. I drove as fast as I was to, intent on getting home.

I saw Daniel's red truck, parked up by the house, before I even turned into our long driveway.

I sped up the driveway, raising the dust. I didn't even take time to grab my clothes, or backpack, like I usually did.

I got out as soon as I'd shut off the motor, intent on making a bee-line for the house.

I heard a loud whistle from the porch, and Daniel stood there, his feet bare, and his hair way too long. The wolf whistle

made me grin, and I didn't waste any time. Daniel was down the steps by that point, and we met up at the bottom.

"Hullo, squirt," Daniel said, and swept me off my feet, with a massive hug.

"Hi!" I said, giving him just as hard of a squeeze as he was giving me.

"Been waitin' around here for you to get home," he said, setting me on my feet, but still hanging onto me.

"I drove way too fast to get here," I said, grinning at him. "Did you get some of the cookies I made for you?"

"Two," he said, looking properly saddened. "Two, squirt. That's all there was."

I smiled at him again, laughing at his mock sad face. "Guthrie made a pig of himself. I'll make you some more."

"Alright, good. And Guthrie gets none."

"How was your drive? Long, huh?" I said.

"Yeah. Long," he said.

We stood surveying each other for a long few moments.

"You look good," he said.

"You look good, too. How come you're home so soon again?" I asked.

"What?" he asked, stepping back and pressing a hand to his chest as if I'd hurt him. "You think I'm here too soon? I

can go back if you're not glad to see me-"

"No!" I said, going along with his joking. "It was just a question. That's all. Of course I'm glad to see you!"

He squeezed me again, with the arm that was around my waist.

"I've got a sort of a surprise," he said, then.

"What is it?" I demanded.

"I brought somebody home with me."

"Red?" I asked, happily, leaping to the first plausible conclusion.

"No. Not Red," Daniel said. "A girl."

For a moment, more than a moment, I was surprised enough that I didn't say anything at all. I widened my eyes. Daniel's

never been one to bring a girl around the family. Most of his dating relationships were casual ones. He just usually kept his

dating separate from the family activities.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah. Really," he said, and gave me a dig in my ribs. "What's so shocking about that?" he demanded.

"Nothing," I said, quickly. "I'm just surprised, is all. I mean-nobody said anything-"

"That's because they didn't know, either," Daniel said. "I thought it'd be a surprise for everybody."

"Oh," I said. "Well, where is she? Inside the house?"

"Yeah. She's sleepin' right now." Daniel stepped back a little. "It's sure good to see ya," he said, and then

added, teasing, "Even if you do think it's too soon for me to visit-"

"Stop it," I said, poking him in his side. As we went up the porch steps, I said, "I'm kinda nervous, about meeting

her."

"You don't need to be," he said, still holding onto my hand.

"Wait, what's her name?" I asked, realizing that he hadn't said, and I hadn't asked.

"Oh, yeah," he said, with a grin. "I guess I didn't say, did I? Her name's Jill. Jill Clark." And, the way he said that. Said her name, I

mean. It reminded me of the way that Ivy had spoken about Crane earlier, with a light in her eyes and love in her voice.

As if-no, it couldn't be that way, I thought.

After all, Daniel hadn't even mentioned this girl to anybody when he was home just three weeks ago. There's no way he

could be really serious about this girl. Jill.

I was hanging out in the kitchen with Daniel, as he ate two of Hannah's cinnamon rolls, and then while he held Isaac.

Everybody started filtering in slowly. Adam, first, and then Crane.

"You're in early tonight," Hannah said, leaning up to give Adam a kiss.

"Yeah. We wrapped up early. Got to spend some time with this guy," Adam said, reaching out to rub his knuckles over

Daniel's head, affectionately.

"Look at Isaac," Hannah said to Adam, pointing to the baby in Daniel's arms. "He knows Daniel now. He went right to

him earlier when he got up from his nap." Hannah turned to look at Daniel. "Usually, now, he's not like that. He's starting to

get where he's really particular about who he wants to hold him."

"I'm glad he's okay with me holdin' him," Daniel said, looking at the baby with fondness. Crane was stirring up a pitcher of

tea, and when he passed by Daniel, he reached out to pat Daniel on the face. I knew Crane was just as glad as I was that Daniel

was home.

"Evan said he and Nancy would be down for supper," Hannah was saying. "After Nancy got home from work, and changed

her clothes, and all."

"Great," Adam said, with satisfaction. He went to pour himself a handful of peanuts from the Planters jar on the table. "Did you call

Ford?" he asked Daniel.

"I left a message for him, at the dorm," Daniel said. "He was in class when I called."

Isaac was resting his head on Daniel's shoulder, sucking his thumb, and looking as though his eyes were closing.

"He's tired," Hannah said. "Daniel and he have been playing for the last two hours. I'll take him up and put him down for a nap."

She laid her paring knife down from where she'd been chopping up green peppers.

"I'll do it," Daniel said, and Hannah smiled.

"Okay," she said.

Daniel went out of the kitchen, heading up the back stairs, and we could hear him talking to Isaac in a quiet voice

the whole way.

Once he was gone, Crane sat down at the table with his glass of tea, and Adam came over to lean against the counter,

where I'd hitched myself up to sit.

I looked at the three of them, and said, in a hushed tone, "So-what's she like?"

They exchanged looks between them, and Hannah spoke first. "Well, we didn't get to talk long. They didn't get here

until after eleven this morning, and she was tired, so she went to lay down."

"You mean, she's been sleeping all afternoon?" I asked.

"Harlie, you know it's a long, tiring drive-you've said so, yourself," Hannah reminded me.

"Oh, I know," I said quickly. "I didn't really mean anything. When you did get to talk to her, though, what's she

like?"

"Well, she's very pretty. Dark hair. She's bubbly, and seems to be outgoing," Hannah said.

"Is she young, or older?" I asked.

Hannah looked at Crane and Adam. "What do you two think? I'd say she's around Daniel's age, wouldn't you?"

Crane nodded, and Adam said, "Yeah. I'd say so."

I looked at Crane. "What did you think of her, Crane?"

"Well, she's bubbly, like Hannah said."

Adam was popping peanuts into his mouth. He was close enough that I could hook my arm thru his. "What did you think?"

"Sugar, I don't know," he said. "I only talked to her for probably twenty minutes, before I went back out to work. It's hard to

tell anything about a person in twenty minutes."

Daniel was coming back down the stairs again, just as Brian was coming in the back door, letting the screen flap shut.

"Hey, you," Brian greeted Daniel, hooking his arm around Daniel's neck. "You need a haircut, boy."

"Yeah, I know," Daniel said, pushing his dark hair off of his forehead.

"Hannah, I don't think those hair clippers of yours are gonna get the job done this time," Brian said. "I think we

might need to get the sheep shears out instead. What do you think, Crane?"

Crane laughed. "We might have to," he agreed.

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