I'd taken the longer way to the cabin, because there was more grassy paths to ride on, so, therefore, I could go faster. I

was roaring along, when I saw, out of the corner of my left eye, something, or someone, coming up alongside of me.

When I twisted my head to look, I saw that it was Evan, riding on his own four-wheeler. Motors too loud to talk over, obviously,

but Evan grinned at me, and then held up three fingers, and raised his eyebrows in question.

I knew just what he was suggesting, and I grinned back, nodding.

He lowered one finger, then a second one, then let the last one drop, and I put everything the old ATV had in getting

ahead of him, racing towards the cabin. I was fairly sure that Evan gave me a bit of a head start, but he caught up

easily enough. Too easy. He passed me, cutting in front, and giving me a triumphant salute.

I turned and shot over another hill, gaining speed, and passed him, laughing, and giving him a smartass salute

like he'd done to me. I was still laughing, just in pure glee and joy, when he passed me yet again, shaking his head

at me, and then he was gone, out of sight.

I had no chance to catch up with him after that. He was in front of the cabin, and already leaning back on the seat of

his four-wheeler, with the motor off, by the time I got there.

"What took ya so long?" he scoffed teasingly, over my motor.

I shut off the engine, and surveyed him. "If I had something fit to race you on, instead of this old piece of junk-then it

might be a fair contest," I said.

"Yeah, yeah," he mocked, swinging his leg over and standing. "What are you doin' up here?"

I sat where I was, and said, "Can I not come and visit you?" in a pretend hurt tone.

"Only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays," he teased back. "What day is this?"

"Thursday."

"Oh. Right. Well, then I guess you can visit," Evan said.

"Good. Cause I wasn't gonna leave right yet," I informed him.

"Well, you might as well come on in, since you're here," he said, reaching over to yank my cap down over my eyes.

I pushed my cap up again, and got off to follow him into the cabin.

There was a cute welcome mat outside the door, that proclaimed, 'Nice Boots' in big black letters.

Evan opened the door, and ushered me in front of him.

There were so many new things, changes to the small cabin, that for a couple of minutes I just looked all

around.

"Wow, Ev," I said, taking in the shelves that had been built, and the partition that had been put up to separate the bedroom. The

kitchen cabinets were painted a light brown, with darker brown around the trim. There was a big vase of sunflowers in the center

of the table. "You've done so much-" I said.

"Nancy did most of the paintin', and stuff," Evan said.

"Where is she?" I said, realizing that her small car hadn't been out front.

"She was gonna go and talk to her sister for awhile after work," Evan said. "She'll be here after a bit."

"Okay," I said.

Evan went to the refrigerator and opened it, taking out a beer. "Want somethin' to drink?" he offered.

I came over to stand beside him, peering into the small fridge. "What you got?" I asked.

"Coke. Dr. Pepper. Lemonade, milk," Evan said.

"Lemonade," I said. "Please."

Evan pulled out the jug of lemonade and handed it off to me. "You can pour it yourself," he said. "Don't expect me to

wait on you."

I took the jug from him and bumped him purposely on my way to the cabinet to take down a glass.

When I'd poured a glass of lemonade, I went to sit opposite him in the second easy chair.

"The lamp looks good there," I said, gesturing to the lamp that Guthrie, Daniel, Ford and I had given as a wedding present.

"Yeah. It's nice havin' more light in here," Evan said.

I tucked my legs up underneath my butt, and we sat for a couple of moments, sipping at our drinks.

"So, what's up?" he asked me.

"Same old same old," I said. "Teachers never really change. There's still a lot of homework. Not that you'd really know about that

part, right?" I teased.

"I was a brilliant student," Evan corrected. "I just tried to hide my brilliance so I didn't make the teachers feel unworthy to teach me-"

I laughed. "Right."

He smiled, and then seemed to turn serious, all of a sudden. "For real, though, Har," he said. "What's up?"

"I told you-I just wanted to come and visit," I said. "I miss you."

Instead of coming back at me with a joke or a smartass comment, Evan remained serious. "I miss you, too," he said.

For some reason, that made me turn crazy. Weepy. Emotional. I could feel tears threatening, and I looked away from his

gaze.

"It's not like we don't see each other-" he began.

"I know. It's just different," I said. "With you not being there at breakfast every morning, and right down the hall at night-"

"I'm around all the time, though," he pointed out.

"I know," I said. "I'm just being dumb. As usual."

For a long few moments Evan was silent, and then he said, "Hey," to me.

"Don't be callin' yourself dumb, you hear me?" he said. I met his eyes, and found I was still surprised, even after all

this time. When had Evan gotten to be tender? Gentle? Good with feelings? It still caught me off guard sometimes.

"I'll tell you when you're acting dumb, if it needs done," he said, then, effectively taking the tender moment and replacing it with Evan-like humor.

For some reason, that teasing made me feel better. I smiled at him, thru the threatened tears.

"And, you would, too," I said.

For a couple of moments, we were quiet, and he leaned back in the chair.

"You wanna talk about whatever it is?" he asked, then.

"It's not any one particular thing," I said, brushing at my cheek. "Things just pile up sometimes."

"Yeah. I understand that, alright."

"Kenny had an idea about D.C.," I said, straying from what was really bothering me.

"What's the idea?"

"That since he really seems to prefer males, you and Brian mostly, that maybe it would be better if you were the one to try

riding him-"

"I didn't know you were thinkin' about riding him," Evan said.

"Well, I wasn't really, but Brian thinks he's depressed, and Kenny thinks maybe it's because he misses being ridden and all.

Since he's feeling better physically," I said.

"Hmm," Evan said.

"It's just an idea," I said.

"Yeah. I didn't say it's a bad idea. I don't know how much time I have right now to help you out, though, shortcake."

"I know you're busy," I said. "It's okay."

"If you're thinkin' to try riding him, then yeah, you shouldn't be the one to try it first," Evan said. "The way he reacts, sometimes,

he might put you down. I don't want you to get hurt."

Instead of arguing that point, as I once might have, I nodded. "Okay."

"Maybe we can take a couple hours Saturday morning," he said. "I can try riding him, and we'll see how he does."

"Okay. Thanks, Ev," I said.

"Sure."

We exchanged glances and I asked, quietly, "Do you like Jill?"

Evan shrugged. "I don't really know her yet, well enough to say, I mean."

I knew that was probably true, and that he wasn't just avoiding the question. He wouldn't really have any reason to

avoid the question, anyway.

"She seems okay," he went on. "Sort of flighty, maybe."

Flighty. I thought that was a good word to describe Jill and her actions.

I nodded. "Yeah," I said, in agreement.

"You've spent more time with her than I have," Evan said. "How do you like her?"

I hesitated, and met his eyes. "I don't really. Like her," I said, honestly. And, it made me feel bad to say it, though I didn't recognize

that until later.

"How come?" he asked.

"She's sort of a know-it-all," I said. "And, she asks about things that aren't her business. And-" I paused, "I think she

wants Daniel to not be a part of the ranch anymore."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"About the ranch part of it?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"A couple nights ago, she was talking to me and she said how Daniel was made for better things than just feeding hungry cows. That he

was too talented and was meant for something better," I said.

Evan was surprised, I could tell. He wrinkled his forehead, looking thoughtful.

When he was quiet, I said, "You don't think that's right, do you?"

"She's entitled to her opinion, Har," Evan said, mildly.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Evan?" I demanded, feeling let down by his lack of fervor at what I'd divulged.

Evan raised his hands, palms up, in a gesture of 'oh well'. "Well, she is," he said. "Besides, just because she thinks that way,

that doesn't mean that Daniel feels the same. I've never gotten any vibes from him about not wanting to be involved with the ranch."

"Maybe it's something new that he's thinking about, or feeling," I mused. "Maybe when you have a real serious conversation with

him, then he'll tell you."

"What's keepin' you from asking Daniel about it yourself?" Evan asked.

That was Evan for you. Getting right to the heart of things.

"I don't know," I said, lamely. "He might get mad or something."

"Why would he get mad if you asked him somethin' like that?" Evan asked, looking puzzled.

"I don't know," I said, again.

Evan was regarding me with a totally wrinkled forehead, and an expression that said he thought I was cuckoo.

"Things feel weird," I said, in vague explanation.

"With Daniel?"

When I nodded, he sat back in his chair, and nodded briefly. "Because he brought a girl home, like for the first time, really. That's

probably it," he said.

I sat up really straight, and set my lemonade glass on the table by the lamp. "Like you think I'm jealous, or something?" I

asked haughtily. I was more than a bit offended.

"That's just weird, Evan!" I went on. "And, it's not true-"

Evan shrugged, not seeming concerned by my outrage. "I didn't mean like in a weird way," he said. "And I think maybe it

might be true."

"It is not," I protested. "That would make me like-" I pushed hair out of my face. "Like a preschooler, or something! It has nothing to

do with being jealous-I want Daniel to be happy!"

"Simmer down," Evan said. "I'm just pointing out somethin' that you might not have thought about."

"Thought about myself being a selfish, immature little bitch, you mean?" I said, almost in a challenge.

"Whoo whee," Evan said, shaking his head. "You are for sure all stirred up."

He stood up and went to throw his beer can away in the trash, and then went to pull down a bag of popcorn, and put the

sack into the microwave. The sounds of popping, and the smell filled the small room.

He took out a bowl from the cabinet, and when the popcorn was finished, he emptied some of it into the bowl. Carrying it and

the bag both he came back over to where I was sitting.

"Bowl or bag?" he offered.

"Bowl," I said, and he handed it to me.

"Thanks," I added, as he went to sit back down in his chair, and munching on the popcorn in the bag.

"You're welcome."

I took my own handful of popcorn, and munched it. "Sorry," I said, into the silence. "I guess I'm edgy."

Evan raised his eyebrows so high that it was comical, and said, "Yeah? You think?"

I smiled at him. "You're funny," I told him.

"Yeah. I thought about goin' into stand up comedy, but-there's all those hungry cows that need me," Evan said.

I smiled again at his reference to the 'hungry cows' comment.

"Yeah. You wouldn't wanna let those hungry cows go hungry," I quipped.

We could hear a car's engine as it approached.

"Nanc is home," Evan said.

I nodded, glad that I was going to get to see Nancy.

Evan stood up, and went to the front door, opening it.

I could still hear Nancy's car engine, as she was parking.

"Hey," Evan said, and I looked at him.

"All I'm sayin' is, think about it, and make sure that you're not disliking Jill because you're used to havin' Daniel

to yourself," Evan said.

Ouch. "Don't spare my feelings or anything," I said, in a weak attempt at joking.

"I'm not tryin' to hurt your feelings, or piss you off," Evan said. "You were lookin' for some advice when you came up

here, right?"

"Advice. Brotherly support," I said.

"There you go, then," he said, as if he'd given me a gift.

"You could have been a little gentler about it," I said, not really joking.

"Aw, you wouldn't know what to do if I was too gentle about tellin' you what I think," Evan said.

Nancy came in, giving Evan a quick kiss, as he handed her the bag of popcorn.

"Hey, wild child," she greeted me, with a welcoming smile.

"Hi, Nanc," I said.

Nancy said she was glad I'd come up, and we started talking, and by the time it was time for me to head back

home, Evan said he would ride down with me, since dusk wasn't far off.

I protested that he didn't need to, but he did it, anyway. We didn't try talking over the roar of the ATVs, but, at the house,

after I'd parked the one I'd been riding on, Evan still sat on his.

"Are you coming in?" I asked him, gesturing to the house, where lights were beginning to shine out of the windows.

"Naw, not tonight."

I knew he was no doubt anxious to get back to the cabin to spend time with Nancy.

I walked over to stand next to his ATV. "Thanks for letting me hang out," I said.

"Anytime. You know that, right?" he asked me. "I was just joking when I said all that stuff-"

"Oh, I know that," I said. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms. I was chilly for the first time, even after riding

down with the wind blowing.

"Just maybe get to know Jill a little better first, before you make up your mind definitely about her," Evan said.

I studied him, and then I nodded. "Yeah. That's a good point," I said.

"See ya tomorrow," he said.

"Yeah," I said, rubbing at my arms again, trying to warm up. "You and Nancy are comin' for supper, right?"

"That's the plan. Let me know when you're up for another race, okay?" he said, as he started the motor

on his ATV again.

"Like I said," I said, raising my voice to be heard, "If I had something decent to ride, I could get to Murphys and back

before you even left the yard."

"Big talk for a little girl," Evan told me, grinning.

7