Adam stayed for a few minutes after that. He sat down at the table, and had a cup of coffee, while we finished eating.

After a few minutes, he got to his feet, and scooted his chair up to the table. "I'd better be getting back down," he said.

I ended up following Adam to the door. He gave me a hug, and said, quietly, "See you tomorrow afternoon, then, right?"

"Yeah," I agreed.

He nodded, and then said, 'Night', to all of us.

Evan and Nancy said goodnight, and Adam stepped outside, as a sudden thought occurred to me.

"Will you be alright, walking down?" I asked, stepping out after him.

In the porch light, I saw his expression. He looked amused.

"I think so, yeah," he said, lightly.

"Well-" I said, in explanation. "It is nearly dark."

"I'll be fine," he said. "Do your homework, alright?"

"Okay," I said.

He disappeared into the near-darkness, and I went back inside.

7

Ivy did some minor surgery on a cat the next afternoon. An infected tooth extraction.

She let me assist her, and I was glad I'd tied my hair back because I had to lean forward a lot. Ivy made a small incision,

and removed the infected tooth. She showed me step by step how she sutured the extraction site.

"He'll feel better now," she said, when she was finishing up.

"Mrs. Viner sure loves this old cat," I said.

"She does," Ivy agreed.

"Is he going to spend the night?" I asked.

"Ordinarily he wouldn't need to. But, since it's so late in the day, I told her that it would be best. She can pick him up

in the morning."

I was helping to clean up, when we heard the bell jingling over the door at the front.

"I'll go," I offered.

Up front, I was surprised to see Zach Brady standing there. Ever since he and I had words about Pepe, and the whole

fiasco of the skunk biting his sister, and all of that, he and I haven't had a whole lot to say to each other. He'd never tried to

ask me out again, or anything like that. We aren't uncivil, just aloof from one another.

Still, this was Ivy's office. He must have veterinary business here or he wouldn't have come in.

So, trying to appear professional, I said, "Hi, Zach."

"Hey, Harlie," he said, giving me a lazy grin.

"What can I do for you?" I asked.

"It's what I can do for you," he corrected, as if he was being terribly clever or something.

I raised my eyebrows in an attempt to show that I was waiting.

"You still have that dog?" he asked. "That stray that you put up the flyers about?"

Surprised, I said, "Uh huh."

"He over at your place?"

I thought about saying, 'no, he's on the moon', or something sarcastic, but restrained myself. I really didn't care for Zach much.

"Yeah."

"Well, I might be willin' to take him off your hands," Zach said.

"Really?" I asked, still feeling surprised.

"Yeah. I was thinkin' I might head over to your house and take a look at him."

"I'm not gonna be finished here for another hour," I said. "You'd have to wait until after that."

"Can't I go on over?" he persisted.

"No. I need to be there," I said, firmly.

"Okay. How about around five or so?" he asked.

"Okay." I studied him. "Is your family okay with you bringing home a dog?"

Zach grinned a silly grin as if he thought that was a dumb question.

"Sure. Why not?" he asked.

"Well-there was that incident with your sister, and the skunk," I reminded him.

"A skunk ain't a dog, Harlie," he told me. "I'll see you around five, then."

He went out, and I watched him go and get into his truck, feeling a vague unease. Ivy came up from behind,

looking out as well.

I told her about what Zach had said, and she nodded. "Will he give the pup a good home, do you think?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "I don't really like him much."

Ivy nodded again, looking sympathetic.

7

I drove straight home after work, and went into the house. I don't know why, but it felt as though I hadn't been

there in forever. The somewhat shabby living room looked comfortable and welcoming. I set my backpack on the

couch and went to the kitchen. It was empty, but there was something bubbling in the two large crock pots, and I

could smell bread baking.

I opened the door to the basement, and could hear sounds from below. I went downstairs, and found Hannah

folding clothes on the long folding table.

When I said hi, she looked up and smiled at me. As in a 'genuinely glad to see me' sort of smile.

"Sweetie! It's good to see you," she said.

"You, too," I said. I came on down the rest of the stairs, and automatically reached for some of Isaac's small

shirts to start folding them. "Where's Isaac? Sleeping?"

"Clare's giving him a bath. He was outside with Brian earlier, and he got good and dirty."

"I bet he had fun," I said.

"He did. How was your time, up at the cabin?" she asked.

"It was good." I studied her, knowing full well that she knew that Adam had come up to talk to me the evening before. "Where's

Jill?" I asked.

"She's resting, I think. She helped us in the kitchen this morning, putting down some new shelf paper. I think she's

worn out."

"Oh."

"Did you bring home your diabetes supplies?" she asked.

"Nancy was gonna bring it when she comes down for supper. She said so I didn't have to carry it around all day."

"That was a good idea," Hannah said.

"I'd better get to my chores," I said. I told Hannah about Zach coming by, and went outside. I fed the goats and the

cats, and the dogs, and then went to check the dishes for the stray pup. He was already staked out, somebody had done

that. More than likely it had been Brian. He was excited, and jumping around, but not yipping constantly. He seemed to have

settled down a bit.

I saw, from where I was, Jill come out of the house, and down the front steps, going to the barn.

Going to see Pepe, I figured. I had to admit, she had definitely been giving Pepe the attention that he needed. It still made

me feel jumpy, seeing her. But, since I wasn't able to take off for the cabin anytime soon, I just had to figure out a way to

face it. I heard the jeep roaring in, and brothers began to be visible. Jill came to the doorway of the barn, holding Pepe, and

Daniel went to talk to her.

Brian raised a hand to wave at me, and I waved back. After a few minutes, he walked across the yard, and to the orchard.

"Hey, peach," he greeted me. The dog immediately got to his feet at the sight of Brian.

"Hi," I said, looking up at him, from where I was sitting, cross-legged on the ground, beside the dog.

"Decided to come home, huh?" he asked, but he smiled when he said it, and I knew he was only kidding around.

"I figured you were missing me too much," I said, joking in return. "I didn't want you to be sad."

"Oho," he said. He crouched down and began to scratch the ears of the pup.

"He sure does like you," I said.

"He's settled down a good bit."

"Someone is coming to look at him in a while," I said.

"Oh, yeah? You found a place, huh?"

"Well, maybe. It's Zach Brady."

At Brian's blank look of non recognition, I said, "You know. The kid who took Pepe, and then gave him back the

next day-"

"Oh. The football star," Brian said.

"Well, he thinks he is, anyway," I said.

"Well, good," Brian said. He rubbed the pup's another time. "That you found a place for him, I mean."

"It's not definite. And, Zach's a jerk," I said.

"You don't have to be a member of his fan club for him to take the dog, do you?" Brian asked.

"No," I admitted.

A roaring of a truck, and here came Zack, driving way too fast up the driveway.

"Here comes the bundle of jerk now," I said, sarcastically, standing up.

Zach parked and came striding towards us, in his usual cocky way. I saw Guthrie approaching, and I figured he

was curious about what Zach was doing there.

Zach greeted Brian in a careless fashion, and reached out to pet the dog.

"This is him, huh?" he said.

"Yes. It's him," I said, shortly.

"How old is he?"

"We're not sure. Ivy says about seven months or so-"

"So, he's gonna get way bigger then, huh?" Zach asked.

"I guess," I said.

"What's he like? Is he too friendly?" Zach asked. "Or aggressive?"

"How can a dog be too friendly. Zach?" I asked, in irritation.

"He's not aggressive," Brian said, answering for me. "He's not good around livestock, though. He'd need some work

before you turn him out around cattle-"

"Naw," Zach interrupted. "No worries on that. He won't be around any."

He gave the dog another pat, and said, "Yeah. I'll take him. Can I keep the leash and stuff?"

I looked at Brian. I knew he'd gone out and bought the longer lead for the pup, to replace the rope we'd been

using.

"No-" I began to answer.

"It's alright," Brian said.

"But, you bought it," I protested.

"It's fine," Brian said. "He'll be happier with a longer lead."

Brian helped get the pup ready to go, and Zach began leading him towards his truck.

I petted the dog, and Brian gave him a final rub.

As Zach loaded him, and then drove past us, leaving, the dog was sitting in the seat, looking out the window at

Brian, adoringly.

7

When I went inside, Hannah said it was going to be a bit before we ate, so I went on and took a shower, and

got redressed in a pair of cut off shorts and a t-shirt that proclaimed that Elvis Presley is the King.

I was sitting in the living room, with my homework spread out around me, on the couch, when Crane and Daniel

came in, followed by Adam.

"Something sure smells good," Adam said. "Hey, sugar," he greeted me.

"Hey."

Crane paused beside the couch. "Lots of homework?" he asked me.

"Yeah. Too much," I said.

"Grades okay?" he asked.

"I think everything's good."

Crane nodded, and went to the desk to begin sifting thru papers.

"The pup left," I told Adam.

He looked surprised. "He did?"

"Yes. Zach Brady took him."

"Well, that's good, huh?" Adam asked.

"I guess," I said. "I would rather someone other than Zach had offered."

"Maybe they'll be a good match," Adam said.

"I hope so."

Adam headed off to the kitchen. Daniel was standing there, too, and he went to sit in the chair to the side

of the couch. He began pulling off his boots.

"Maybe I took it upstairs," Crane was saying, still sifting thru the papers. He headed up the stairs.

Left alone with Daniel then, I swung a look at him.

"Did Crane lose something?" I asked, in attempt at conversation.

"Yeah. I think he did," Daniel said.

I watched as he went on, pulling off his boots. As he was setting them neatly next to each other, I spoke up

quietly. "Daniel?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry that I haven't been talking to you," I said.

Daniel looked up at me. If he was surprised at my approaching the subject, he didn't show it.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and folding his hands.

"I wish that you would. Talk to me, I mean," he said.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. "Okay," I said.

Our gazes met, and held. "I've mucked things up really badly," he said. "Telling stuff in bits and pieces. I apologized

to Ford and Guthrie for that. I want to apologize to you for it, too. It should have come out at the beginning. All of it."

"I guess I was hurt," I admitted. "We'd just talked about trying harder, and then it comes out about the baby-" I let my voice

trail off.

"I know," Daniel said, sounding regretful. "Jill-well, and me, too, we thought it might be easier for everybody to

accept, if we waited a while-" He sighed. "That was a mistake,"

I remembered what Adam had said, just the night before, about how a baby is so easy to love.

Before we could say anymore to each other, Jill came from the kitchen, carrying Isaac.

"I thought I heard your voice," she said, to Daniel. "I helped give Isaac a bath today," she said, in a really excited

way.

I reminded myself that she'd never been around babies much, as she'd said, so she was enjoying the daily care of

Isaac. And, Isaac did really seem to like her.

"That's great," Daniel said, standing up to greet her, and putting a hand on her waist.

"Good practice, hmm?" Jill said to him, smiling.

"Right," he said.

Her glance flickered to me. It was the first time we'd been face to face since our tete-a-tete in the barn.

"Hi, Harlie," she said.

"Hi."

It felt stilted. Uncomfortable. And, Daniel's not stupid. Or obtuse. He had a quizzical look on his face. I figured

that he knew there was something going on between Jill and I. Still, she obviously hadn't complained to Daniel

about anything I'd said in the barn to her, or else he would surely have mentioned it.

Clare came to the door leading from the kitchen to the living room. "Supper's on," she announced.

Jill turned back with Isaac in her arms, and headed to the kitchen. I pushed my books and papers off my lap

and stood up.

"Hey," Daniel said, quietly, and I paused beside him.

"I still wanna talk to you. There's a couple of other things-that you should know. That might help in understanding."

"Oh," I said, looking at his dark eyes. I felt a little apprehensive at what he was saying. Still, I did want to know

anything that might help me to understand.

"I need to go to Oakdale sometime. Maybe on Saturday, you can ride along," he suggested. "How about that? Give us a chance

to talk."

"Jill, too?" I asked. I mean, I would rather not, but-

"No. I'll see if she can hang out with Clare or somethin'. It'll be us-unless Guthrie wants to come along."

"That would be okay," I said. "I mean, if he wants to."

"Okay," he said. "It's a plan."

7