At breakfast the next morning, Ford was trying to convince Brian and Crane to let him skip school

so he could be home when Hannah and Adam got there.

Brian looked at Crane. "What do you think?" he asked.

"I think it's okay," Crane said. "He's probably way ahead anyway. Right, Ford?"

At Ford's nod, Crane said, "Our Ford's not a slacker."

Daniel caught Ford around the neck. "He takes after me."

"It sure will be good to have Hannah back in the kitchen," Ford commented thoughtlessly, and was immediately faced

with glares from both Brian and Crane.

"Well," Ford faltered, "you know what I mean."

"No, Ford," Crane said, "exactly what do you mean?"

Daniel and Evan collapsed into laughter.

"I'm not saying you guys' cooking isn't fine," Ford hastened to explain. "It's just, you know, Hannah's

cooking, well, it's just darn good."

"Hannah says we're doing Around the World tonight," I spoke up to help Ford. It was like

watching a goldfish flopping around outside of its' fishbowl, seeing Ford stammer around

that way.

"Wow, that sounds great," Ford said enthusiastically, shooting me a grateful look. "Doesn't that

sound great, Daniel?"

Daniel stopped laughing long enough to say, "Oh yeah, it sounds great, really great."

"So what time will they be home?" Ford asked, to change the subject.

"Supposed to be around one or so," Brian said.

I got up and started clearing the table, and then I went to sit at the desk to work on my daily report.

After awhile I felt a hand on the back of my neck.

"You okay?" Brian asked.

"Yeah."

"Getting a jump on it, huh?"

"I want to spend time with Guthrie, so I thought I'd get it done now."

"Good idea."

He rubbed my neck. "You're quiet this morning," he observed.

I looked up at him and gave him a little shrug.

"Adam's not going to ream you," Brian said. "If that's what's worrying you."

He'd read my worried thoughts exactly.

"How do you know?" I asked hopefully.

"Because I know."

I looked at him quizzically.

"Because," he said. "I told him not to."

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"How come?" I asked curiously.

"Because Crane and I took care of it already."

I stood up and hugged Brian hard. "Thank you."

"That doesn't mean he won't growl a little bit," Brian cautioned.

"I'll take a growl over a reaming any day. Thanks, Bri."

He patted my back. "You're welcome, peach."

7

A couple hours later there was such a commotion coming from the kitchen that it drew both me and Ford from what we were doing.

"What's going on?" Ford asked me, coming from upstairs.

I stood up from the desk, stretching my back.

"I don't know," I said, and we both went to the doorway of the kitchen, to find Brian, Daniel, Evan

and Crane all crowded around one area of kitchen cabinets. Brian and Daniel were wearing aprons

over their jeans, and as if that wasn't funny enough, their bickering was so entertaining that Ford and I found

places at the table so we could watch.

What Ford and I determined was that they were working on food for the Around the World supper, and the

argument was over German potato salad.

Daniel wanted to add more sugar to it, and Crane said it was fine the way it was.

"It needs more sugar," Daniel insisted.

"It's not a dessert, Danny," Crane told him.

Daniel put some on a spoon and aimed it at Brian's face. "Try it, Bri."

Brian took the spoon from Daniel. "I can feed myself," he said, and after he'd tried it, he took

a big drink of water, and weighed in. "Needs more sugar," he said, and Daniel grinned

triumphantly at Crane.

"Let me try it," Evan said, crowding in. He scooped a spoonful out and tasted it, while the

other three watched him expectantly.

"It's good. It doesn't need more sugar."

Daniel groaned. "We need a tiebreaker."

"We'll let Hannah decide," Crane said.

Daniel's eyes lit on Ford and I.

"Not me," I said, holding up a hand to ward him off.

"Okay, Ford, come on," Daniel coaxed. "We need your help."

"How is it going to help when two of you get ticked off at me?" Ford protested.

"We'll take your word as final," Crane told him.

"Okay, fine," Ford said, and went over to the cluster of brothers. He took a bite of the

potato salad, and then said slowly, "Definitely-needs more sugar."

Daniel and Brian grinned, Crane and Evan groaned, and I shook my head. What a bunch of clowns.

7

I took a shower and for the first time in a week, I put on something besides pajamas. I took

a denim skirt and yellow blouse out of my closet, put on some earrings, and slipped on my boots.

My hair was still too much for me. I sighed and shoved it back up again in a knot at the base of my neck. When

I went downstairs I sat down at the piano, plinking at the keys.

I heard boots stomping and turned to watch as Brian, Ford, Evan and Daniel came in.

"No sign of them yet?" I asked.

None of them answered me, though, because they were all four standing in a neat row, staring at

me.

"What's wrong with you guys?" I asked.

"Who is this beauty?" Daniel asked Ford.

"I don't recognize her," Ford said, playing along.

"I don't either," Brian said, coming over to stand beside the piano bench. "But she's

stunning, just stunning."

"Maybe she wandered into the house by mistake," Daniel said, rubbing his fingers over

my blouse. "Must be lost."

"Must be," Brian agreed solemnly. "The girl I know that lives here only wears pajamas."

"Come on, fellas. Knock it off," I protested.

"It sounds like Harlie," Ford said, peering into my face. "It kind of looks like Harlie, too."

"Can't be," Evan jumped in. "Harlie only owns pajamas. There's the horse pajamas, and the

rainbow pajamas, and the Smurf pajamas."

"You're forgetting the checkered ones," Ford said. "The ones that look like a tablecloth."

"Alright," I said, letting the lid of the piano slam down. "You've had your fun. I get it. I go

around looking like a homeless person."

Brian laughed. "Now, don't get all het up," he told me. "It's not that you ever look bad, it's

just that right now you look so GOOD."

"Yeah," Daniel said, tugging on one of my escaped curls. "We haven't seen you in anything

else in a week. You should have given us a little advance warning, or something, prepared us

a little-"

"Fine," I said, slapping his hand away. "Next time I'll hang a sign out front of the house."

I stomped off to the kitchen, with the sounds of them all laughing as they followed behind me.

Crane raised his eyebrows. "You look nice," he said.

"Thank you. Crane. You're a gentleman," I said, and stuck my tongue out at the other four.

7

I was sitting on the porch when I saw them pulling into the driveway, and I

called inside, "They're here!"

I thought I might grab Guthrie and never let go.

Adam and Guthrie got out slowly, both of them stretching. Hannah's compact

little Gremlin isn't conducive to long legged guys.

Evan and Ford tackled Guthrie. I might have joined in if it hadn't been for my

back. Hannah was hugging Crane and teasing Daniel, and then she reached out

and pulled me to her, tightly.

"Oh, Harlie!" she said. She pushed me back then, looking me over closely.

"You're feeling alright?"

"Yes. Almost completely healed."

"Hmm. I'll determine that for myself, thank you."

Guthrie was on his feet again, and we stood there, grinning at each other

like idiots.

"Hey, hyena," he said. Guthrie says when I laugh I sound like a hyena, and I

tell him his ears are big enough to belong to an elephant. But it's always in fun,

and never mean-spirited.

"Hey, elephant ears."

Guthrie grabbed me and swung me off my feet. It hurt a little when he squeezed

so hard, but I wasn't going to complain.

"I kinda missed you," he said.

"I kinda missed you, too," I told him.

Adam and Brian were standing to one side, talking, when the group started walking towards

the house. Daniel was telling Hannah about the German potato salad debate, and she

was laughing.

Brian caught up with everybody, and Adam and I stood there for a minute, looking at

each other. He held out his arms and I ran to him.

"You scared me, sugar," he said, against my ear.

"I'm sorry." I raised my head to look up at him. "I really am truly sorry."

"I know you are," he said, seriously.

Everybody was yelling for us to come inside, and Adam said, "We'll talk later."

7

Supper was such fun. Every chair was full again, and everybody was talking all

at once. I ate more than I'd eaten all week. The fetachini was really good, but

I passed on the highly debated German potato salad.

"The house looks great," Hannah said. "Who do I have to think for that?"

Brian waved his hands across the table. "See these? Dishpan hands!"

"Poor Brian," Hannah sympathized.

"And the laundry's done, too," she said in satisfaction.

"That's Crane," Daniel said. "You know Mr. Clean."

"Be glad I am," Crane said, "or you wouldn't have had clean jeans this week."

Hannah turned serious. "Well, I want to thank you, Crane, not just for the laundry,

but for taking such good care of our girl." Hannah looked like she was going to

cry, and several pairs of eyes landed on me. I sighed, not wanting to be the center of

attention.

"Yep, Crane's a great nurse," Evan said.

"Have you noticed how sharp he looks in white?" Ford said, and whistled.

Crane just rolled his eyes at the teasing, but I felt suddenly irritated by it.

"I don't think you should talk like that about Crane. He really DID take good care

of me," I protested.

Everybody really looked at me then. Crane smiled at me, and I smiled back.

Hannah looked pleased by what I'd said, but it was Adam's smile that lit me up

inside.

Guthrie nudged me. "Come out on the porch," he told me.

We went out and sat down on the top step together.

"Did you have fun?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I met some nice guys. We played a lot of Pac-Man. I got pretty good

at it."

"That's good."

"We ate Japanese one night, did Hannah tell you?"

"No, you mean Adam really did eat it?"

"Yeah, he really did."

"Wow."

Guthrie reached under one of the seat cushions on a chair, and brought

out a small box. "Here, I got you something."

I took it from him. "What is it?"

"Open it, goofy, and find out."

I opened the box and there was purple tissue paper crumpled up inside. Purple's

my favorite color.

"It's kind of fragile," Guthrie said.

"Okay," I said, opening it carefully.

Inside the tissue paper there was a glass dolphin, such a light blue

that it was almost see-thru. I collect dolphins, and since my room is

so small, Adam and Brian built shelves that go around the ceiling, and

that's where I keep them.

I took the dolphin out, rubbing my thumb over the smooth

glass. "It's beautiful, Guth! I don't have any this color!"

"I saw it and I just thought you might like it."

"I love it, thank you so much." I gave him a quick hug.

"You're welcome."

"This must have taken all the money you had with you."

"Naw," he said, but I knew that it had.

After a couple minutes, he said, "You're really okay, right?"

"I'm okay."

"Did it hurt like hell?"

"The worst pain I've ever had."

"I guess you got pretty lucky, though. Could have been a lot worse."

"I know."

"Did Brian explode?"

"Boy, did he ever!"

"Listen, Har, don't get mad at me, alright? But I wish you'd quit doing this

kind of stuff. You're aging me before my time."

"I'm sorry I worried you," I said quietly.

"Yeah, well I won't get any dates with gray hair."

Guthrie was joking, but I knew he was serious underneath about worrying

about me.

"Did Evan and Ford really beat up Allison's boyfriend?"

"Yes, and you should have seen the way Ford was hanging on Todd's

back, like a monkey!" I giggled and Guthrie grinned.

"Todd won't be back around here, I'm sure," I added.

"Yeah, and then with Brian filing a sheriff's report on him, he'd be crazy

to try it."

I looked at Guthrie, surprised.

"What sheriff's report? I didn't know about that."

"I heard Adam telling Hannah that Brian was so mad he made a complaint

on Todd."

"Oh." I wasn't sure what I thought about that.

Guthrie read my thoughts. "Well, that's a good thing, right? I mean, you don't want him

thinking he can treat you that way."

"I guess."

The screen door opened and Crane stepped out. "You two monkeys come on in. We're

gonna have dessert."

I went upstairs to put my dolphin on my dresser, and then came back downstairs.

Everybody found a place to sit in the living room, to eat pie and ice cream.

I was squished between Ford and Guthrie, and after awhile Daniel got out his

guitar and Crane took out his banjo, and everybody was shouting out songs for

them to sing.

I looked up when Adam was standing in front of me, holding out his hand.

"Let's go for a walk, sugar," he said.

7

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