p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"strong Jud/strong/span/p
p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Ado Annie, emcome on/em!" Laurey stood up in the cart and waved to her friend. "Gonna miss all the fun if you're too slow!"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" Jud flinched at her shrill voice, seemingly an octave higher than usual when she was class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Can't help it if I wanna look nice!" Ado Annie ran up to them and hopped in the back, the pretty skirt of her dress surrounding her like a pink puddle, "This is gonna be so emfun/em!" she shrieked, and Jud began to regret agreeing to take them to the fair./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" Aunt Eller's request had seemed simple when she'd made it—would he mind terribly taking Laurey and her friend to the county fair? It wasn't far, but it was no place for an old woman; strictly for young folks to enjoy. She'd made it seem like he'd have a good time, but now he wished he'd said no. Then he could have enjoyed a Sunday indoors with a bottle and a stack of French postcards, like always. Instead, he was stuck in a rickety, jostling wagon next to Laurey, who was turned nearly all the way around so she could chat with Ado Annie and act like he wasn't even there./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "What're you lookin' forward to?" Laurey asked./span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "The games!" Ado Annie said with a giggle. "Might win a prize. And the food; heard the Walch girl is gonna sell emginger/em pies, ain't that emwild/em? I'm gonna give myself a stomach ache tryin' out everything. "/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Me too," Laurey agreed. "I wanna have a ginger pie. Be nice to try new things."/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Speakin' of new things" Ado Annie leaned forward, her voice suddenly teasing and low, "there's gonna be boys there."/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Ado Annie!" Laurey's eyes flicked towards Jud, the only mind either of them paid him since they got into the wagon. "Shouldn't say things like that."/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "C'mon, Laurey" she continued, unembarrassed, "never know who's gonna be there."/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" A flush spread over Laurey's cheeks and her excitement became more powerful than her self-consciousness; either that or she saw that Jud was pointedly ignoring their discussion and wasn't about to repeat it to Aunt Eller. "Guess you're right. Territory's gettin' bigger all the time—s'pose there's gonna be lots of people to meet."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" Jud held back a scoff. A girl like Ado Annie would have no trouble finding a husband, not with that figure she'd seemingly developed overnight, her easy smile, her bouncy curls, and her pretty dresses. Didn't hurt that she was dumb enough to make a man feel smart next to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" But Laurey—he sneaked a glance at her—it seemed impossible that anyone would ever want her. She was still such a skinny little thing with freckles and hair cut all the way up to her ears from the day she decided to lop off her braids for no reason at all. Although she was in her church dress, she carried herself with a sloppy tomboyishness, as though she were still in her usual overalls and dirty bare class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" And even if a man was interested in women who hardly looked or acted like women, no man could put up with her bossiness or sharp tongue. Man would have to tan her hide hundreds of times to cure her of that class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" But the world was strange, especially in the Territory. There was probably some man out there who'd want to kiss that spot where her neck met her shoulder. Someone who'd want to ruffle her hair and notice the way the short length drew attention to her full lips. Someone who'd laugh at her jokes and think she was cute. Some crazy man who'd actually enjoy waking up next to her every morning and going to bed with her every night and would want to do things for her to make her class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" The more he thought about it, the more he realized it couldn't happen quick enough; the sooner she found a man like that, the sooner Jud wouldn't have to put up with her ever again. Wouldn't have to put up with her sassiness and smart mouth and her ugly class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Oh, there it is!" Ado Annie shrieked, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Don't it look pretty?" The three of them stared as the fairground came into view, first the Ferris wheel, then the tops of the tents, striped in bold colors, then the wooden stalls. The sounds of music and laughter intensified as they got closer, until Laurey and Ado Annie giggled too, swept up in the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "All right" Laurey hopped down from the wagon the instant they arrived. "So, let's all meet back here at sunset?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" Ado Annie nodded and Laurey raised an eyebrow at Jud, daring him to argue. He'd sworn to Aunt Eller that he wouldn't let either girl out of his sight, but that was no reason to let them spoil his class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Sunset. All right" he class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" Laurey gave him the briefest smile before heading off towards the merry go round. Ado Annie walked off in the opposite direction, letting her hips sway in an obvious, yet enchanting class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" After a moment, Jud ambled toward the games, not even bothering to disguise his stares every time a woman entered his line of sight./span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" He'd expected to see pretty girls, of course, but the welcome surprise was that they seemed to notice him too. Even women walking arm-in-arm with a sweetheart or husband looked up at him through long lashes; some were even bold enough to hold his gaze and smile at class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" He'd almost forgotten what that was like—the only women on the farm were Laurey and Aunt Eller, and right before then, he was still scrawny and haggard from prison. But now, tanned and muscular, girls were looking again./span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" And today, the looking was what mattered. It used to anger him when girls looked at him—sometimes did more than that—but never once wanted anything else. He always said or did something wrong, or they couldn't be bothered to stay. Regardless, no woman ever remained in his bed longer than class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" Clara had been like that. Sweet, serious Clara Bartlett, who still haunted his dreams some nights. She'd been like that, constantly told him she loved him, constantly lured him into the hayloft where they'd spend hours entwined with each other. Until everything fell apart, until he realized she didn't really love him like he loved her. Went and got engaged behind his back, and…but that wasn't worth thinking about. Not at a county class="Apple-converted-space" /spanA county fair was no place to find a girl who'd want to stay; a county fair was a place to find a girl whose name he'd forget in a week. And judging by the appraising, appreciative glances, he wouldn't even have to pay for her./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"strong Jud/strong/span/p
p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Ado Annie, emcome on/em!" Laurey stood up in the cart and waved to her friend. "Gonna miss all the fun if you're too slow!"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" Jud flinched at her shrill voice, seemingly an octave higher than usual when she was class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Can't help it if I wanna look nice!" Ado Annie ran up to them and hopped in the back, the pretty skirt of her dress surrounding her like a pink puddle, "This is gonna be so emfun/em!" she shrieked, and Jud began to regret agreeing to take them to the fair./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" Aunt Eller's request had seemed simple when she'd made it—would he mind terribly taking Laurey and her friend to the county fair? It wasn't far, but it was no place for an old woman; strictly for young folks to enjoy. She'd made it seem like he'd have a good time, but now he wished he'd said no. Then he could have enjoyed a Sunday indoors with a bottle and a stack of French postcards, like always. Instead, he was stuck in a rickety, jostling wagon next to Laurey, who was turned nearly all the way around so she could chat with Ado Annie and act like he wasn't even there./span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "What're you lookin' forward to?" Laurey asked./span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "The games!" Ado Annie said with a giggle. "Might win a prize. And the food; heard the Walch girl is gonna sell emginger/em pies, ain't that emwild/em? I'm gonna give myself a stomach ache tryin' out everything. "/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Me too," Laurey agreed. "I wanna have a ginger pie. Be nice to try new things."/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Speakin' of new things" Ado Annie leaned forward, her voice suddenly teasing and low, "there's gonna be boys there."/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Ado Annie!" Laurey's eyes flicked towards Jud, the only mind either of them paid him since they got into the wagon. "Shouldn't say things like that."/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "C'mon, Laurey" she continued, unembarrassed, "never know who's gonna be there."/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" A flush spread over Laurey's cheeks and her excitement became more powerful than her self-consciousness; either that or she saw that Jud was pointedly ignoring their discussion and wasn't about to repeat it to Aunt Eller. "Guess you're right. Territory's gettin' bigger all the time—s'pose there's gonna be lots of people to meet."/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" Jud held back a scoff. A girl like Ado Annie would have no trouble finding a husband, not with that figure she'd seemingly developed overnight, her easy smile, her bouncy curls, and her pretty dresses. Didn't hurt that she was dumb enough to make a man feel smart next to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" But Laurey—he sneaked a glance at her—it seemed impossible that anyone would ever want her. She was still such a skinny little thing with freckles and hair cut all the way up to her ears from the day she decided to lop off her braids for no reason at all. Although she was in her church dress, she carried herself with a sloppy tomboyishness, as though she were still in her usual overalls and dirty bare class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" And even if a man was interested in women who hardly looked or acted like women, no man could put up with her bossiness or sharp tongue. Man would have to tan her hide hundreds of times to cure her of that class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" But the world was strange, especially in the Territory. There was probably some man out there who'd want to kiss that spot where her neck met her shoulder. Someone who'd want to ruffle her hair and notice the way the short length drew attention to her full lips. Someone who'd laugh at her jokes and think she was cute. Some crazy man who'd actually enjoy waking up next to her every morning and going to bed with her every night and would want to do things for her to make her class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" The more he thought about it, the more he realized it couldn't happen quick enough; the sooner she found a man like that, the sooner Jud wouldn't have to put up with her ever again. Wouldn't have to put up with her sassiness and smart mouth and her ugly class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Oh, there it is!" Ado Annie shrieked, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Don't it look pretty?" The three of them stared as the fairground came into view, first the Ferris wheel, then the tops of the tents, striped in bold colors, then the wooden stalls. The sounds of music and laughter intensified as they got closer, until Laurey and Ado Annie giggled too, swept up in the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; min-height: 15px;" /p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "All right" Laurey hopped down from the wagon the instant they arrived. "So, let's all meet back here at sunset?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" Ado Annie nodded and Laurey raised an eyebrow at Jud, daring him to argue. He'd sworn to Aunt Eller that he wouldn't let either girl out of his sight, but that was no reason to let them spoil his class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" "Sunset. All right" he class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" Laurey gave him the briefest smile before heading off towards the merry go round. Ado Annie walked off in the opposite direction, letting her hips sway in an obvious, yet enchanting class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" After a moment, Jud ambled toward the games, not even bothering to disguise his stares every time a woman entered his line of sight./span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" He'd expected to see pretty girls, of course, but the welcome surprise was that they seemed to notice him too. Even women walking arm-in-arm with a sweetheart or husband looked up at him through long lashes; some were even bold enough to hold his gaze and smile at class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" He'd almost forgotten what that was like—the only women on the farm were Laurey and Aunt Eller, and right before then, he was still scrawny and haggard from prison. But now, tanned and muscular, girls were looking again./span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" And today, the looking was what mattered. It used to anger him when girls looked at him—sometimes did more than that—but never once wanted anything else. He always said or did something wrong, or they couldn't be bothered to stay. Regardless, no woman ever remained in his bed longer than class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia;"span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;" Clara had been like that. Sweet, serious Clara Bartlett, who still haunted his dreams some nights. She'd been like that, constantly told him she loved him, constantly lured him into the hayloft where they'd spend hours entwined with each other. Until everything fell apart, until he realized she didn't really love him like he loved her. Went and got engaged behind his back, and…but that wasn't worth thinking about. Not at a county class="Apple-converted-space" /spanA county fair was no place to find a girl who'd want to stay; a county fair was a place to find a girl whose name he'd forget in a week. And judging by the appraising, appreciative glances, he wouldn't even have to pay for her./span/p