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I inhale the fresh air, Ahts wander Will I still be here for all of that? I hope that I aers out of the stream, red fro!"

"Yeah, and it doesn’t warm up much Jesse and I used to swim in it as kids We’d be blue e came out, even in the middle of summer"

Jesse

"Hey, Ginny doesn’t seem to like your brotherup a stone and tossing it, creating a small splash

"You think?" she mutters wryly "Why? What’d she say?"

"She didn’t She just called hi’ and told me to stay away from him"

"That’s probably not bad advice" I feel her eyes on ether a lot Had soh school and Jesse started hanging out with trouble The ‘riffraff,’ s, and stealing, and vandalism Two of them are in jail now" I look over to see her face twisted in disgust "Can you iine how that looked for my dad? Everyone knows our family around here Some of the stuff that happenedI’ve never seenbefore"

"So Jesse did all that stuff too?" The guy who brought s "I mean, he sh that he was around it Stupid teenage boy syndro the sheriff’s son People were always nervous around us, thinking we’d rat the It wasn’t as hard on irl

"Anyway,heads for years, but they haven’t been too bad lately Jesse’s got proble controlled andFelix the Black a gentle slap on the hind, A supplies in hand "I have to get going to work"

I follow, leaving the horses to graze

"I think my dad wanted to talk to you about that new ID"

Yeah, I want to talk to hiive him a new name before he can finish up the paperwork"

A it between her fingertips "I can’t i of?"

"I have no idea But I should co new people, hopefully getting a job I don’t want it to be as Jane any Dakota for a job"

That art store that takes Ginny’s quilts "She said Dakota went to school with you?"

"Yeah" Amber hesitates, and I can tell she wants to tell h, but" She cringes "No I’ll let you form your own opinions But if she offers you brownies, just say no"

I frown "What’s wrong with eating her brownies?"

Amber shakes her head but doesn’t answer that "Just remember to keep the inforrew up in this town, so knowing everyone else’s business and spreading it is in her blood Figure out a story about who you are to Ginny and stick to it God knows the whole toill be buzzing when they learn the Crazy Tree Quilt Lady has so with her"

"So lie?"

"Yes Pretty much Otherwise everyone will come up with their own stories about you" I turn to catch her eyes on the side of my face, on my scar Amber and Meredith are just about the only two people I’m not self-conscious around They’ve both seen me at my worst But the idea of new eyes--so many new eyes--on my face for the first ti the barn when a slaine An inexplicable warh me Somehow I know that’s Jesse’s car It has to be Ginny was ranting about how loud it was yesterday I don’t h I actually like the feel of it It’s so

We round the side of the barn to find Ginny hanging off the edge of her porch with a quilt grasped in her fingers, a scowl on her brow as she glares over at the Welles property Her lips are y dog behind her about Jesse, probably

The black sports car pulls into vieith Jesse in the driver’s seat, his crisp white shirt a stark contrast to his olive complexion and short, ash-brown hair I can see both Meredith and Gabe in hiaze

A bottoaze that’s settled on me Even from this distance, I can feel its intensity

He raises the hand that’s on his steering wheel It’s not exactly a wave, but it’s as close to a "hello" as he has given laring atnext to Jesse’s car, in his uniform He slaps the roof of his son’s car and points in the direction of the road As if he’s kicking hilare toward his father and one last quick glanceup rocks and dirt The engine tears into the silence as he speeds away, and I watch the rectangular taillights disappear past the house

"Guess I’ll be seeing ya, brother," A an afternoon stretch this week, so you won’t see " I watch her leave, intentionally avoiding the glower I can feel boring holes into ! Maybe if I stand here long enough, Ginny will forget

Not likely

"I thought he moved out!" Ginny’s reedy voice hollers

Sheriff Gabe has thrown a leg over the fence and is headed ravel I don’t really know him, not the way I know Meredith and Amber He made a total of three visits to the hospital si new to report about the investigation For a man who deals with politicians, the media, and citizens, he’s notand controlled--, Ginny" He reaches up to tip his hat toward her, ignoring her co?"

"I’ether and he nods once I guess that’s his answer Glancing back over his shoulder toward the house, where Ginny’s settling back down into her porch swing, he says, "I see Ginny’s in fine form?"

That makes me smile "She’s okay"