‘Scared as hell, but I ain’t got no other road to take. I’ve made my peace.’- - -The sound of hammering interspersed with the intermittent whine of the electric saw echoed across the open fields. Early winter darkness was stealing across the horizon. Peering through her back window, Sierra strained to see Matt. He appeared as a dark speck in the distance, tossing boards around in the corner of the corral.Her arms folded across her chest, she jutted her bottom lip and paced. Ever since he’d mentioned his intention of going to Sam’s, she’d worried over how he might take the news of Sam’s illness. Now, she knew Sam must have told him. Well aware of how Matt admired the grizzled old rancher, she sensed how deeply he must he hurting inside. She longed to comfort Matt, cushion the pain he must be feeling. But he hadn’t come to her with it, as she’d been hoping he would.Damn him. A tractor could run over him and he’d refuse an anesthetic. He held his pain inside, but then he’d been train

Cursing himself because his life was getting more complicated every minute and because he’d been remembering how good her lithe body had felt next to his without realizing the memory had him smiling like a damn fool, he headed for the ladder.‘I was just admiring how good you look, getting one last eyeful before you fall off that ladder and kill yourself,’ he called up to her. ‘Don’t you have a lick of common sense?’Each time he was around Sierra, his emotions heightened. Despite his expertise in blocking out disturbing feelings, when it came to her he always felt too much.Reaching the ladder’s base and bracing it, he called up to her again. ‘Sierra, what the blazes are you doing up there?’As she looked down, he saw the strand of multicolored lights in her hand, and he glanced briefly at the pile of boxes stacked on the front porch. At first he’d thought they contained trash, but now he noticed a plastic snowman peeping over the rim of one. Glory! Christmas decorations. More holida

‘Sometimes I just feel things. Don’t you ever wake up in the morning and know it’s gonna be a good day or a bad day?’‘No. I’m always surprised.’She shook her head. Matt studied his sister’s face. Beneath the forced brightness, her face was laced by dark lines of fatigue. This was the first evening he could remember that she hadn’t gone back to the hospital.‘Don’t take it so lightly. That’s the trouble with you. You see signs and ignore them. The morning of Jerry’s accident, I woke up dreamin’ I answered the phone and it was the hospital callin’ to say he’d been hurt. All day I tried to shake it off, you know, disregard it as nonsense like you’re doin’. Then that evenin’ it really happened. I kept hopin’ I’d wake up again and find I was still dreamin’.’He set a hand on her shoulder. She flashed him a strained smile.‘Ma was right about there bein’ some things in life that control us and we can’t do nothin’ about them. But I keep thinkin’ if I’d believed, made Jerry stay home . . .’

With her hair at such an awkward length, she hadn’t been able to do much with it. After extensive experiments, she’d shaped a mass of curls at the top, allowing them to frame her face. She couldn’t help remembering how she’d once worn her hair, flowing long and free down her back. Matt had always loved it that way. He used to delight in running his hands through her tresses. But Ben had preferred the more sophisticated look of a shorter haircut. She had decided to let her hair grow out again.She couldn’t help wondering if she hadn’t made a terrible mistake, telling Matt she loved him. But pretending she didn’t was too hard. Let him go if he must, but this time he’d know exactly what he was walking away from.She heard rustling behind the curtain, teachers’ hushed voices, and she knew the young actors were taking their places for the opening scene. By now, she thought she knew every movement, every lineby heart. Turning again, she scanned the back of the auditorium, hoping to catch M

Dylan pressed it into his hand anyway. ‘Take it just in case. You do know what to do with it, don’t you?’‘Course I do. Just can’t imagine some girl I barely know wantin’ to do it with me.’Dylan laughed. ‘Boy, don’t you know you’ve been blessed with the kind of good looks drives girls mad? Now me. I’ve got to get by on charm and wit, but all you’ve gotta do is wink at ’em. Ma even seen it, that’s why she’d always carryin’ on about you being born with the rising sun and that crap. Daddy hates it that he accidentally gave ya somethin’ better than what he ever had. A couple years from now, you’re going to have your pick of women. I bet you could even have one of those snotty rich bitches from up in the hills rubbin’ all over you.’‘Come on, Dylan. I ain’t plannin’ on spendin’ my whole life chasin’ women who think they’re better than everybody else. Or chasin’ women, period.’Dylan shrugged. ‘Have you ever even kissed a girl?’‘Sure.’‘Just wonderin’. Look, what you do is your business,