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.Jilly thought Shye looked like a happy-devil-child whenever she made that face.“You better be careful,” she told Shye, “or your face is gonna freeze that way!”“Really?” Shye said, her eyes lighting up with hope.“I’m gonna go tell Otto.” And she ran off to find him.Cat shook her head and smiled.“She’s certainly learned to put together a complete sentence,” she said.“There’s no telling what is going to come out of that child’s mouth next.”“That’s what we love about her,” Jilly added, when she saw Gwen’s worried face.“She’s a charmer.Just like her mother.”“That’s what Mackenzie says.” She stamped her foot when Jilly smiled and Cat giggled.“That’s it! I’m ready to go.Are you sure you can handle the girls?” she asked Cat.“Of course,” Cat assured her.“Besides, Jilly is here, and Tage is coming over, too.He said he wanted to take Shye for a walk into town.”For once, Jilly didn’t walk out of the room when Tage’s name was mentioned.She even managed to stay in the room when he arrived about an hour later.He smiled at her, and she managed a tentative smile in return.She hadn’t really looked at him in weeks, and now when she did, she no longer had the feeling he was only remembering what happened at the commune every time he looked at her.She even agreed to walk with him out to the barn when he said he had something to show her.She followed him warily, just in case he tried to open a conversation she didn’t want to face, but he kept his words neutral, as though he sensed her readiness to run.“Look,” Tage said.He crossed over to the workbench Otto had against the far wall.“You won’t believe this.” He held up two chunks of wood, oblong, with what looked like toes carved in the end.Jilly pulled her chin back and wrinkled her nose.“What are they?”“Giant bunny feet,” Tage told her, his face perfectly serious.“Bunny feet,” Jilly repeated, her voice expressionless.Tage nodded.“My dad has been carving these things for two weeks.”“Hmmm,” Jilly hummed.She had no idea what to say.“Don’t you get it?” Tage asked, a huge grin spreading over his face.“I’m afraid not,” Jilly said.“Dad’s carving these bunny feet so he can strap them on his own feet and walk around the yard the night before Easter.He wants Shye to think the EasterBunny really showed up.”His words evoked a mind-image so vivid she gaped at him.Then she snapped her mouth shut.“That’s cool,” he said.“Don’t you think?”Jilly nodded.“Know what else I think?”Jilly shook her head.“I think my dad has fallen big time for Gwen and the girls.I also think he’s going to ask her to marry him!”Jilly’s heart contracted.She almost didn’t recognize the feeling of joy sweeping over her skin.“That,” she said, “would be wonderful.” She leaned over and inspected the long bunny feet.“I think you’re right.Men don’t just carve rabbit feet for nothing.” Jilly slid her finger across the toes of the carving.Tage’s laughter sounded lonely in the lofty barn.He reached out, slow and careful, to touch her shoulder with one finger.“Are you okay?”Jilly felt the quick sting of tears, and she shrugged.“I know you don’t want to talk about what happened, Jilly,” he said.“And that’s okay, but can I say one thing?”He waited until she nodded before he continued.“I wish I could take everything back, could take away the hurt and the unfairness.If I could, I’d.I’d trade places with you.” He blinked hard.“But I can’t.” He paused.“And you can’t wish what happened away, either, or pretend it didn’t happen.”Jilly shook her head, wanting him to stop, but listening intently despite herself.“The only thing I can do is tell you you’re still the same person to me, that no matter what happens you’ll always be the same girl who has shown me what it really means to be truly good.”She wasn’t good.She’d lied to him, lied to them all right from the beginning.When they found out, and they were bound to, they would never be able to forgive her.The thought took away her breath, took away her voice, but Tage simply nodded at her as though he didn’t expect a response to what he had said to her.He put the bunny feet back on the shelf and they walked back to the house.“Would you like to walk into town with Shye and me?” Tage didn’t make eye-contact with her.“I thought it would be fun to pull her in the Radio Flyer, and maybe get an ice cream or something at Ned’s.”Jilly hesitated, and nodded.She wanted so badly for things to be all right between them again, but she didn’t quite know how to accomplish it.They were mostly quiet on the way to town, but Shye’s off-key singing filled the silence between them.“Little rabbit Fru-fru, hoppin’ tru da foress, scoopin’ up da fiel’ mice and BASHIN’ ‘em on da head!” she sang out lustily.Jilly swallowed her sudden desire to giggle when she saw the horrified expression on Tage’s face.“Where’d you learn that song?” he asked.Shye cocked her head at him.“I hear-ed it on the radio!”“You did not,” Tage said.“Did so,” Shye returned.“Did n—” Tage caught Jilly’s eye and shrugged sheepishly.“She would be your little sister, you know,” Jilly reminded him, amazed that life continued in apparent normalcy even when the world felt as though it were falling to pieces.“She’s doing plenty of practice aggravating me,” Tage said, and Jilly smiled.The smile felt warm and natural, and she wanted to reach out and hug Tage closely.She settled for looking at him intently until he smiled back and hoped he understood the underlying message.Ned, of course, fell in love with Shye.He bounced off his stool and clutched his heart when he looked at her sweet upturned face.“Oh my! Chore a pretty one!” he said.“Tiny as a turtle, too.”Shye gave him her happy-devil-child grin and Ned chuckled.“That’s the smile of a wee sassy fiend,” he told her.“We’ve come for ice cream,” Tage said.“How have you been?”“Tolerable,” Ned grunted.“Tolerable.”Jilly and Tage went over to the freezer and lifted Shye up so she could see her choices.“Pick one,” Tage said.She pointed one chubby finger toward an Eskimo pie.“That Gwen’s girl?” Ned asked, when they brought their selections over to the counter.“That’s my momma’s name,” Shye told him.“She’s pretty.Jilly’s pretty, too.And Cat’s pretty.” She ripped open her ice cream.“Mac told me so,” she added.“Ahhh.” Ned said.“That’s right.Chore father’s home.” Ned rang up the sale.“He’s gettin’ along good with young Gwen, eh?”Tage nodded.“Well.” Ned said, his floppy ears practically trembling, “tell chore father folks round here ain’t sayin’ he’s bad; they says there never was any proof for what they said he did, and ‘til there is, ain’t nobody gonna turn their backs on him.”“I’ll tell him,” Tage said.He picked up Jilly’s and his ice cream.“Thanks, Ned,” he said softly.Ned nodded and his face bunched up.“Chore a fine young man, Tage Oakes,” he said.“See you later, Ned,” Jilly said.She hoped he hadn’t noticed how quiet she had been.The three of them left the store, the cowbell punctuating their exit.Tage settled Shye back into the wagon.“Do you think he was being nice, or was he trying to warn you about the money?” Jilly asked.Tage stood up.“I think maybe it was both,” he said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]