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Show • | C7 • - > . - '" Fepperrrint Monday if she hadn't looked so sad all of the time. She watched me carefully, hunting for any trace of tears. I would have appreciated her trying to cheer me up instead of just waiting until I cried so she could join me. Andrea wasn't like that though. She was too emotional to cheer anyone up. Matt still gave me his special smiles, but he wasn't trying to spend any time with me either. I don't know what had happened between him and Renae. Andrea said he got upset when she gave up on the ride. I think there was more to it than that though. Andrea hadn't finished the bike excursion either and that hadn't seemed to bother Matt in the least. I think Matt had just seen Renae with Barton again. He saw how she clung to him and worshiped him with her eyes. If Matt had any sense at all, that would have been enough to wise him up. Of course Barton was gone again now. Anything could happen where Renae was concerned. Jason and pa didn't argue as much as they used to. It was too bad Russ had to die for them to realize how stupid they had been, but that's what it had took. At the supper table they sometimes even joked. The jokes were only semi-funny, the kind that made you smile rather than laugh, but none of us were ready to really laugh yet, and we had to start from somewhere. It was at the table, during supper, when pa changed our lives. In fact, it came right after one of his jokes. "I've talked to your ma and she agrees," pa said. He paused for us to wonder what he was talking about. Pa was never open and direct. "A change would do us all good. We need something to fill the void in our lives." Ma nodded her head and gave us both a weak smile. Of course she was |
