She looked at me. “Do you?”
I didn’t meet her eyes as I answered. Don’t ask me why.
“I know that what my grandfather did was wrong.”
“But you don’t want to give it back, do you?”
“I’ve never really thought about it, to tell you the truth.”
“Would you, though?”
I didn’t answer right away, and Jamie turned from me. She was staring at the
rosebushes with their gnarled sticks again, and I suddenly realized that she’d wanted me to
say yes. It’s what she would have done without thinking twice about it.
“Why do you do things like that?” I blurted out before I could stop myself, blood
rushing into my cheeks. “Making me feel guilty, I mean. I wasn’t the one who did it. I just
happened to be born into this family.”
She reached out and touched a branch. “That doesn’t mean you can’t undo it,” she
said gently, “when you get the opportunity.”
Her point was clear, even to me, and deep down I knew she was right. But that
decision, if it ever came, was a long way off. To my way of thinking, I had more important
things on my mind. I changed the subject back to something I could relate to better.
“Does your father like me?” I asked. I wanted to know if Hegbert would allow me to
see her again.
It took a moment for her to answer.
“My father,” she said slowly, “worries about me.”
“Don’t all parents?” I asked.
She looked at her feet, then off to the side again before turning back to me.
“I think that with him, it’s different from most. But my father does like you, and he
knows that it makes me happy to see you. That’s why he let me come over to your house
for dinner tonight.”
“I’m glad he did,” I said, meaning it.
“So am I.”
We looked at each other under the light of a waxing crescent moon, and I almost
kissed her right then, but she turned away a moment too soon and said something that sort
of threw me.
“My father worries about you, too, Landon.” The way she said it—it was soft and sad
at the same time—let me know that it wasn’t simply because he thought I was
irresponsible, or that I used to hide behind the trees and call him names, or even that I was
a member of the Carter family.
“Why?” I asked.