LITMIR.BIZ

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while she stared into the creek bed. The water wasn’t all that deep, but he wasn’t sure if she should be alone out there. What if she slipped and fell? Maybe hit her head and was knocked out? Then maybe she would drown and nobody would know.

      He convinced himself that he needed to find out what was wrong before he went back to looking for wildlife.

      She didn’t hear him until he was a few steps away. By then it was too late for her to hide the fact she was crying. She quickly scrubbed her face and said, “What are you doing here?”

      He noticed that she’d changed clothes since she’d arrived at the ranch. When he’d spotted her getting out of her father’s car, she’d been wearing a dress. Now she had on shorts and a T-shirt with sneakers. The only thing that looked the same was her expression. She still looked sad…as well as irritated that he’d shown up.

      He could certainly relate to that. Clay started to leave but he hated leaving her out here alone like that. So he came closer and said, “You wanna look through these binoculars?”

      She turned and looked at him, her face still streaked where she’d hastily dried her cheeks. “Does your daddy know you have them?”

      He shook his head. “So now you can get me in trouble if you want.”

      She looked surprised. “Why would I want to do that?”

      He shrugged. “How should I know, but that’s what Kerry and Denise seem to enjoy doing the most.”

      She looked away, then back at him. “I know you get mad at your sisters but you should be glad you’ve got them.”

      “You think so? It’s obvious you don’t have sisters or you wouldn’t say that. They’re always messing up my things, tattling, getting me in trouble. You’re lucky you don’t have to put up with all that.”

      Whoa. That had obviously been the wrong thing to say, he decided. Tears started rolling down her cheeks again.

      “Why are you crying?” He knew she’d probably get mad at him for mentioning it, but it was dumb to pretend he hadn’t noticed.

      “Why don’t you just go away?”

      He sat there for several moments, trying to think of something to say. Something smart alecky, maybe, or offhand. Nothing came to mind. So he decided to try the truth.

      “Because I hate to see you so sad. And I thought that…well, maybe talking about it might help.”

      “Talking about it doesn’t change a thing,” she said angrily, refusing to look at him.

      “Don’t you like coming out here to see us?” he finally asked, trying to figure out what had her so upset.

      “It’s not that. Not really,” she finally replied softly.

      “You miss your dad?”

      A sob escaped. “I just wish I had a family like yours. You don’t know how lucky you are. I see how your mom and dad are around each other, laughing and teasing, and the way they are with you and your sisters. And it makes me hurt inside.”

      “Do you remember your mom?”

      She shrugged. “I was six when she died. And she’d been sick for a long time. I never heard her laugh, or my dad joke with her. Now he’s gone so much. Paulette tries to do things with me, but she’s just the housekeeper. She and Carl are paid to live there and look after things. They don’t do it because they like to.”

      “You can be a part of our family, if you want.”

      “Not really. I don’t look anything like you. Nobody would believe I’m a Callaway.”

      “You don’t have to look like us. Some of our cousins have your color hair, or close.”

      She almost smiled. “Just what you need, Clay. Another sister.”

      He thought about that for a while. “Well, maybe that would be okay. I mean, we could talk about things—like we’re doing today. And I could show you some of the places I’ve found on the ranch that I’ve never told anybody about—an old log where I found a nest of raccoons once. And some caves that I think coyotes live in. You could pretend I’m your brother, couldn’t you? Someone to talk to when you’re upset or mad or something?”

      She thought about that for a long time. “I don’t care what Kerry says about you,” she finally said. “I like you, Clay.”

      “Well. Good. I like you, too, Pam. And I’m glad you stay out here on the ranch with us. Heck, you’re practically family already.”

      After that day, he made a point to keep an eye on Pam, both when she was visiting the ranch and at school. As he grew older he found it easy to talk to her and tell her about things at school, fights he had with his sisters, and the time he got sent to the principal’s office.

      She in turn told him about her teachers and things she liked to do and the classmates she worked hard to avoid. He learned to trust her…and she trusted him.

      He could still remember his junior year in high school when he’d successfully intercepted the pass for the winning touchdown. Pam had been the first one there when he walked off the field, fighting her way through the other players to reach him. She’d thrown her arms around his neck and given him an enthusiastic kiss that rocked him back on his heels.

      Until that moment, Clay had considered Pam a very special friend who patiently listened when he discussed his frustration with other girls, his struggle to bring his English grades up, and what he wanted to do in college.

      Now he found his arms wrapped around a delectable female. He discovered that he didn’t want to let go of her. Instead, he responded to the kiss with wonderment, only letting go of her when his teammates started making catcalls and whistling.

      Nothing was ever the same after that.

      For the next two years he and Pam were a pair. His parents were amused, remembering his grousing as a young boy about all the girls at home. Now he didn’t mind it a bit when she stayed over at the ranch for a weekend or longer, when her father was gone for long periods of time.

      By his senior year he’d decided to join the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University. The corps was the largest uniformed body of students outside military academies. Organized like the military, it was a student organization and it provided cadets the opportunity to receive a commission in the United States Armed Forces.

      Pam had another year before graduating from high school, and she was already planning to go back east to one of the universities there.

      It was the night before Clay left for college that everything changed between them once more.…

      “Where would you like to go tonight?” Clay asked as soon as he picked Pam up in his ancient pickup. He was nervous and on edge. Of course he was glad to be going off to college. It had been his dream for years. What he hadn’t counted on was this hollow deep within him at the thought of not seeing Pam every day.

      She looked down at her hands, clasped in her lap. With a small shrug, she said, “I don’t care.”

      “Well, gee, you don’t have to sound so enthusiastic about seeing me tonight.”

      She turned and stared at him in the shadowed interior of the truck. “Well, excuse me for not being excited about the fact that you’re leaving!”

      He slid his hand beneath her hair and rubbed the nape of her neck. “I know, honey. But this is hard on me, too.”

      “How can it be? You’ve got a whole new life to look forward to. I’m the one who has to keep going to school in the same place, only without you.”

      He pulled her closer and softly kissed her. “I’ll be with you, don’t worry. I’ll always be there anytime you want me.”

      She threw her arms around his neck and hung on to him. “Oh, Clay. I’m sorry for ruining

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