Mabel decided to honor Trey’s and John’s birthdays by throwing a party in her backyard. It was the first time Cathy had ever seen John’s father, Bert Caldwell. She knew he worked in the oil fields and was gone much of the time. John never spoke of him and spent the days he was at home at Miss Mabel’s. He drank heavily when he was “between rigs.” He arrived at the party sober and clean-shaven, wearing starched jeans and a crisp long-sleeved white shirt, party attire for Kersey’s “menfolks,” as Cathy’s grandmother referred to them. He was shorter and stockier than John, burlier of features, and John was wary in his presence, as Mr. Caldwell appeared uneasy in his. Cathy felt sorry for both of them. Didn’t Mr. Caldwell know how lucky he was to have a son like John, and couldn’t John realize how fortunate he was to have a father?
To celebrate her birthday in April, her grandmother invited Laura to come for a visit over spring break, a time that corresponded with the promised arrival of the prairie’s wildflowers. “What in the world—?” her best friend, fashionably dressed in a suit and matching tam, exclaimed the second she saw Cathy in the waiting room of the Amarillo airport.
Cathy aborted the hug she’d intended to give her and drew her jean jacket tighter. “This is what they wear here.”
Only Trey and John softened Laura’s appalled impression of her new home and environment. “They’re gorgeous,” she said. “I could endure cactus and cockleburs for
them
.”
Laura was the kindliest girl Cathy knew. She did not mean her pity for Cathy’s reduced circumstances to hurt her feelings or awaken longings for her parents and Winchester and her old classmates and the pretty house and neighborhood where she grew up.
John sensed her blue mood immediately once Laura had gone.“You miss her, don’t you?” he said. It was her first time to witness John and Trey almost come to blows.
“Yes,” she said, “and the way it used to be.”
“Listen to me, Catherine Ann,” Trey ordered, stepping in front of her as if his height and size, like a barrier before the sun, might block all thoughts of her former life. “We’re your friends now. You like it here. Tell us you don’t want to go back where you came from.”
“Let her be, TD,” John said, pulling at Trey’s jacket sleeve.
“No!”
Trey jerked at his arm, jealousy and panic tightening his face, Cathy recognized. “You don’t want to leave us, do you, Catherine Ann?”
“I—” Tears welled, spilled down her cheeks. Her throat constricted from an agony of memories—visits to the beach with her parents, piano recitals, trips to museums and concerts in days filled with warm sunshine and cool sea breezes—and she could not give him the answer he wanted to hear.
“Now see what you’ve gone and done?” John confronted Trey angrily. “You’ve made her lose her voice. It’s okay, Cathy. You can miss Laura and how it used to be all you want.”
“Shut up, John!” Trey shoved at his friend. “It’s definitely not okay. You’re going to talk her into leaving us.”
John shoved back, fixing Trey with a furious, dark-eyed look that made Cathy step between them before punches could fly. She had never seen John angry before. “Boys! Boys! I’m not going anywhere,” she said, startled out of her despondency. “How could I go off and leave my grandmother and you and Rufus?”
Trey cut his angry gaze away from John back to her. “Promise?” he said, and she could see the fires slowly banking in his eyes.
“I promise.”
“It’s still okay to be sad, Cathy,” John said with another look at Trey that dared him to dispute it.
The near fracas had brought home to Cathy the surprising importance she had assumed in their lives, and she decided to keep to herself the plans that she and Laura had made to reunite at the University of Southern California, where they would pursue their dreams of becoming doctors.
Chapter
To celebrate her birthday in April, her grandmother invited Laura to come for a visit over spring break, a time that corresponded with the promised arrival of the prairie’s wildflowers. “What in the world—?” her best friend, fashionably dressed in a suit and matching tam, exclaimed the second she saw Cathy in the waiting room of the Amarillo airport.
Cathy aborted the hug she’d intended to give her and drew her jean jacket tighter. “This is what they wear here.”
Only Trey and John softened Laura’s appalled impression of her new home and environment. “They’re gorgeous,” she said. “I could endure cactus and cockleburs for
them
.”
Laura was the kindliest girl Cathy knew. She did not mean her pity for Cathy’s reduced circumstances to hurt her feelings or awaken longings for her parents and Winchester and her old classmates and the pretty house and neighborhood where she grew up.
John sensed her blue mood immediately once Laura had gone.“You miss her, don’t you?” he said. It was her first time to witness John and Trey almost come to blows.
“Yes,” she said, “and the way it used to be.”
“Listen to me, Catherine Ann,” Trey ordered, stepping in front of her as if his height and size, like a barrier before the sun, might block all thoughts of her former life. “We’re your friends now. You like it here. Tell us you don’t want to go back where you came from.”
“Let her be, TD,” John said, pulling at Trey’s jacket sleeve.
“No!”
Trey jerked at his arm, jealousy and panic tightening his face, Cathy recognized. “You don’t want to leave us, do you, Catherine Ann?”
“I—” Tears welled, spilled down her cheeks. Her throat constricted from an agony of memories—visits to the beach with her parents, piano recitals, trips to museums and concerts in days filled with warm sunshine and cool sea breezes—and she could not give him the answer he wanted to hear.
“Now see what you’ve gone and done?” John confronted Trey angrily. “You’ve made her lose her voice. It’s okay, Cathy. You can miss Laura and how it used to be all you want.”
“Shut up, John!” Trey shoved at his friend. “It’s definitely not okay. You’re going to talk her into leaving us.”
John shoved back, fixing Trey with a furious, dark-eyed look that made Cathy step between them before punches could fly. She had never seen John angry before. “Boys! Boys! I’m not going anywhere,” she said, startled out of her despondency. “How could I go off and leave my grandmother and you and Rufus?”
Trey cut his angry gaze away from John back to her. “Promise?” he said, and she could see the fires slowly banking in his eyes.
“I promise.”
“It’s still okay to be sad, Cathy,” John said with another look at Trey that dared him to dispute it.
The near fracas had brought home to Cathy the surprising importance she had assumed in their lives, and she decided to keep to herself the plans that she and Laura had made to reunite at the University of Southern California, where they would pursue their dreams of becoming doctors.
Chapter
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